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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-02-13, Page 4ludcuow Sentinel, Wednesday, February 13. 1985 --Page 4 Karl Morrison Katirnavik volunteer helping others In the past several months Karl Morrison has decided he does not want a career in the military and learned to know himself better. The 20 year old from Lucknow has rappeled down a 90 foot cliff, spent four days at sea on a naval reserve training boat and found his way out of a bush at night without a flashlight. Karlhas finished a three month stint on the Naden Fbroes Base at Victoria, B.C. followed by work at a ski resort near Midland. This month he will"cut wood in the bush near Coldwater and then it's on to Bonaventure, Quebec where he will work at a zoo and syiviculture. Karl has been travelling with Canada's youth volunteer program, Katimavik (an Inuit word meaning meeting place). Katimavikis for Canadians between' 17 and 21 and they work three month terms as volunteers in three different regions across the country. One stop is in a fran- cophone community. They are paid $1 a day during their nine month tours and. $1,000 when they finish. Room and board is provided. Karl graduated from Sir Sandford Fleming College in Peterborough with a diploma from the law enforcement program. He worked with the Ontario Provincial Police detachment at Apsley, northwest of ,Peterborough for the summer on the student works program, Experience '84. He was interested in the Katimavik program because he did not have a rmanent job waiting for him in .the fall er his student job ended and he was decided whether he wanted a career in the military or as a policeman. Katimavik offers a military option for . one of the three month terms and Karl took his military option fust, working as a member of the armed forces' at Naden Base, Victoria 13. C. He was expected to obey orders of superior officers just as any other member of the armed forces and he could be charged if he refused. While at Naden he was offered the opportunity to take several courses ;people do not have access to in their own communities, which are difficult to avail yourself of. He took the basic course in fire fighting skills offered to fire departments, a defensive driving course, a basic fust aid course and the cardio pulmonary resusci- tation course. He leamed-to rappell down 90 foot cliffs, a skill used in search and rescue. He learned to tie rope knots and their applications. He -went sailing and learned to rig sails. He spent four days at sea on a 70 foot yag, a naval- reserve training boat where he acted as a member of the crew, taking duty as helmsman, lookout, navigator and officer. He spent four days in the bush in the rain, living in a: hugi, a shelter built out of . • found in the bush. He learned s skills, radio communication . techniq : and. orienteering, finding your way of the bush in the snowfall, at night without the assistance of .a flashlight. ' Since November 28, Karlhas worked at Lafontaine Ski Resort near Midland which isowned and Operated by a non profit organization. He has served french fries and hotdogs in the chalet kitchen,' handed out ski poles and boots in the' ski shop, handled passes and worked as cashier. He has also worked outdoors at the resort, clearing the parking lot with a backhoe and driving skidoos to pack the trails for cross country skiers. • This week he leaves the resort to be billetted by a family near Coldwater where he will work with the family cutting wood in their bush for two weeks. Following this work experience he will go to Bonaventure, Quebec, for his final rotation" of the nine month tour and his stop in a francophone community where he will work at a zoo. .While working at the ski resort with Turn to page 16' Reaction to immersion ranges from disappointment to endorsement or the opportunity to play on a high school basketball :team,even if it costs extra money to send your child to school by car so they can attend practice, will be worth it in the long run. Tail Wagging The Dog Don Alton of Ashfield Township believes the board decision is the only one the board Could . make in a democratic society. If the program is not offered in all the schools in the county it should not be offered only in Goderich, says. Alton. Alton thinks the immersion issue was a case of the tail attempting to wag the dog. A group - of professional , people from Goderich wanted this program for their children and expected the board to meet their demands, he observes. Cletus Dalton, also a member of Concerned Parents for Better Basic Educa- tion, comments the board decision was favourable to him. He is opposed to an early immersion program being establish- ed in Goderich only. The development of a late immersion program for grades 7 and 8 was a dead end, says Dalton, because it would not be continued in the high school program. If late immersion were established in the Turn to page 130 •from page 1 If' something is to come from this controversy, says Steam, perhaps it is the acknowledgement that there is, a lack of tolerance for people who speak another language and the board needs to look at Core French and assess the program for its cultural purpose. Ste°cra says she is also surprised there is such a polarization between the. profes- sional .. people living in Goderich and farmers living in the, rural areas. Several vocal members of the group, Concerned Parents for a Better Basic Education, see the implementation of a • total early immersion program in Goderich as an elitist program for the children of profes- sionals, who expect the remainder of the county taxpayers to provide their children with an enrichment program, while their children do not have access to the program. Paul Puddy whose children also attend Brookside Public School, . makes the observation that this attitude of the immersion program as elitist and the anti - French attitude of having French shoved down their throats .dulled people's percep- tion towards the immersion program. As the children of people opposed to the program grow up and move away from Huron County, says Puddy, they will see the . advantages of the program and a ._. second language. Compared to other programs supplem- ented by government funding, _ French immersion is one of the finest programs; says Puddy, who presented a brief to the Huron County Board of Education in support of implementation of an early French immersion program in the county schools. Disappointed Puddy says he is very disappointed at the board decision. ,He_..would .have been prepared to drive his children to school in Goderich every day, if a program were offered at a school there but not at. Brookside, because' he feels the advantag- es of the early immersion program out- weigh the disadvantages of taking children away from established friendships in the* community school. Early French immersion enlivens a child's interest in the school system, says Paddy. The level of public education however caring, the curriculum is boring because of the elements in the system it tries to appease, he observes. Some opponents of the program are concerned that establishing immersion programs in the urban centres of the county and busing children to the limner- ' Sion centres will erode the rural base in. the outlying. schools. Puddy points , out that such a concern may develop as parents choose to transfer their children from the public system to ,the . Catholic system because it offers progressive programs such as French immersion which is 'to be implemented at St. Mary's school in Goderich this September. Nancy Stapleton is very interested in the French immersion program, because she believes it is just one more advantage for a • child and in • this day and age, it is discouraging enough to find a job when .a child graduates from school. A Catholic school supporter, her daughter, Heather Ann is presently enrolled in a university immersion program at Glendon College at York University in Toronto. Raised in Huron Raised in Huron County near Dublin and now a West Wawanosh resident, Nancy says it is very frightening to consider your children's prospects for the future. Education is costly and jobs are unavail- able for the average university graduate. She hopes that providing opportunities for her children such as French immersion Caths n►oard will discuss high school with public; boards The Huror +girth Ro. an Catholic Separ- ate School Board is willing to sit down and discuss the future of a Catholic high school for this area with the two public school boards. The separate school board's 12 page brief to be presented to one of three provincial commissions in Toronto next month, has 18 recommendations on the subject of full funding to. Catholic high schools. Alm: A Catholic High School By 1981 The recommendations suggest the Cath- olic school board is willing to discs its implementation plans with both the Huron and Path public school boards. "The brieflets the boards of education know how we feel and provides direction to our secondary school planning commit- tee," according to the report's author, superintendent of education John McCaul- ey. The separate school board has said it would like to see a Catholic high school here by September 1986. The separate school board is asking for a guarantee to maintain a high percentage of Catholic teachers. The brief does admit that non-Catholic teachers will be hired but stresses that "non-Catholics who are employed to teach in Catholic • secondary schools must be prepared to 'live with' and support Catholic principles." As an example, teachers who are "card bearers" of the pro -choice movement would not be hired. McCauley said this information would be discovered in an interview, The separate school board does intend to acknowledge the seniority of teachers who voluntarily transfer to teach in a Catholic high school. Teachers who are let go by the public board because of students going to a Catholic high school and who are then hired by the Catholic board, will keep their seniority. McCauley said the question of transfer- ing sick leave gratuities was not addressed in the brief but will probably be discussed with the two public boards. In addressing the question of non-Cath- olic students in a Catholic high school, the board says these stu ients will be admitted subject to space. The non-Catholic stud- ents will have to participate in the school's religious life. AS far as accommodation goes; the board says it will require provincial money to either fix up existing facilities or to buy new facilities. The board also States that if public board facilities are used they should be trans- ferred at a minimal or zero cost. This recognizes that Catholic ratepayers have paid in part for these facilities . through their secondary school taxes. Must Support Catholic Principles The board also asks the commission to address the question of. more money for. transportation, recognizing the large ex- panse of the two °aunties. The final recommendation asks for a change in the Education Act to allow school boards to purchase services from cornmun- ity colleges and private industries. This purchase of service could be for computers, said McCauley. • Representatives of the school board will be presenting the brief to the Planning and Implementation Commission in Toronto on February 21. FEBRUARY 10 Do, re, me, stop. Singing telegrams first appeared, 1933, stop. Fa, so, la, ti, do, stop.