HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1987-04-08, Page 5Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, April 8, 1987—Page 5
Former Lucknow native retires from
Editor's Note: The following article was
passed along to the Sentinel about former
Lucknow native Ray Stanley who recently
retired from East Elgin Secondary School
in St. Thomas after 15 years as the head of
the guidance department.
Ray Stanley is retiring from East Elgin
Secondary School this year after 15 years
as head of the guidance department.
Mr. Stanley said in an interview that he
would miss comming to school every day,
"talking to the kids, working with fellow
teachers."
He was born near Lucknow in Bruce
County, and grew up on his family's farm,
where his parents raised cattle and pigs
and grew mixed field crops.
After being graduated from high school
in Lucknow, he attended the teachers' col-
lege in Stratford, where in 1951 he received
his teacher's certificate.
Mr. Stanley first worked in a one -room
schoolhouse in Ashfield Township near
Lucknow for three years, teaching about
25 children in grades 1 to 8.
On his first day at work he learned that
10 of his pupils were from the same family,
and had arrived in Canada from Holland
the day before Labour Day with no
knowledge of'English.
Luckily, he said, children from another
Dutch family that had been in Canada
longer were his "helpers," and translated
for him.
He said he liked teaching in a one -room
schoolhouse, especially since his entire
classdidn't change much from year to
year.
In 1954, he moved to St. Thomas and a
job at Homedale Public School teaching a
grade 6 class, a much easier job than
teaching eight grades.
"Big class though,". he said, adding he
had 44 pupils in his first year at the shcool,
including Sandra Westaway, who was now
a superintendent with the Elgin County
Board of Education.
He spent a year at Wellington Public
School and another at Balaclava Public
School in St. Thomas before becoming the
vice-prinicpal at Elmdale Public School in
Liquor report
doesn't reflect
lect
today's attitudes
TO
To the Editor:
OPEN LETTER TO THE
PREMIER OF ONTARIO
We, the members of the Involved
Parents Group of Gananoque, Lansdowne
and District wish to oppose some of the
recommendations of the Ontario Advisory
Committee on Liquor Regulation released
March 3, 1987 at Queens Park.
We too, would aim for "individual
responsibility and moderation in the con-
sumption of beverage alcohol". However,
we believe that liberation of liquor laws,
specifically, extension of hours for licenc-
ed premises, patrons being allowed to br-
ing their own beverage alcohol to
restaurants, 24 hour room service and de-
regulation of some Special Occasion Per-
mits IS NOT RESPONSIBLE. Our area in
Eastern Ontario spends its share of the
estimated half billion dollars cost of
alcohol abuse in the Health Care, Social
Welfare, Law Enforcement and reduced
productivity problems.
The legislation to reduce the drinking
age from 21 to 18 to 19 a few y,rars ago ef-
fectively put legal consumptidn of alcohol
into the high school age group. In that age
group, Peer Pressure dictates that if
friends do it, it's o.k. for me (age 19 is not
the measure ). This same student Peer
Pressure is resulting in alcohol consump-
tion at the public school age level.
Our Community is only one of many
which is suffering from the epidemic of
underage drinking. In October, 1985, we
lost three students in an alcohol-related
Turn to page 8
1958, a post he held for three years.
In 1961, he moved to Arthur Voaden
Scecondry School in St. Thomas, teaching
science and guidance to all secondary
grades.
"Much, much easier," he said "I've
always said there's nobody in the school
system that works harder than elementary
school teachers."
In 1971, he accepted the job as head of the
guidance department at East Elgin Secon-
dary School.
He said he enjoyed working in guidance,
adding the best part was "variety. Never
the same situation."
Each student was different, and had in-
dividual needs, Mr, Stanley said.
Guidance involves not only helping
students choose a university or a career,
but also helping them with personal pro-
blems, though he was reluctant to talk
about that part of his work.
His efforts could affect a student for the
rest of his life, and that put a lot of respon-
sibility on the guidance counsellor's
shoulders, he said.
As far as universities and careers were
concerned, he said, he didn't think
students had changed much over the
years.
Some students "know from day one what
they want to be,"and others don't, he said,
and he had to work to help both kinds of
students.
From time to time a former student
would return to the school and let Mr.
Stanley know the, work he did early on
helped the student succeed.
school
SPECIAL
"That's the rewarding part," Mr.
Stanley said.
After school, Mr. Stanley coached the
volleyball teams and the school golf team.
In St. Thomas, he was involved with the
Optimist Club since 1960, and is now
district governor for Southwestern
Ontario.
He said his work in that capacity will
keep him busy for the next year.
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