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The Citizen, 2001-01-24, Page 18Avon DISTRICT SCHOOL Maitland Learning for a Lifetime Welcome to Kindergarten The word "Kindergarten" literally means "child's garden". It is a place where your child will grow and learn. Here are some of the things you can expect to find in your child's kindergarten class: 593. A capable, caring teacher who is trained to teach this age group An exciting and active learning environment which fosters exploration and discovery Individualized programs to prepare each child for further learning recognizing that each child is different and develops at a slightly different rate Kindergarten Registration for school year 2001-2002 Public elementary schools in Perth and Huron Counties will hold kindergarten registration from January 29, 2001 - February 2, 2001 For Senior Kindergarten Students must be 5 years of age on or before December 31, 2001 (Students presently attending Junior Kindergarten in an Avon Maitland District School Board school do not need to re-register) Junior Kindergarten Students must be 4 years of age on or before December 31, 2001 Registration packages for both programs may be picked up at your elementary school office, or are available by calling your school. Please bring the following required information to the school at the time of registration: 1. Proof of Age (birth certificate, birth registration card) 2. Immunization Record 3. Health Card 4. Completed registration form and immunization form contained in the registration package. For further information contact your local school principal, or call Darlene Million (ext. 204) at the Board's Administrative Office. Avon Maitland District School Board 62 Chalk Street, North Seaforth, ON NOK 1W0 Telephone: (5f9)527-0111 or 1-800-592-5437 Fax (519) 527-0222 LORNE RACHUS WENDY ANDERSON Director of Education Chair THE HURON-PERTH CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD JUNIOR AND SENIOR KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION JANUARY 29-FEBRUARY 2, 2001 In order to register for Kindergarten, children must be four (4) years of age on or before December 31, 2001. Parents are required to bring the Baptismal Certificate, Birth Certificate and Immunization Record Card of the child you intend to register. Parents should contact their local school. The following schools offer Kindergarten classes: St. Joseph's School (Kingsbridge) 529-7646 St. Patrick's (Dublin) 345-2033 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Mt. Carmel) 237.3337 St. Patrick's (Kinkora) 393-5580 St. Joseph's (Clinton) 482-7035 Holy Name of Mary (St. Marys) 284-2170 Precious Blood (Exeter) 235.1691 St. Mary's (Hesson) 595-8929 St. Mary's (Goderich) 524.9901 'St. Ambrose (Stratford) 271.7544 St. James (Seaforth) 527.0321 St. Joseph's (Stratford) 271-3574 St. Boniface (Zurich) 236-4335 St. Aloysius (Stratford) 271.3636 Sacred Heil (Wingham) 357.1090 Jeanne Sauve (Stratford) 273-3396 Parents who expect that their child will enrol in the optional French Immersion Program in Grade 1, in future years, have the option of enrolment for Junior/Senior Kindergarten at either their local Catholic School or the French Immersion Centre (St. Mary's School, Goderich or Jeanne Sauve School, Stratford) at which they expect to enrol their child for a French Immersion Program. Ron Marcy, Chairperson of the Board Gaetan L Blanchette, Director of Education PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2001. Guilty Brussels man gets conditional sentence An 18-year-old Brussels man was found guilty of assault with a weapon, but handed a conditional discharge by Judge Garry Hunter in provincial court, Wingham, last Thursday. Matthew Cameron had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was represented by lawyer Phil Cornish at the trial last week. First called to the stand was Michael Walker, the alleged victim in the case. He told Crown Attorney Rod Guthrie on Aug. 7 of last year, he and Ryan Mawhinney were driving down the main street of Brussels when they saw Cameron, who was waving a chair at them. Walker said he and Cameron had a long history of ill feelings toward each other. Walker said he drove around the corner and when he returned, Cameron was coming back downtown with an aluminum baseball bat. The two young men met on the bridge when Walker admitted under cross-examination that he told Cameron he'd better hit him with the bat or he wouldn't get another chance. Walker said Cameron did hit him with the bat on the arm, resulting in a welt and an inability for him to move his fingers for "a couple of hours'•'. Walker said he chased Cameron back to his house, but later went to Wingham to "cool down". However, Walker had returned to Brussels later that night with some friends to the Cameron home where he said Cameron "kept taunting us", resulting in an angry Walker punching through the window of the home's front door. Walker said he went to the Wingham hospital for stitches after putting his fist through the glass. On cross examination, Walker couldn't remember an incident a week earlier when he was alleged to have visited the Cameron home, even after the judge questioned him. Walker also admitted that he was extremely angry at Cameron and wanted to beat him up and would have had he been given the chance. Cornish also suggested that the reason Walker returned to Wingham was to find "reinforcements", which Walker denied. In his testimony, Mawhinney said he saw Cameron hit Walker with the bat, but added that Walker was saying, "If you're going to hit me, hit me." Phil Leger had been downtown with Cameron on the night in question. He said he saw Cameron with a bat, but did not see him hit Walker. However, when Walker returned to Brussels later that evening, Leger said one of the other young men accompanying them was carrying a two-foot wooden stick. "It sounds to me like there's an intent to do violence to Matt Cameron," said Cornish. ON THE STAND Cameron took the stand in his own defence. He said there always has been a bad situation between him and Walker and on the night in question, Walker was chasing him around and "giving me a bad time". "So I went home and grabbed a bat and went back up town to hit him (Walker) with it. I thought I would teach him a lesson." When approached by Walker on the bridge, Cameron said Walker told him he'd better hit him with the bat or he wouldn't have a chance. "I thought Mike was going to beat me up, so I hit him with the bat and then ran home." Some time later, Cameron said Walker returned to his house with three or four friends, one of whom was carrying a wooden stick. Cameron said they came onto his property and he locked the front door, the window of which Walker ended up punching in. Linda Cameron, Matt's mother, was the last person-to take the stand. She said she and her husband had been at a ball tournament on Aug. 7 when she received a cellular phone call from Matt, who was extremely upset and asked her to come home. She said her son told her someone was after him and had punched out the window of their front door. Mrs. Cameron returned home to find blood and glass on the step, sidewalk and inside the house. Initially, she said she knew nothing of the incident with the baseball bat and later handed over the bat to police. ARGUMENTS In his closing argument, Cornish said his client does not deny striking Walker with the bat, but that Walker was "spoiling for a fight" and inciting Cameron. Cornish said Cameron had testified he was fearful for his safety and was using the bat for self- defence. However, Guthrie argued that Cameron formed the intent to hit Walker at the house when he returned for the bat. While Walker was an aggressor, . Guthrie said Cameron exercised the worst judgement. He acknowledged no bodily harm had been done, but added.people can't be allowed to go around striking others with baseball bats. After weighing all the arguments, Judge Hunter said he found Walker "more culpable" and said, "He should have been standing here...Some may argue Walker got what he asked for." While the judge said he could empathize with Cameron, by his own words the young man had formed an intent when he picked up the bat and decided to teach Walker a lesson. For that reason he found Cameron guilty. "You (Cornish) cannot now say he (Cameron) had intent at home, but now it becomes a question of self defence." The judge did 'take into account that only one blow was struck and little or no injury was caused in handing down a conditional discharge. One of those conditions is that Cameron have no contact with Walker. He also was placed on 12 months probation and a five-year weapons prohibition. As for Walker, the judge had little sympathy. "You were the instigator and cause of all this. You got what you asked for and deserved.". He stipulated that Walker enter into a peace bond and have no contact with Cameron or his family. Bilking elderly nets man 9 months A young Howick Twp. man who bilked an elderly Brussels resident of close to $2,000 was sentenced to nine months in jail by Justice Garry Hunter in provincial court, Wingham, last Thursday. In rendering his decision, Judge Hunter said, "I take a serious view of people taking advantage of seniors," before sentencing William Zoet, 21, to nine months in jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of uttering a forged document and one count of possession of stolen property. There is a co-accused in the case, who is scheduled to.appear in court on Feb. 15. The court heard that between Oct. 16 and 23, Zoet and the co-accused visited the home of an elderly Brussels gentleman to negotiate the sale of used cars. After they left, it was noted that several blank cheques, a coin collection and sander were missing. • On Oct. 23 in Wingham a forged cheque for $1,000, written on the Brussels man's account, was cashed. On. Oct. 24, Zoet attempted to cash a cheque for $800 at the North Huron Credit Union in Wingham, but the institution was aware that the cheque was forged. Staff arranged for him to return the following day when police were waiting. On Oct. 22 in Howick, another forged cheque for $1,173 was written as payment for two vehicles and a carburetor. As well, Zoet had been in possession of the stolen coin set and sander and sold them to the same party to whom the third cheque was written. That person later turned them over to police. As a result, the elderly man's bank account was reduced to zero by the passing of the forged cheques, said Crown Attorney Rod Guthrie. The bank had mistakenly accepted the forged cheques and was forced to reimburse the man. However, Guthrie noted that, "everybody is back to the way they were before," and the money had been returned to the parties involved. Duty Counsel John Myers said Zoet is 21 years old, with an admitted record. However, Myers said Zoet feels badly about what he did and wants to turn his life around by returning to school. Myers suggested that Zoet serve 90 days in custody. "Multiply that by four," countered Judge Hunter, who sentenced Zoet to three months in jail for each of the forgery charges and three months concurrent for the possession charge. He also was placed on probation. SENTENCING Cornelia Blom of Walton was sentenced to 14 days in jail after pleading guilty to a charge of impaired driving at the December court. Blom, who has a prior impaired conviction, also had her licence suspended for three years. Blom, who has an 11-year-old child, will serve her sentence intermittently on weekends and was placed on probation while serving her sentence. On July 21, police were summoned to a motor vehicle accident. Blom, who was determined to be the driver, was found to smell of alcohol and had slurred speech. Two subsequent breathalyzer tests resulted in readings of 220 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. $500 FINE A young Wingham man, Hans 0. Mayer, was fined $500 and placed on 12 months probation after pleading guilty to .taking a vehicle without consent. On Sept. 20 in Wingham, when a citizen went to retrieve their car in the morning they found it to be missing. The accused had known the keys were in the ignition and took the vehicle only to be pulled over by the police as a suspected impaired driver. In addition to the $500 fine and probation, Mayer also was ordered to pay a towing bill of $96.30.