The Citizen, 2001-05-23, Page 1Lights, camera, present
Emily Cardiff took the opportunity to present her science project to the TV Ontario film crew
when they visited Brussels Public School Friday morning. The filming is part of the provincial
education ministry's initiative to gather examples of student achievement levels for the new
curriculum.
TVO films at Brussels PS
Inside this week
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1-1 7 AN racer off to
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P g. 12 Brussels churches
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17 Huron East seeks
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Blyth father and son
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Citizen he
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 17 No. 21 Wednesday, May 23, 2001 75 Cents (70c + 5c GST)
Clinics
close
doors
to new
patients
Residents of the Brussels area who
do not -already have a family
physician may find themselves-
travelling out of the local area for
medical care.
With the Seaforth Medical Clinic
closing its doors to new patients, the
impact on the Brussels and Blyth
offices will be the same.
Dr. Shawn Edwards of the
'Brussels Medical Clinic said that
while no new patients are being
accepted, there may be special
circumstances when exceptions will
be made, such as with a family
member.
The Brussels office will continue
to see urgent need patients, but
continued care may not be possible,
he added.
Since Brussels people have to find
another option, Blyth may be as
close an alternative -as possible,
however. According to Dr. Edwards,
Dr. Dan Rooyakkers at the Blyth
clinic will still be accepting new
patients there.
With two physicjans now working
part-time, the clinic is looking for
two more doctors to serve the area.
Active recruitment has been taking
place for years, but there are
shortages across the province.
According to a report last week in
The Huron Expositor, Seaforth
Community Hospital Chief of Staff
Dr. Carolin Shepherd said the move
was made because of volume.
"I think this is the first time
the clinic has, had to close its
practices."
Residents from the Seaforth area
are being asked to check with the
three new doctors in Clinton.
All. patients will still be seen at the
hospital's emergency room.
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
It was a wonderful opportunity for
Grade 8 students at Brussels Public
School when they went before the
cameras last week.
ATV Ontario crew made a stop at
the School Friday morning to film 14
students as they ,explained their
block-and-tackle science projects.
Part of a provincial initiative to
create exemplars for the new
curriculum, several schools were
sought to participate in the special
program, said science teacher
Deanna Binotto-Peel,
After being asked by Avon
Maitland District School Board
Curriculum Co-ordinator Wayne
Stewart to take part, Binotto-Peel
said the province sent a kit filled
with all the resources and raw
materials needed for the students to
complete the assignment.
Their task was to create a model of
a block-and-tackle system which
would lift a beached whale, hold it
for medical examination then return
it to the water.
When asked by Jocelyne Dignard-
Saleh, project officer and producer
for the TVO crew, if there were
ethnic or cultural aspects of the
Brussels area which would help
students complete the project,
Binotto-Peel said the agricultural
background of several of the
students could be an advantage.
"They may see pulley systems in
use on the farm."
For urban students who may not
witness such uses, she said the
teachers have to look for other
examples to help 'the pupils
visualize.
"Students of this age like to see
things to understand them," she said.
"Tell them about the pulley system
used on window blinds or how
hydraulics work on an office
chair."
Binotto-Peel was pleased to
participate, saying the school_ will
now get to keep the kits for future
use.
With the projects completed, the
TVO crew visited eight elementary
schools from Windsor to Ottawa and
Sudbury, taping the children's efforts
and presentations of their work.
The segments will be reviewed
and compiled into one video to
indicate what is expected of students
working at each level of ability as set
out by the ministry.
(Students working at Level 4 are
considered to be the highest
achievers with Level 1 requiring
remedial assistance.)
Binotto-Peel said it is possible one
of the 'Brussels students could be
included in the instructional video.
The tape will be sent to teachers
around the province to help them
judge student achievement.
Dignard-Saleh said she was
impressed by the way the
Brussels students presented their
projects. "They took their work
seriously."
Trustees
distance
themselves
from report
By Stew Slater
Special to the Citizen
Trustees of the Avon Maitland
District School Board distanced
themselves from controversial
school closure recommendations
made by an independent, board-
commissioned consultant, during a
meeting of the minds Tuesday, May
15 between school board officials
and Huron and Perth County
municipal politicians.
"I, too, was stunned when I saw
some of the options that were in the
(consultant's) report," said Stratford
trustee Meg Westley, referring to a
recently-released report from
London-based company Urban
Analysis • Group. "They were
suggesting closing brand new
facilities that are full of students and
keeping open old schools that are
falling apart and only three-quarters
full."
Westley's admission came after
Huron East Mayor Lin Steffler
called on the board to denounce the
recommendations portion of the
Urban Analysis Group report, before
moving forward in what's called a
"Student Accommodation Review."
The next phase of that process is set
to begin May 23, with the first
meeting of four regional
Community Accommodation Study
Committees (CASCs), which will
include school council
representatives from each of the
board's schools, as well as
community representatives selected
by municipal councils.
_ "I would like to see the 51 options
totally gone out of this report,"
Steffler said. "I think it leaves the
perception of, `Here are your
options pick one'."
Trustees Randy Wagler (Huron
South) and Rod Brown (Stratford)
both agreed that recommendations
were unnecessary in the consultant's
report. But they saw no need to seek
alterations because other portions of
the document provide valuable
evidence of the board's mounting
crisis of declining enrolment and
increased unused space.
"Frankly, I would rather not have
had the consultant include the
recommendations in his report,"
Brown said. "Because it's making
everyone say that's the issue. But the
value in this report is in the preface
to all of these options — the
demographic studies, the enrolment
projections."
Director of Education Lorne
Rachlis added that the CASCs will
have the opportunity to consider
many factors which lay outside the
Urban Analysis Group's mandate,
including transportation issues and
the age of school buildings.
"What (the consultants) did was
considered every student a peg and
every student space a hole. And they
figured out the best way to put every
peg into a hole, at the smallest cost
to the board," Rachlis said. "But
there's a lot more to it than that."
Continued on page 6