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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2003-04-16, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2003. For a cause Shaun Henry, accompanied by Thomas Ireland performed at this year’s Madill Coffee House for Cancer. A full house helped to raise almost $1,300 for cancer. (Vicky Bremner photo) Clinton school gets funds Tentative agreement reached between teachers, school bd. By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Though charges about a reluctance to spend money on education have been levelled against Ontario’s ruling Conservatives, that image might not dominate these days at Clinton Public School. Late last month, principal Debra Gill — already satisfied to know the school was one of 14 in the province chosen to receive extra funding under a three-year early literacy initiative — found out Clinton public would get $30,000 more than what was understood to be the maximum under the program. “We were really thrilled,” Gill explained last week, adding the money will be used for classroom books as weH as staff development. The early literacy initiative began in 2001-02, with the government committing up to $100,000 in each of three years for schools which were deemed to be in need. Those schools are now in year two of the program. Clinton public was among the second group selected: 14 schools across the province which started year one of the program in September. According to Gill, education ministry officials visited the facility early in the school year, and some money was forwarded immediately so special programming could begin. But the right to receive the balance of the funds depended on the creation of an Action Plan, Challenge: Maintaining a healthy weight Solution: Know what a healthy weight is by checking the “healthy body quiz” at www.dietitians ca/eatwell. If you need to lose weight know that short-term diets for weight loss are not the answer. In most cases, weight is lost initially but regained along with a few extra pounds. Successful strategies for achieving a healthy weight include adopting life-long healthy lifestyle habits such as: • Eating breakfast every day to get energized and prevent hunger attacks which may lead to overeating or snacking on less nutritious choices later in the day. • Eating meals that include a variety of foods from each of the four food groups in Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating. • Focusing on high fibre foods such as breads, cereals, grain products, vegetables and fruit, legumes. • Choosing lower fat foods more often such as lower fat dairy products and leaner cuts of meat. Removing visible fat from meat and the skin from poultry. Cutting back on high fat snacks, rich desserts, sauces and gravies, and salad dressings and spreads. • Preparing foods with little or no fat and choosing cooking methods such as baking, braising, broiling, roasting, steaming, microwaving or poaching • Including meals featuring meat alternatives such as soy products, legumes and eggs • Combine healthy eating with regular physical activity. which had to be submitted to the ministry by February. Shortly before that deadline, Education Minister Elizabeth Witmer braved a snowstorm to visit Clinton public, along with some other schools in the district. Witmer spent time reading with students, and was given what Gill refers to as “a big book,” created at the school, signed by every student, and offering explanations why each class values reading. Then, about three weeks ago, Gill found out the ministry wanted to fund the entire Action Plan (which actually proposed a budget of $104,000 — a fact which wasn’t lost on Avon Maitland Director of Education Lome Rachlis, when he relayed the good news at a regular board meeting Tuesday, April 8. Rachlis commented that Gill “definitely has a bright future ahead”). Not only that, but Clinton public was alone among the 14 schools in being asked by ministry officials to come up with a way to spend an extra $30,000. New Action Plans must be prepared for each of the next two years, in order for the school to receive the program’s remaining two instalments of $100,000 per year. Both Gill and Rachlis say the timing of Witmer’s visit and the extra literacy funding was just “coincidence.” They suggest the main factor leading to the $30,000 windfall was the obvious commitment of the school’s staff to creative and effective methods of improving literacy. “For three of the five years that I’ve been here (as principal), we’ve been focusing on literacy,” Gill explained. “We’ve seen significant improvements in our Grade 3 and Grade 6 EQ AO (Education Quality and Accountability Office standardized test) scores.” Both administrators admitted, however, that the consistently low values of those EQAO results, compared to province-wide averages, played a significant role in having Clinton public selected as an early literacy program site to begin with. “Yes, that’s true. (Ministry officials) only looked at schools which are chronically low scoring,” Gill said. She’s confident, however, that the extra funding, as well as the commitment of her staff, will allow for continued improvement in EQAO scores, as well as in other areas of literacy. Last weekend, Bob invited his friends over to help lacquer his floors. It was a blast. The vapours from flammable solvents can easily ignite if they come into contact with sparks or open flame. They should only be used in well ventilated areas that are free from all ignition sources - including pilot lights. By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen With what’s becoming an ever- more-popular tactic of amending the amendment, a tentative agreement has been reached between the Avon Maitland District School Board and its elementary school teachers. If ratified, the deal would run through Aug. 31, 2003. No details of the agreement were released after negotiations concluded last Wednesday, pending ratification by the board and the Avon Maitland local of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (EFTA). Trustees will consider the agreement at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, April 22, while the EFTA will host an information session the following afternoon at the Seaforth Community Centre, and vote on Thursday, April 24. According to union local second vice president Brian Doubleday, results should be available Tuesday, April 29. The local represents almost 700 teachers, most of them full-time. The deal is a one-year amendment to the two sides’ existing deal, which originally ran through Aug. 31, 2001. Conditions were amended last year to take that agreement through Aug. 31, 2002, and now further amendments have been proposed. The amendment tactic has become common across the province in the past two years, ever since the ruling Attention Parents of F.E. Madill Students Second Term Report Cards will be sent home with students on Thursday, April 17, 2003 Marks for university and applicants will be forwarded to the application centres on Tuesday, April 22nd. Apples linked to fighting cancer (NC) - Prostate cancer: Researchers at Rochester, Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic report that quercetin, a plant-based nutrient found most abundantly in apples, may provide a new method for preventing or treating prostate cancer. Researchers found quercetin reduced or prevented the growth of human prostate cancer cells by blocking activity of androgen hormones, in an in-vitro (laboratory) study. Previous studies had linked androgens to prostate cancer’s growth and development. This is the first-known study to link apples with a major men’s health issue. (Source: Carcinogenesis, 2001, 22: 409-414) Colon and liver cancer: Researchers at Cornell University report phytonutrients in apples inhibited the growth of colon cancer and liver cancer cells in-vitro. While the beneficial .phytonutrients were most strongly concentrated in the apple skin, the apple flesh also contained significant levels of phytonutrients. According to the Cornell researchers, 100 grams of an unpeeled fresh apple - about two thirds of a medium­ sized apple - provides the total antioxidant activity of 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C. (Source: Nature, 2000, 405: 903-904). Lung cancer: Researchers at the University of Hawaii found increased consumption of quercetin was associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer in their population-based, case-control study involving 600 lung cancer patients and 600 cancer-free persons. Researchers investigating a possible relationship between the consumption of flavonoids and lung cancer risk found a statistically significant inverse association between lung cancer risk and intake of the flavonoid quercetin, found primarily in apples and onions, and the flavonoid naringin, found in white grapefruit. No association was found for important food sources of other flavonoids. This study validated similar findings published in 1997. (Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2000, 92: 154-160). Conservatives required that school boards only sign labour agreements of three years or longer. Many educators argue that’s impossible, because the government only provides educational funding on a year-by-year basis. Doubleday — who chairs the EFTA’s local collective bargaining committee — says it’s quite likely another amendment will be necessary next year, to take the deal through Aug. 31, 2004. That’s the date the government targeted for the conclusion of labour deals, when it originally issued the demand for long-term agreements. And without a commitment to long-term funding from the government, it’s quite likely the wrangling over one-year amendments will begin anew. “The problem is that the (provincial education) funding formula restricts the negotiations process,” Doubleday explained. “We understand the board’s difficulties. It’s tricky.” Negotiations were set to resume this week between the board and its secondary school teachers, whose services have been limited by a work-to-rule campaign since February. Call 1-866-734-9425 or visit www.medicalert.ca <®> Medic Alert Lets You Live Life.