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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2006-10-19, Page 32COVERING ALL YOUR CARPENTRY NEEDS • New Homes • Replacement Windows & Doors "d' MB • Renovations Construction • Soffit & Fascia • Decks • Additions • Trim • Hardwood Flooring CASEY BOVEN Blyth (519) 523-4757 Affordable CAR AND TRUCK RENTALS Large & Small Trucks fridgecarts - piano dollys- moving blankets Complete Selection of Cars Our rates qualify for insurance replacement Passenger Vans full size or mini STRICKLANDS 344 Huron Rd. 524-9381 GODERICH 1-800-338-1134 - COMPLETE MECHANICAL SERVICE - COMPUTERIZED TUNE-UPS - TIRES - BRAKES MUFFLERS - VEHICLE INSPECTION STATION DAN'S AUTO REPAIR Owned and Operated by Dan & Heather Snell RR 3, Blyth, Ont. NOM 1 HO (on the Westfield Rd.) DAN SNELL, AutomotiveTechnIclan 523-4356 The Citizen INSTANT FAX AS F.A.S.T AS A PHONE Send your paperwork by FAX instantly! eg. statements, contracts, auction ads, favorite recipes, obituaries, messages... The Citizen has a FAX machine in our office that lets you contact any other FAX machine in the world ... instantly. Our FAX number is also your number so if you want to be reached instantly — we will receive your messages as well. Call Us Today For Details 523-4792 or 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 or 887-9021 VANDRIEL Excavating Inc. Simon Derrick VanDriel VanDriel 482-3783 522-0609 • Gravel • Sand We Dig For You • Stone Call us for... Excavators, Bobcats, Dozers, Trucking, etc. COMPLETE EXCAVATING CONTRACTOR JAW E117 CUSTOM METAL FABRICATION Portable Welding & Repairs Tel: (519) 887-6594 Fax: (519) 887-9746 DONALD IVES General Contractor Repairs and Maintenance Brussels 887-9024 PAGE 32. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2006. Trustees learn more about SNSS area of excellence By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Making repeated good-natured references to the high profile given the student-run Screaming Avocado cafeteria and catering service (it has been featured in major media in New York and Toronto), a teacher and principal took the opportunity Tuesday, Oct. 10 to inform Avon Maitland District School Board trustees about the most recent developments in Stratford Northwestern Secondary School's (SNSS) much more long- established area of excellence: training in skilled trades like welding and manufacturing. "It's funny, because the Screaming Avocado is right next door to us in the school," teacher Tim Roth chuckled. "In fact, if (the culinary arts students) wanted to, maybe they could do their creme brulees in our welding shop." Since opening in the early 1960s, SNSS has built a reputation for strong technical education programming. Recent developments, including the provincial Education ministry's selection of the school as a Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) pilot project site, certainly strengthen that reputation. "This fall SNSS will be moving to the next level with the launch of its Manufacturing High Skills Major focused on the needs of the students, the community and the demand for a highly skilled labour force," stated a recent news release from the office of Perth-Middlesex MPP John Wilkinson. One of 27 sites chosen to host SHSM pilot projects, SNSS joins high schools in Windsor and. Hamilton in concentrating specifically on -manufacturing trades. (St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School in Clinton was chosen to host an agricultural technology SHSM pilot project.) The SHSM concept is part of the province's Student Success initiative, and is aimed at providing specifically targetted lists of high school courses which might direct students towards a particular cared or post-secondary education path. "The Manufacturing High Skills Major will allow students to earn a minimum of six manufacturing credits as well as related credits in fields such as mathematics and cooperative education," the news release states. "The students will also be enrolled in a variety of certification programs such as Young Worker Awareness Program, Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation." At the Oct. 10 meeting, Roth and SNSS principal Deb McNair also provided trustees with -information about other programs in the school's technical department, including the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, partnerships with area industries, and training for non-school aged apprentices outside regular school hours. "We had one student . . . who probably would have been a Grade 10 drop-out in years past," Roth said. "But by providing that local connection between training and the workplace, he's now working in Woodstock." He explained the school doesn't aim to take on all -the roles of a community college, but "in an area that's underserved" by those colleges, "we want to be able to serve our students locally." That might include making the investments necessary — in things like insurance or qualified instructors — to be able to allow students to achieve certain certifications. But if that's too expensive, then perhaps similar goals can be achieved by establishing stronger links with community colleges. Even with the SHSM, McNair added, "there may be some opportunities for some reach-ahead credits from the colleges. That hasn't been fully sorted out yet." AMDSB takes emphasis of decision-making role By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Officials of the Avon Maitland District School Board were careful to emphasize the non-decision- making role of a provincially- mandated 10-year capital plan, approved by trustees at a regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 10. . "(Approving the plan) does not mean everything in this document will come to be," clarified Huron East/Central Huron trustee Shelley Kaastra, prior to the unanimous vote. The plan hints at such possibilities as relocating Grades 7 and 8 students into high schools in Mitchell, Listowel, Goderich and St. Marys, closing one of two in-town elementary schools in Mitchell and Goderich, and constructing a new school in. St. Marys to replace two existing elementary facilities. "This is a tool to help plan the capital costs that the board may face," explained education director Geoff Williams, as an introduction to the portion of the meeting dealing with the 10-year document. "This is not an accommodation review . . . We see it, and the education ministry sees it, as an attempt to capture all the potential things that might happen within the board." Business superintendent Janet Baird-Jackson reviewed the process by which the plan came into being, including a decree from the provincial government for board staff to submit a first draft by January, 2006, and a subsequent request to have some sort of public consultation. In the Avon Maitland board, that took the form of meetings over the spring and summer of 2006, organized mainly through communication with school councils. "It is intended to be a living database," Baird-Jackson explained, adding the lines of communication will remain open for school communities to have further input. Trustees Jenny Versteeg and Tina Traschel each raised concerns about the most recent version of the 10- year plan. Versteeg, representing North Perth, wondered why the plan hinted at the construction of a new cafeteria within what is now an outdoor "quad" portion of Listowel District Secondary School, even though feedback from the school community suggested a desire to retain the quad. And her Perth East counterpart asked why no additions are suggested for Sprucedale elementary school in Shakespeare, even though enrolment projections point to a possible space crunch. Minor amendments were made to the plan to address each trustee's concern. Goderich/northwest Huron representative Emily Milley, meanwhile, raised the more controversial issue of whether the feedback from school councils represented the entire school community. "I've received some calls, since the story about this plan appeared in the newspaper, and people are saying that not all school councils are elected, and that they don't Continued on page 33 Business Directory ELLIOTT NIXON INSURANCE BROKERS INC, 4 GenerationE BLYTH, ON R. John Elliott Res. (519) 523-4323 Since 1910 NOM 1H0 J. Richard Elliott Res. (519) 523-9725 519-523-4481 Randy Nixon Res. (519) 523-4989 MEMBEP OF HURON INSURANCE MANAGERS GROUP WARD & UPTIGROVE P.O. 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