HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-12-01, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2005.
Student trustees to visit secondary schools
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Student trustees of the Avon
Maitland District School Board will
be logging some miles during the
2005-06 school year.
Each year, a different group of
student trustees — one
representative from each Avon
Maitland secondary school —
gathers for a minimum of two
meetings per month, generally on
the same evening as the board’s
general meetings. They hear
presentations from administrative
staff about different initiatives of the
board, discuss issues related to
students, and sometimes send
requests, inquiries or information
bulletins to the publicly-elected
trustees.
Usually, one or two of the student
trustees remains in the Seaforth
based Avon Maitland headquarters
to attend the public meeting of
board, on an observer basis.
Beyond that, there’s variability
year by year regarding the degree to
which each group of student trustees
involves itself in board affairs or
student governance issues.
This year, Avon Maitland’s student
trustees have taken two
unprecedented steps toward making
themselves aware of the viewpoints
of their counterparts both within the
board and beyond.
At a general meeting Tuesday,
Nov. 22, Stratford Northwestern
Secondary School representative
Thea VanDenTempel informed the
Avon Maitland board that student
trustees have begun giving each
other tours of each of the board’s
high schools. Speaking to reporters
following the meeting, she said
student trustees hope to “see how
each school is run ... so when we
talk about stuff that’s going on at the
school, we have a better
understanding of what the other
(student) trustee is talking about.”
Tours have already been
conducted at Listowtl District
Secondary School and Central
Huron Secondary School in Clinton.
The two Stratford-based high
schools are next on the list, to be
visited prior to the Christmas break,
and the rest of the tours will be
completed in 2006.
Student trustees will also be
travelling further afield, however,
with representatives from every high
school expected to attend a
conference Nov. 30 at King City
Secondary School in the York
Region District School Board.
The conference explores the
concept of “character education,”
which aims to build strong
citizenship values within students by
incorporating various initiatives into
existing curriculum and
programming.
Developing character education
has been a focus for the entire Avon
Maitland board this year —
including a series of three well-
attended “community forums”
which wrapped up last week in
Mitchell — and VanDenTempel said
the student trustee group has taken
that to heart by endeavouring to send
representatives to the York Region
conference.
It's Finally Here!
The latest in Satellite Radios!
Leader talks about TERST team
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
There are some tragic situations —
the worst-case scenarios we pray
never happen, such as shootings —
for which it’s virtually impossible
for a school community to
completely prepare.
But according to Zurich Public
School principal Betty Beer, a
veteran leader of the Avon Maitland
District School Board’s Tragic Event
Response Support Team (TERST),
the board is adequately prepared for
other difficult events which are
known to happen from time to time
in Huron and Perth Counties.
“It used to be that there were two
limes per year when I could almost
be assured that (TERST team
members) would be getting a call,”
Beer told trustees during a regular
meeting Tuesday, Nov. 22. After
citing Easter and the high school
“prom" season as ominous times,
she added, “thankfully, that’s not
always as true as it used to be.”
Beer described the workings of the
TERS1 team to trustees, drawing on
her 15 years of experience in tragic
MT
debates
ATV use
on roads
The subject of ATVs on roadways
was debated at the Nov. 15 Morris-
Turnberry council meeting.
Councillor Neil Warwick listed 35
other municipalities in Ontario that
allow the use of ATVs on roadways
and presented council with the
Highway Traffic Act which states
that off-road vehicles are allowed
on all highways in Ontario except
400-series highways.
The OPP had stated earlier that
they would prefer ATVs on
roadways to be legal with some
control rather than motorists out on
the roads illegally as is currently the
case.
“The ATVs are better on roads
than on someone’s private
property,” Glen Miners a new
resident to Morris-Turnberry said.
There will be a public meeting
concerning the matter of ATVs on
the roadways during the regular
council meeting on Jan. 17 at 8 p.m.
events response, stretching back to
the time when she was a member of
the former Huron County school
board’s group.
She explained there are two types
of events which may trigger TERST
involvement: something which
directly affects all students in a
school; and something which may
only directly affect a few students.
In the first case, Avon Maitland
policy dictates TERST leaders must
be contacted, with a response — if
any — worked out from there. In the
second case, it’s up to the discretion
of the school principal to make the
call, but TERST team members are
available if needed.
Often, a relatively inexperienced
principal might need the assistance.
Beer described a recent “aggressive
situation” in which the principal
didn’t feel qualified to suspend a
student, but the TERST leader was
able — because she’s also a
principal with a certain level of
authority — “to step into that
situation and respond.”
TERST team members are all
board employees, with none
specifically trained in tragic event
response. But the team does boast
expertise in such areas as nursing,
suicide intervention, guidance, first
aid, dealing with the media, and
supporting students with special
needs.
“We’re not doctors but we do
recognize the signs of a child who is
experiencing trauma,” Beer said.
Such expertise can make it easier
for TERST team members to call for
the assistance of various community
service providers, including the
Children’s Aid Society, the OPP, the
District Health Units, Victims
Services or local hospitals.
Depending on each team
member’s area of expertise, they
may be called to respond to a
particular type of event. “Some don’t
see a tragic event in the space of the
year; others may see many,” said
Beer. But even for teachers and
principals, she added. “I don’t think
any of us will get through a career
without a tragic event happening in
our classroom.”
Trustees Jenny Versteeg and
Colleen Schenk wondered about
TERST activities during two
specific times of the year: on
anniversaries of past tragic events,
and when tragic events happen--
during the summer, when classes are
on hiatus.
Beer responded that the team is
aware of the significance of these
times, and works with the school
community to try and gauge whether
or not a response should be
undertaken, either on the
anniversary date or at the resumption
of classes.
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COMMEMORATE THE NEWEST
FAMILY MEMBER’S 1ST NEW YEAR
Join the gallery of faces in The Citizen’s
baby photo display January 5, 2006
Send or bring a picture of your little one bom in
2005 along with a writeup which includes full name,
birth date and parents' names, to be featured in The
Citizen's Gallery of Faces on January 5, 2006, for
only $18.50 (GST included).
Please send picture (with name on back), along
with a cheque, to The Citizen prior to December 19.
Photos may be picked up after January 5.
THIS MUST BE PRE-PAID.
- Sample -
Alex John Smith
May 18 -
son of
Mike & Laura
Smith
Please Complete
Baby's Full Name
Birth Date.
Parents' Names
□ $18.50 Enclosed
DEADLINE - December 19