HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-12-01, Page 7HPCDSB gets information on
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2005. PAGE 7.
planning meetings
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Notices of municipal Planning Act
public meetings — those not
involving school properties — aren’t
normally on the agenda for school
board meetings.
But three such notices were
provided as information for trustees
of the Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board during their regular
meeting Monday, Nov. 21.
That’s because all three meetings
involve separate potential
developments — either completely
or largely residential — nearby the
board’s newest school in Listowel.
St. Mary’s Catholic elementary
school opened in September of this
year to replace an aging facility in
Hesson, with the move to the larger
urban centre being an obvious
consideration due both to Listowel’s
present population and projections
for continued future development.
The three potential residential
subdivisions — all scheduled to
undergo public scrutiny on
Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Perth County
Court House in Stratford — provide
strong evidence those projections
were on the mark.
“I think it’s good for the
community overall, that within this
area, there is development taking
place,” business superintendent
Gerry Thuss said in an interview
following the Nov. 21 meeting.
Earlier, he had told trustees that
“(residential development) is
moving closer and closer to our
school.”
The Tremaine Avenue school now
sits on the southern edge of
Listowel’s developed landscape,
with industrial land uses and a
church as its nearest neighbours. But
proposed subdivisions of 27.3
hectares and 25.18 hectares,
currently owned by J&R Holdings
and Wallaceview Developments
Ltd., respectively, would put a large
number of residential units within
easy and safe walking distance of St.
Mary’s Catholic..
A much smaller proposed
development containing a mixture of
land uses including residential,
closer to Listowel’s downtown, will
also go before a public meeting Dec.
1.
“It’s great to see that growth
coming along,” noted school board
chair Bernard Murray.
School takes healthy initiative
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
The promotion of healthy
lifestyles again emerged as a theme
in a school board meeting on
Monday, Nov. 21, with principal
Dave Cassone of St. Boniface
Catholic elementary school in
Zurich informing trustees from
his board about the work of his
school’s Healthy and Safe School
committee.
St. Boniface is one of the schools
receiving funds from the county
Health Units in a brand new
initiative aimed at encouraging
school policies about nutritional
intake and physical activity. In an
interview following the meeting,
Cassone reported those funds had
begun to flow, with St. Boniface
receiving a cheque last week.
But it was what Cassone said
during the meeting — in his school’s
submission in the monthly “Goals,
School News and
Accomplishments” report — that
proved the Zurich facility is ahead of
the game when it comes to
promoting student health.
According to the principal, the
creation of the Healthy and Safe
School committee came out of an
attempt to follow through on what’s
referred to in school board jargon as
a “PLC” — a professional learning
community.
That means bringing together
everyone with a stake in a school’s
well-being — staff, administration,
community members, parents —
and deciding how best to accomplish
the school’s goals.
At St. Boniface, it was decided to
split the traditional Parent Council
into a series of subcommittees.
Cassone says one particular parent
“who was passionate” about healthy
choices for students spearheaded a
subcommittee tackling health and
safety.
So far this year, the school has
promoted a separate health-related
theme in each of the three months:
water, fruits and vegetables, and, in
November, fast food. On Thursday,
Nov. 24, members of the school
community will be walking around a
measured distance on the
schoolyard, and calculations will be
made to indicate how many fast
food-derived calories they’ve
burned off through exercising.
Other events have included having
the student body “piped” through
Zurich by a bagpiper, and
completing an obstacle course
before snacking from a fruit and
vegetable tray back in the
classroom.
“It’s not hard to get going if you’re
committed to it,” Cassone said,
following the Nov. 21 meeting.
An ongoing project is a “walk
across Canada,” with students, staff
and parents adding up their
kilometres in the schoolyard in an
attempt to reach a total equal to the
distance across the country.
“It’s not a huge deal,” Cassone
told trustees. “However, we’ve got
kids out walking and being active.
We’re dealing with quality daily
physical activity.”
He said promotion of healthy
choices “can be done in the phys-ed
class; it can be done in Math class.”
And he told trustees that not only
does the initiative improve student
health, he believes strongly it also
improves school spirit and
contributes to a decrease in
disruptive behaviour.
“Our children are active,” the
principal explained.
406 Mill St
Blyth
519-523-4793
All I want for Christmas...
Little ones can often be a little tipid around Santa so this
one gets a little moral support when they visited with Santa
Claus at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre.
Kids had the opportunity to see St? Nick and go skating
following the annual parade in Brussels Saturday night.
(Heather Crawford photo)
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