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Goderich Signal Star, 2011-10-05, Page 296 t ,oderich Signal -Star • Wednesday, October 5, 2011 MDSB student senators face learning curve Teen reps also leve nderstood roles, t1 hears arshall dent senators for the t\ taitla td District School �i (AMI)SB) can find selves with one foot in tterent worlds. tile AMDSB t)SB Sept. 27 lig, trustee .Jenny Vers - s rid that the student .ii representatives face teep learning curve" of ig formal meeting struc- Ancl while the senators ave trouble understand- f adult procedures and oreofthe AMDSB, the cors also feel that their re not understood by ellow teenagers. t Jot really well known in hools," student trustee i t :oneybeare told board tnd trustees. "A lot of we go to a classroom a v . `We're your school urs`, and they'll be like, 'oh, like, what is that? What do you do?'" Versieeg, chair of the Stu- dent Advisory Council, drafted a report after AMDSB trustees expressed concern over poor attendance at Student Advisory meeting, as well as the quality of input, which Versteeg's report attributes to "time constraints on both the meetings and planning for the meetings" Another issue noted in the report wasfinding enough students for the student coun- cils at AMDSB secondary schools, although Coneybeare and fellow student trustee Mathias Memmel said after the meeting that their councils had healthy numbers. Memmel said his school, South Huron District High g School, has upwards of 25 members out of a population Alanna Coneybeare of about 700, which he described as -"good participation An aspiring politician, Menirnel said he participates because his high school is undergoing a merger. Being able to sit at the board table when decisions are made gives "some peace of mind" to his student council, he said. Coneybeare, a student of 1 i s t nwel District Secondary school, wants to work in the -education field and enjoys the opportunity to "see the inner workings of the school board" She said the LDSS student council is currently at 12, not including the yet -to -be - named representatives for each grade: That council will be the voice for a little under 1,000 students. Each secondary school in the AMDSB chooses a student senator from its student coun- cil. Besides student trustees Coneybeare and Memmel, the other seven student senators are. Matt Chalmers from Cen- tral Huron SS, Michele Stud - halter from F.E. Madill SS, Hope. Resilience. Determination. We would like to extend our heartfelt thoughts to our community. United, we can get through this. ji-rjr- PURSER'S PUTTY DRYWALL Chad Austin from (,oderich DCI, Samantha Flower from Mitchell DI IS, Hannah Weir from St. Marys DCVI, Justin Sullivan from Strat- ford Central SS and Josef Lafontaine from Strat- ford North- western SS. Senators meet bi- monthly and plan a Student Council Symposium every spring for secondary school student councils across the AMDSB. In the last few years they have. also created a project to express student opinions to AMDSB trustees and senior. staff. Previous projects have included bottled water, the - inclusion of Grades 7 and 8 in high schools and an IT survey. Senators also sit on board committees, although Vers- teeg's report notes that "the student senators find that Mathais Mernmel once they are on these com- mittees, their presence is not required." Two senators are chosen as student trustees. These student trustees sit at the board table during meetings and submit a report on the activities of the student senators. "Student trustees are con- cerned with how to fit into the discussion at the board table and what protocols they should follow," noted Vers- teeg's report. Versteeg said that at the group's last meeting, she out- lined the structure: of a for- mal meeting. "It's probably clearas mud until you've been to a few," she observed. The report suggested that AMDSB senior staff help stu- dent senators explain their role to their student councils, either through a podcast embedded in online course selection calendars or in broadcasts on the schools' announcement display screens. Versteeg's report also noted that student senators struggled with workloads and time constraints. She sug- gested planning discussion topics far enough in advance to allow students time to think through the issue. Coneybeare told trustees that this year's group of sena- tors has already set meeting dates and is planning their year three months at a time to prevent things getting left to the end of the school year, an especially busy time since most senators will be prepar- ing to move to post -second- ary schools at that point. Coneybeare and Memmel told the board that the sena- tors also want to pursue more frequent communication with AMDSB trustees and staff, through the First Class Intranet System, emails or phone calls. Memmel said quarterly updates between senators and their trustees had been suggested, while Coneybeare said a manual is also being proposed. Virtual Latch -on highlight of Breastfeeding Week Breastfeeding. celebration planned for October 6 in Clinton It's meeting people where they're at, and many new.par- ents are online: That's why the 1-luron County Health Unit has organized a Virtual Latch -on to celebrate Canadian Breast- feeding Week the first week of October. Latch -on is a term used to describe an infant latching on to the mother's breast to breastfeed. Lactation Consult- ant and Public Health Nurse, . INSTALL SMOKE ALARMS ITI11EIIW Every home in Ontario must have o working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all slkeping afros. '141 i1 MAR'`NAI Amy Leduc, says, "Our Virtual Latch -on is really just a way of showing support for breast- feeding moms in Huron County. We invite grandmoth- ers, grandfathers, dads, moms, youth, men, and women to log on to our Facebook page dur- ing the Virtual Latch -on to show thein support:' The Virtual Latch,on is. October 4 from 10 toll a.m.. Visit www.facebook.com/ breastfeedingconnection- shuroncounty and click on the I Support Breastfeeding button. The health unit isn't just meeting people online. They are also hosting a breastfeed- ing celebration during Cana- dian Breastfeeding Week at the healthunit in Clinton on Octo- ber 6 froth 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Leduc encourages everyone to attend to share their stories and support breastfeeding. Many Huron County busi- nesses are supporting this event with door prizes. Canadian Breastfeeding Week is always planned for the first weekafter the ninth month of the year to symbol- ize the beginning of breast- feeding after birth. Leduc says breastmilk is convenient, always the right temperature and available at any time. It decreases the risk of obesity, ea; chest and stom- ach infections. It also pro- motes healthy brain develop- ment evelopment and proper jaw and tooth development. The World Health Organization recom- mends exclusive breastfeed- ing for the first six months of life, and to continue for up to two years Leduc says over 90 per cent of l futon County mothers start breastfeeding their babies and many continue past six months. The health unit website has podcasts of Huron County mothers sharing their breast- feeding stories. They can be heard at www.huroncounty. ca/health. The health unit also holds breastfeeding support clinics: • Tuesday mornings 9 - 12 in Wingham (288 Josephine Street) • Thursday mornings 9 -- 12 in Clinton (77722B London Road) For more information about the events or breastfeeding supports, caU the health unit at 519-482-3416 or 1-877-837- 6143.