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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1987-02-25, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, February 25, 1987 Adult Ilteiwicy The book "Why Johnny Can't Read" caused quite a flurry when it burst onto the North American scene in 1966. Now, two decades later, Johnny is an adult and he still can't read. An -article in the March issue of Readers Digest states that five million Canadians, one-fifth of the na- tion's population, are functionally il- literate. (The United Nations Educa- tional, Scientific and Cultural Organization's standard for func- tional literacy is .a grade nine education). The article's author terms this situation a national disgrace and .a waste of human potential. In addition, the "business costs of illiteracy are high, and the social costs are_out-of sight". - While technological- ad-- vancements in the marketplace are reducing job opportunities for those who lack reading and writing skills. this same lack is a barrier to retrain- ing. Providing financial support to those without jobs is also costly. The article ends with a quote from John O'Leary, program director at Frontier College in Toronto, an in- stitution specializing in teaching il- literate adults: "If Canadians care enough, we can cut illiteracy in this country by half within two decades. This problem is not hard to get hold of. All it takes is one person who can read and another who wants it. Together, they can solve the problem People in Exeter do care. The pro- blem has been identified, and steps taken to provide a solution. The South Huron Alternative Program in Education (SHAPE) has been created to offer adult literacy classes in Exeter, beginning _in April._._ The SHAPE program was initiated by South Huron District 'High School principal Bruce Shaw and guidance head Rick Graham after accepting an invitation last fall from Huron board superintendent Arnold Mathers to personally investigate a literacy pro - At arm's length from high school courses to be offered in Exeter gram that was set up in Gtoderich two years ago. The two were favourably impressed, and agreed to prepare the groundwork for a similar program in Exeter. SHAPE has the enthusiastic back- ing of the Huron Board. The Exeter program will operate through the Independent Learning Centre, a department of the ministry of education which offers free courses for Englishp-speaking adults who want to learn to read and write. The adult basic literacy courses and all learning material such as workbooks and audio -cassette tapes will be sup- plied free of charge by the Centre. Once the basics were in place, Shaw and Grahamlurned their --attention to an essential part of the plan - recruit ing a volunteer coordinator for the SHAPE program. They both thought of the same person. And Lin- da Hawley accepted the job. "This job involves working with human beings rather than materials. CANDLE LIGHTING CEREMONY — Nine boys and girls lit candles during Saturday's Scouts and Guides Founders Day program at Trivitt Anglican Church. Shown with Rev. Walter 'Duke' Vipperman are Rianne Laye, Jamie Palsa, Freeman Hodgson, Christine Chappel, Elaine Heywood, Teri Kerr, Kim Ambrose, Brenden Kraftcheck and Jeff Bowen. T -A photo Osborne council, staff receive pay increases Members- of Usborne Township council have voted themselves and most employees stipend increases in thearea of four percent for 1987. The reeve's stipend goes from $1.590 to $1,655, while the deputy reeve's is up to $1,361 from last year's $1,306. The pay for council members will be $1,272 for the current year, compared to $1,222 in 1986. Members of council receive $53 for special meetings in addition to the an- nual stipend and $35 for board and committee meetings. - Salary for` the clerk -treasurer this year will be $25,871.87 compared to the 1985 rate of $24,876.80, while the deputy will receive $14,019.20. The road superintendent's salary has been established at $26,000 for this year. The foreman will receive $11.08 per hour and the grader operator will be paid $10.97. Their rates last year were $10.66 and $10.55 respectively. Both are guaranteed 40 hours of work per week and receive time and half off in lieu of any overtime pay. The building inspector's stipend was increased $200 to $3,700 and the hourly rate for the drainage superintendent was boosted 40 cents to $10.40. The waste disposal officer is paid $41.00 per day, up from last year's $39.52 and the dog control officer receives $2.05 per tag and $35 per call. Day labor rate for the township has been set at $4.75 per hour. up from the 1986 figure of $4.54. In other business at their first February meeting and two special meetings, council: Set April 3 for a public meeting on the five-year review of the secondary O plan. Approved installation of a call for- warding telephone feature at the township garage and a township business phone for the home of road superintendent Ken,Parker. Responded to a representation from Sharon Passmore and granted $50 for prizes for the 1987 llensall-South Huron Agricultural Society Spring Fair and $5 for each township resident participating in the Hensel! Calf Club. Gave the road superintendent per- mission to hire a tractor and loader and chainsaw when necessary and approved purchase of an acetylene cutting torch for the township workshop. Approved attendance of John Bat- ten and Ken Parker at a drainage superintendent's course in Kitchener from March 23-27. � l A YOUTH WEEKEND — About 80 young people from the Huron -Perth Presbytery of the United Church attended the weekend Youth Experience '87 at Exeter United Church. Above, guest speaker Jim Taylor of Toronto checks the agenda with Gwen Holland, Clinton; Kim Crawford, Exeter; Michelle Zurbrigg, Sebringville and Tom Oke, Exeter. T ,AphQ • Personal qualities are most impor- tant". Graham explained. "Since moving to thiscommunity'Linda has shown she has energy, enthusiam, a good sense of humor, and she gets along well with people." Linda's background -is in the secretarial rather than ,educational field. Her introduction to teaching was helping with the individual lear- ning program when her daughter was in grade one. The most recent, she laughed, was helping her daugther in grade seven build avolcano. . - Linda confessed she was unaware a literacy problem even existed until approached by Graham and Shaw to head the SHAPE program. "I am challenged by the opportuni- ty to bring something of benefit to people into the community. I'm ex- cited by the possibility of seeing so- meone omeone come in with limited skills and go out a few months later with opera- tional skills. If we get enough volunteers, I won't even be teaching; I will be there to support the students on their learning journey," Linda said. The classes will be held in the Ex- eter United Church, which is donating its facilities as part of its outreach. "There's a reason this program is being run at arm'slength from the school", Graham said, expressing his hope some people with negative memories of school will feel more comfortable in a different setting. Getting out the news about the SHAPE program will be done through word of mouth, through the schools, and through cartoon -type ads in local papers. Those who enroll in the program will be paired on a one-to-one basis with volunteer tutors. Much of the learning material is visual or on tape. Pictures will encourage word associa- tion, and this will be reinforced with the tapes. The program is three -pronged. Stu- dent and volunteer work together once a week. Students also work at home with their workbooks and tapes between classes. Lessons are sent away to be marked at the Indepen- dent Learning Centre. Each student will work at his or her own speed, without any_pressureto-- keep up with anyone else, "I can visualize a large number of volunteer tutors... I don't anticipate - any problems there", Linda said. She feels the greater challenge will be to reach those who can benefit from the program. Graham gave a brief synopsis of a documentary he saw recently. show- ing how a textile town in Georgia tackled its literacy problem; The whole community cooperated in a successful effort to upgrade reading and writing skills. The local school provided the learning materials. The town council assisted with the adver- tising. The company allowed classrooms to be set up in the plant. and gave workers time off to attend classes. + The literacy level was raised remarkably in a short time, and corn: pany employees vyere prepared for retraining. . "Everybody won. In a literacy pro - 'gram, there can't be any losers" Graham said. The SHAPE program is flexible One injury in collision Only one collision was investigated by the Exeter OPP this week. It occurred on Monday on Highway —.Cat the intersection of Highway 84 in Hens lF Gita -involved l+_icles operated by Alexander Verbeerk, Clinton, and Adelma Mellecke, Str•• ord. - The atter was taken to South Huron 1.1(Ap' al for treatment of minor in- juri s as a result of the accident. t amage to the two vehicles was e 'mated at $6,000. - During the week, the local detach- ment officers laid 47 charges under the Highway Traffic Act, two under µtb biquov-Rieenee-Aet-and-two under-- the Motorized Snow Vehicle Act. . The roadside R.I.D.E. spot checks continued and there were two people charged with impaired driving and seven . received 12 -hour ' licence suspensions. The latter figure was the highest ever recorded in one week by the local detachment. Judge -rules :constable driving too fast in chase Surviving members of a Goderich provincial police officer's family will • be awarded $355,000 to $450,000, said lawyers in an Ontario supreme court • civil suit that ended in London on 'Friday. In his decision, Mr. Justice Dennis O'Leary put 75 per cent of the respon- sibility for the accident that claimed the life of Constable Bruce Crew on September 25, 1983, on the two occupants of aPontiac Firebird that led police on a high-speed chase. Allan Nicholson, 25 and Wayne McDonald, 27, both of RR 2, Lucknow, were' the driver and owner of the Firebird. But the judge also said that Goderich town Constable Peter Mason, whose cruiser caused 'the crash that killed Crew, had been driv- ing too fast considering the cir- cumstances and therefore, he, his chief, Patrick King, and the Goderich police commission were 25 per cent liable. London lawyer Earl Cherniak, representing the Crew family, said later he was happy not only with the award, which he estimated would be worth about $450,000, but also by the judge's comments that vindicated Crew's performance as a policeman. During the trial, defence lawyers at times depicted Crew as an officer who could scarcely carry out his duties because of a back and knee problem and had poor performance evaluations. But O'Leary said that many things come into play when assessing the worth of an officer other than just his willingness to hand out tickets and summonses and his physical abilities. He said . Crew was strong but possessed a gentle temperament and other officers often sought him out for knowledge and experience. Toronto lawyer Murray Davison, who represented Goderich police, said he was disappointed with the judge's findings but doesn't know whether there will be an appeal, Ile estimated the award would bring the Crew family $355,000 to $375,000. Asked whether Nicholson and McDonald carried enough insurance to cover three-quarters of the award, Davison said: "No, that was the whole point (of the case against Mason and Goderich police)". He said even if the judge found Mason one per cent responsible for Crew's death, the Goderich police department would have to pay whatever part of the Sward McDonald and Nicholson couldn't. The precise amount of the award has yet to be determined but in his decision O'Leary announced a com- plex formula actuaries will use to develop the award. The award includes compensation for the salary, pension and potential post-retirement earnings that Crew would have probably collected. It also makes provision for the loss of Crew's care, guidance, companionship and contribution to maintaining the household. Crew, 47, died shortly after 3 a.ni. on September 25,1983, after he and his partner, Constable John Straughan, intercepted a Pontiac Firebird that Mason had been chasing along Huron County Road 18, a hilly gravel stretch about 12 kilometres south of Goderich. Although Mason heard over his radio that OPP had caught the Firebird, he didn't know the vehicles were stopped at the bottom of the same hill he was climbing. He applied his brakes as soon as he came to the crest of the hill and saw the OPP cruiser's lights but was unable to keep his cruiser from skid- ding down the slope and crashing in- to the Firebird. Crew was standing next to the Firebird when the crash occurred. enough to allow for growth. Graham language, upgrading in science and foresees later expansion as a vehicle math, and many other exciting for teaching' English as a second possibilities. IN PREPARATION — Looking over some of the material which will be usedfor adult literacy classes which begin in Exeter in April are SHDHS principal Bruce Shaw (left), volunteer coordinator Linda - Hawley and SHDHS guidance head Rick Graham. BIA annual meeting Continued from front page The $32.511 in expenditures was us- ed as follows: advertising and promo- tion, $17.597, payment on downtown improvement loan, $11,000: ad- ministration, $2,308; sidewalk repair; $1,200; and accounting, legal and bank charges $406. The surplus from the previous year was reduced by__$4,075..- This year the board will be asking the town to approve a levy of $26,733 .an increase of•Tive percent over last year.. . . BrendaTriebner of Polka Dot is the newest member of the board. Other board members are: Jim Beckett. Susan Moore, Don Thompson, Gary MacLean, Len Hume, Jim Russell, Doug Ellison. Ben Hoogenboom and Karen Pfaff. Mrs. Pfaff felt the B.I.A. had been Successful. in attracting associate members last year and this is an area that will be important again this year. She also told the board the system WHY SATELLITE T.V.? -heel Idea -Good dually Programing •Increeeed Selepbrr ASK ABOUT -Celulie Mobile Telephone -0..6errOMr -Eoononrcal Financing STAHLKE SATELLITE SYSTEMS 27 Cedar St. John 81011110 271-49a2 Rest Interest 93/4 % ' Guaranteed Invster, I ( t e?I( mices • ealsersKnecle Insurance Brokers 1, Exotor r•Orand Bond 235-2420 • 238-8484 Clinton Honsoll Godorlch 482-9747 262.2119 524-2118 On location or Studio BartDeVrie PHOTOGRAPHY - COMMERCIAL - WEDDINGS - PORTRAITS - GROUPS - PUBLICITY Telephone 23S-1298 - 137 Thames Rd., East, Exeter, Orel. of using block captains worked well and it was hoped the majority of these captains would serve again this year. 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