Loading...
Times-Advocate, 1999-03-24, Page 1010 Exeter Times—Advocate Wednesday, March 24, 1999 Opinion&Forum Remember when... On June 30 to July 1. 2000, South Huron District High School will celebrate its 50th Anniversary. The Exeter limes Advocate would like to join in the celebrations by sharing articles or pictures which have appeared over the years. YEARS 1947 TO 1950 - HI HIGHLIGHTS Gleaned from Exeter District High School The New High School As Seen By The Editor A visit to the new Exeter District High School convinces one of being born thirty years too soon. Having sat on the Board of Education for a num- ber of years and having wrestled with the prob- lem of inadequate accommodation, poor lighting, insufficient heating and fearful that every rain would flood the boiler pits, we look back now with wonder and amazement at what has been accom- plished in so short a time. The new school is beyond the dreams of any member that sat on the old Board of Education. Looking back we think of the search for a site and the various spots that were under serious consideration. Seeing the new school in its pre- sent location one cannot help but realize the wise choice the new Board made. We made a visit to the school Monday to see the scholars in their new classrooms. One side of each classroom is practically all windows. Mastic tile covers the floors. The new colour dynamics have been used to great advantage. Every room has a different colour -scheme - different colours on the floor, different shades on the walls and ceilings. Some of them we thought were very lovely, others not so attractive, and some we did- n't think much of (and, as tastes differ, we haven't told anybody which rooms didn't appeal to us). The halls have a terrazzo flooring and the walls are lined with lockers. Each scholar has a locker of his own with combination lock. We met one young lady who had forgotten the combination. Here's something we shouldn't mention but, boys it appealed to us! There seemed to be pri- vate toilets all over the place for the teaching staff, and toilets and showers for the scholars. A con- trol system keeps the water for the showers at an even temperature. It is a far cry from the day that dad used to hang out the Eaton's Catalogue. The science room, the commercial room, the workshop and domestic science rooms are some- thing small towns thought were only for city pupils. Everything is there to give the student an opportunity to determine just what line of voca- tion he is interested in and would like to follow. The girls will like the domestic science rooms. They are equipped for sewing classes, cooking and baking classes, electric stoves, electric refrig- erator, foot and power sewing machine, a Murphy bed, dining room table with fancy dishes and sil- verware. Every girls that takes this course should have some of the fundamental ideas of good housekeeping. And then there is the cafeteria. There is many a restaurant owner that would be proud to own such equipment. It is complete for the prepara- tion of the meals that will be served to the stu- dents at the noon hour. The dining room with its bright windows will seat about half of the student body at once. The students will be allowed a forty -minute period at noon for lunch and will be served a hot meal. The only fly in the ointment here is the fact that there will be no time for the students to hike downtown and spend a short time in their favourite hangouts. Recreation has not been neglected and the large auditorium or gymnasium will take care of physical exercises, games, sports, dramatics, etc. Mrs. Smith, wife of the resident superintendent of construction, has given us a new word for this room. She calls it a "gymtorium". We like that name for it. A master clock controls the time -pieces and a signal is given at the close of each period. The official opening of the new school will be held Wednesday afternoon next at 2:30 when Hon. Leslie Frost, Premier of Ontario, will be pre- sent. The public is invited. Now that we have the high school students well cared for, let us kill get behind the public school trustees with their plans for a new public school! For more information about the 5111)1 tS "All - Years Reunion" contact Kendra Arthur 235-4006 (f -I) or 235-4587 (W) or Pat Rowe 236-7167 • 0 • • • • HE • • Hensall Public School to show its viability Dear Editor: The School Council at Hensall Public School is in the process of compiling information pertaining to the via- bility of the school. The Council is asking the community for input. There are numerous community members with knowledge about how the existing school has come to be, where it is and what it is. In an attempt to create a plan of viability for ourselves now and for future use, we ask individuals to please share their information with the Council. We encourage you to call the school at 262-2833 and leave your name so a Council member can contact you, or if available, drop off your information at school's office. We would like to discuss the received ,n and what is to follow at our next general meew.b be held April 15, 1999 in the library at Hensall Public School at 7:30 p.m. The School Council at Hensall Public School is putting together a 'Welcome' package to help the newcomers to our school become better acquainted with our school community. The Council is asking the area's business- es/services to send, fax or drop off their business card, hours of operation, and type of business/service at the school to be included in this information package. To contact the school your options are: email: www.avonmaitland.on.ca/HensallPS/ fax: 262-2323 telephone: 262-2833 address: 85 York Street, Hensall NOM 1X0 Thank you for helping us welcome our new families. HENSALL PUBLIC SaiooL COUNCIL Writer upset with exclusion from meeting Dear Editor: On March 10 I attended an "open meeting" in Holmesville, a meeting sponsored by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture. I attended in order to learn what the newly formed GALLO (Gas Lease Landowners of Ontario) group were going to tell farm landowners about oil and gas leases. Along with the press, all oil industry representatives were barred and in fact removed from the open meeting. We have dealt with the GALLO group before and found their demands to be unreasonable and their attempt at negotiations to be in bad faith. Our firm has tried to explain our position to them and they keep demanding that our firm pay for their legal representation. We are afraid of undertaking unproductive negotiations that would lead to no positive results while the legal bills sky- rocket. In my office I personally asked Mr. McMurphy if he wanted. exploration on his lands and he made it quite clear that he did. It is my opinion that we will never be able to satisfy this group and thus my firm will not attempt to negotiate with them again. Landowners should be aware that promises made that we will cover Mr. Vogel's legal bills are untrue. It is impossible for me to respond directly to any of the points raised at the meeting but let me say that I am proud of the oil and gas industry in Ontario. The comity nies involved in searching for natural resources are act- ing in good faith. There are strict government regula- tions and standards that they have to follow under threat of severe penalty. If the government inspector finds an exploration firm is not in compliance with the regulations and standards, that firm will face extremely harsh penalties and find itself in court. Our firm has leased a lot of land in Huron County. These people can rest assured that the leases that they signed are fairly balanced to protect the rights of both the landowner and the oil exploration firm. The wording of these leases has been tested time and time again in the courts across North America. Through extensive precedent setting cases the leases have been adapted and modified to make sure that the meaning of each clause is clearly understood in the eyes of the law. It is not for me or my firm to make changes to the body of the lease. I have absolutely no intention of changing my lease form. It would be highly absurd to think that I am smarter than the many, many lawyers that have fought for and against the lease in court. • The simple fact is that our lease can be amended by adding a Schedule 11 to the lease If there are specific issues that concern the landowner. We are happy to add clauses to the lease that will more particularly define the lease in order to provide the landowner with a greater sense of security. The protection for the landowner is written right into the body of the lease when it says that the oil company is responsible for all damages. That is Princi al's message Manypeople regard competition as a necessary P P 8 P and valuable tool in educating young people. The argument goes that stu- dents will be more motivated if they have to compete for high marks, academic awards and just the satisfaction that comes from being the top of the pack. But having "winners" presupposes that there are "losers". What then of those who didn't win the high- est mark or the top spot? For many kids, competition leads to frustration and anxiety and the benefits of a "friendly rivalry" begin to be outweighed by that increased anxiety. Even for those students in the upper academic level who may have a reasonable chance of success, anxiety is no less real and no less damaging. Certainly this is the time of year when we watch our senior students begin the spring term sweat: "Will I get accepted to college or university?" "Will my marks be good enough for residence?" "Will I graduate in June with all of my friends?" Highly competitive academic situations have neg- ative side-effects in addition to increased anxiety and frustration. Brighter students soon learn to be somewhat cautious about cooperating with fellow students with whom they are in competition. Another problem with competitive academic situ- ations arises when students desire to impress the teacher with the right answer (yes, most kids still want to please the teacher) and end up hiding from the teacher those honest questions which might lead to further understanding. Proponents of interpersonal competition argue that children and young people have an innate desire to compete with each other. The difficulty with that sort of defence is that young people have other innate desires too. For example, it can be argued that they have a natural desire to cooper- ate, to love, to get along with other people and to help one another. Why, of all natural desires, is competition the one to be emphasized? Perhaps our whole society tends to emphasize competition too much which would suggest it is a result more often of how we nurture our children than of how nature has planned it. Society is a competitive place. The work place in the 90's may even be too competitive. So shouldn't at least some of our time in school be focussed on teaching kids how to make society better not just how to survive in it? Do we really want our kids to work in a world that's even more competitive than our work world already is? Furthermore, isn't there a difference between an adult selecting the competitive situations they want to place themselves in and children and young peo- ple, who are required to attend school by law, being forced to compete just by the fact that they go to school to learn? There is no question, standards must be suffi- ciently high so that the best interests of society will be served; but let's not artificially limit our young people by spending too much of our energy on identifying the "winners". No child should get up in the morning to face a school day that dwells exces- sively on competition. DEB PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE absolute and indisputable. I am still shocked that we were excluded from this meeting. It is obvious to me that it was not an informa; tion meeting, rather a membership drive at which the attendees were offered membership at $100 per person. My question is why did this group not offer to share all of their specific information with the people attending the meeting? Why did they hold back detailed informa- tion that would only be released to people paying for membership? Why did they not want anyone there that could refute or report on the half truths and exaggera- tions? Their actions were heavy handed and beneath the high standards of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture. The HCFA should consider long and hard before they associate themselves \ '''1 a narrow focus group like this again. But then this is only my opinion. Our firm is highly involved in the Huron County com- munity. We have been active in making our community a better place for all of us. Our staff are your friends and neighbours. We should not have been excluded from this meeting. This issue is closed for us. Yours truly, C. BRUCF. ELLIOTT, PRESIDENT, Elliott's Land Services Ltd.