Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-12-01, Page 8Opinion&Forum OPINIONS AND LETTERS County councillors face emergency decisions Please be advised that this letter is to inform County Councillors that the majority of Paramedics SUPPORT the original recommendation put forth by Huron County's Planning Department on Nov.18/99. That rec- ommendation was that Huron County itself should deliver Ambulance Services through a County depart- ment. The reasons most Paramedics support a County -run system are as follows: -the consultant identified a County -run Ambulance Service as the least expensive, most economical route to take versus the Request For Proposal route. -the costs of $3 'million for a County -run system ver- sus $3.7 million for a private rot-prat/the Request For Proposal route. -a County -run system puts the County In the driver's seat in that the County will have direct conte oir sys- tem design, service quality, budget control and harmo- ny, both short and long term. -a County -run system creates job security promoting uninterrupted careers that Paramedics need. -a significant GST savings in a County -run system could be utilized to better trainrncrease the skill levels of Huron County Paramedics. However, on Nov.18/99, Huron County's Steering Commitee's recommendation was Request For Proposal in principal. The concern of Paramedics at this point is that the. timeline needs to allow enough time for cost compar- isons of a County -run system versus proposals through the Request For Proposal route. Paramedics are confident that a County -run Ambulance Service would best serve the citizens of Huron County. The patient needs it and the tax payers demand it! 8 Exeter Times—Advocate Remember when... On June 30 to July 2, 2000, South Huron District High School ifirrti fflueN-1, will celebrate its 50th Btu Anniversary. The Exeter Times ow get Advocate would like to join in the �� celebrations by sharing articles or pictures which have appeared over the years. HI HIGHLIGHTS 1970 - 1979 Panthers wan Jr. title The South Huron Panthers won the Huron -Perth Conference junior championship Tuesday afternoon for the second straight year by downing the Goderich Vikings by a score of 21-6 in,a sudden -death game on the South Huron field. The win completed the second consecutive unde- feated season for the youngsters who are coached by Doug Ellison and Jack Riddell. They have now won 18 games in two seasons of play without a loss. In the final game, Goderich jumped in front quickly 6-0 as Paul Johnson returned the opening kickoff a distance of 100 yards and put the local juniors on thq. short end of the score for the first time this year. One of the key plays for the champs came late in the first half when Ray Lobb broke through the. Goderich line and blocked an attempted punt close to the goal line and the ball bounced into the end zone where Allan Knight recovered for the first South Huron touchdown of the afternoon. Perry Stover tossed a successful pass to Pius Dietrich for the two-point conversion to put South Huron in front 8-6 at half-time. Early in the third period, quarterback Perry. Stover started to sweep around the end and tossed a pass to wingback Gerard Charrette who galloped 50 yards for the major score which was not converted. Late in the quarter, the Panthers moved" the ball deep into Goderich territory and Pete Kleinstiver kicked a single point to make the point difference more than a converted touchdown. Well on in the fourth quarter Dave Cyr made a hard tackle on the Goderich quarterback and the ball squirted loose to be picked up by Gerald Weido on the one -yard line. Stover took the ball into paydirt on a quarterback sneak on the next play. Coach Ellison said it was the toughest game his club had encountered in two years. He praised his club for a good solid effort both ways. The blocked kick by Ray Lobb and interceptions by Gord Ward and Gord Pryde were instrumental in the win. Peter Kleinstiver kept the Goderich club in their Own end with his consistently long kick-offs and punts. Wayne Regier was the big ground .gainer for the Panthers picking up a total of 73 yards in 1,1 carries. Dave Cyr was close behind with 62 yards in an even dozen attempts and Perry Stover picked up 20 yards in six tries. Goderich coach Ray Donnelly said after the game "the South Huron boys outhustled us and that was it. They never gave up after being down early in the gam" SENIORS LOSE The South Huron senior football failed to make the Huron -Perth Conference finals as they dropped a close 14-9 decision to the Wingham Mustangs in Wingham Friday afternoon in a sudden -death final playoff game. According to coach Ron Bogart the Panthers put on their best offensive display of the season. While the Panthers led 3-0 at the end of the first half they had the momentum taken out of their game on the last play of the second quarter. From the Wingham 48 yard line and time running out Al MacLean started a running play to the left but handed off to Ron Janke who ran around right end and went all the way for a touchdown without being touched by a member of opposing team. While the South Huron club thought they had another big six points, one of the officials called clip- ping on Brian Miller who pulled out of his guard posi- tion to lead the blocking on the counter play. Ron Janke kicked successive single points on a dis- tance of 47 yards each and Larry Bourne gained another point on a wide field goal attempt from 11 yards out to account for the first half South Huron scoring. The Panthers gained a total of 203 yards along the ground. Ron Janke and Don Truemner were the big ground gainers with 68 and 58 yards, respectively. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOVE THE SHDHS "ALL -YEARS REUNION" CONTACT KENDRA ARTHUR 235-4006 OR PAT Rows 236-7167 t Wednesday, December 1, 1999 Concerned Paramedics Paul Kruse , home 482-5289 work 482 5844 Box 201, Clinton NOM 1L0 News from St.Anne's By PHILIP J. MCMILLAN The talent of the students and staff was center stage last Thursday at St. Anne's Coffee House, as guests sipped coffee and enjoyed the evening. Ms. Kuran was delighted with how well attended the evening was. The performers were all pleased with the interest shown in their work. There will be another coffee house in semester two. This week the staff will attend their staff mass as we begin Advent. The staff always gather at this time to celebrate as a group and spend time afterwards in fellowship. Reconciliation will take place Thursday, December 9th for all at the school who wish to participate. Mass will be held at the school, in December, in preparation for the Christmas season. Grade 8 visits begin next week. So if you are in Grade 8 in the Huron Separate Schools, or if you are a parent of a grade 8 student, be aware that we will be in the schools December 6th through 10th. We will be discussing the courses for next year as students consider entering St. Anne's and we will also be ready to answer any questions posed about the possibility of a school uniform. The decision will be made by all involved includ- ing students in grades 7 to 12, and their parents. The St. Anne's staff and School Advisory Council have already endorsed the concept. I am looking forward to visiting the schools as we have in pre- vious years. There will be an orientation day in early February for students entering Grade 9 in September 2000. New volleyball and basketball teams are being selected to start the new seasons. The school will have its annual road hockey tournament this Friday. School will be held as usual, but some classes will attend the games as the tournament progresses through the day. The event is always a great show of spirit and allows students to com- pete in a house league style. This is one of sever- al events organized by members of the Grade 12 Physical Education Program, which has as its focus, development of leadership skills . Principal's me ge Education has a significant and enduring effect on the students and children who pop- ulate our schools. Because we take our responsibili- ty to provide the best education we can very seriously we need to con- tinuously examine and refine the processes we use. I am writing all of you now to let you know about some of the refine- ments that we're planning for the 2000-2001 school year. HOMUTH As you know, Secondary School PRpt1C1PAL'S Reform is being implemented in all M high schools in the province. The extensive curriculum revisions mean that the expectations for what is learned, how it is taught and how it is evaluated are all changing. The new curriculum policies expect more of students an&. sooner in terms of academic achievement ands growth. At the same time as these "stakes" have - risen, we are also -moving into a four year sec- ondary school instead of five. With the additional requirement of successful completion of the Grader Ten Reading and Writing Test in order to earn a diploma, it is so important that we make sure that the school is organized to allow students to have the - time to be successful. Teachers and students will: both need time to reflect, to process and to evaluate the teaching and learning process. It is from this base of understanding and concern that the sec- ondary principals and senior administration of our school district have agreed to return to a desemes- tered organizational structure in at least Grades 9 and 10 for the 2000-2001 school year. Some of the problems with semestering include a very real observation that less content is taught and fewer "in-depth" assignments given. One reason for this situation is because of the need for review after such long gaps since the subject was given. Review time, then, tends to eat up some of the teaching time. Because in many schools semester- ing was also accompanied by a change in period length, both changes may . have contributed to this situation. As well, growth and development in stu- dents from September to June is dramatic which means if students take a course in the first semester they may not have enough maturation or reflection time to solidify their learning. In core subjects like Mathematics and Languages this growth and devel- opment can be very critical. Thirdly, the reality of timetabling is that it is impossible to. ensure a bal- ance in workload between semesters for all stu- dents or even the majority of students. These semestering dilemmas for all students should not remain unaddressed. By examining these issues we know we need to look at desemestering other courses as well beyond Grade 9 and 10 and at the period length for the whole school. At the same time we will design a package of semestered courses for students who wish to attend for only one semester and then wish to graduate. There are lots of issues to consider. We need to do our talking and thinking now as course calendars are prepared for distribution early in January. Although the Education Act states clearly that it is the principal's responsibility to organize and to timetable the school, I think it is important to get good advice. The following people will be meeting with me weekly for just that purpose. Please for- ward any concerns, issues, ideas or questions that you may have to me or to one of these people. It's our goal to make good decisions that will help stu- dents achieve the high expectations that face them all at the beginning of the 21st century. In closing, it has been my. purpose in writing to you to explain what organizational decisions have been made for next year and why they've been made and which decisions remain to be made. On a personal note, I'm proud of the secondary princi- pals for acknowledging that we' need to shift our schools' organizational structure in order to improve student learning. We will forward to you a series of "frequently asked questions"and their answers as the council and I begin to meet regular- ly in the next few weeks. In the meantime, let's begin the dialogue on the issues that remain to be decided. Donna Shapton, School Council Chair - 237-3726 Cathy Prout, School Council Parent - 235-2879 Wally Webster, Department Head, Mathematics Jim Workman, Department Head, Technology Pat Gibbings, Department Head, English Students: Jared Bourne, Katie Graham, Adam Little, Matt Mayer, Terri Regier, Ryan Sullivan