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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-12-29, Page 31Time issue d towards de-semestering mlre , Town and Coun By Stew Sinew sr8QAL ro ius CATE Time was a bot topic — preparation time for teachers; study time for vauedents; choosing just the rpt time in the provin- cial governments ongoing drive to change education — as the Avon Maitland District School Board approved - a return to de- semestered timetables in Grades 9 and 10 starting in September 2000. "Time is not something that we have if we're going to serve all of the students in our district," said superintendent of education Marietta Longston psalm presented a report_ from secondary school principals and senior administration at a board meeting Dec. 21. - The report outlined rea- sons for a return to year- long class schedules from semesters which run from September -to January and February to June. Longston says this year's provincial move to a four- year high school program means students must fin- ish an unchanged number of. Credits in Wis- e. esse. With these more rig- orous requirements, she ests, it is detrimental on students to go several months -without studying a particular subject, as :can be the case in a *mestered system. }Plus, students who entered Grade 9 in September 1999, and all those who follow, must now pass a mandatory .reading and writing test before receiving a high school dipbma. Under 'a semeate d program, they must wade the gest in the autumn ot.their Grade 10 year. bttAvon. Maitland staff hopes to..increase chances of .success by moving to a year-long schedule, is which the "test would be written in tics :spring of the students' Grade 10 year. "The important thing is that we don't sacrifice this lead group of. students (at the beginning of the four- year high school imple- mentation) as we work to decide on this change over a couple of years," said South Huron District High School principal Deb Homuth, who joined Stratford Northwestern principal Bart Brown in presenting the report from the principals' point of view. After a lengthy discus- sion period, trustees voted unanimously to approve the change. Money for textbooks is one _concern_ of those involved in an anti-de- semestering campaign, being spearheaded by District 8 of the 'Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), the union repre- senting Avon Maitland's high School teachers. District 8 psident Bill --Huzar and c"F t ration Officer Ken . Robins made a delegation to the board Dec. 21, outlining their opposition. That included a charge that many new textbooks will be necessary because books might be needed all year long for two class- es studying the same come, instead of sharing those books between two courses in different semesters. 'I'm not surprised at all (at trustees' support of de-semestering)," Huzar said after the meeting, adding he felt the deci- siory had been made by staff id trustees fol - 1' .t too hastily trustees were open to our concerns, and the board hasn't answered those concerns sufficient- ly. But the trustees seem to be prepared to trust administration to find the. answers before the'fall." A bigger concern for the OSSTF is the time it will take for teachers to adjust to -the c#tange, com- ing as it does in conjunc- tion with major curricu- lum alterations which already cause increased workload. Though Homuth sug- gested teachers might benefit from the move because they'll have a full 10 -month schedule to prepare course work, Robins argued they'll also deal with twice the num- ber of students at the same time instead of split- ting them half-and-half over two semesters. "If you look at the claims which have been made on benefit programs recent- ly, we've seen mental/ner- vous claims — in other words, stress claims — skyrocket with the recent changes," Robins said. "The teachers are get- ting stressed out, burned out. And this is only going to add to that." Noreen McCann accepts a$715 cheque for Town arid Country Support Services from Carlson Wagonlit Ellison Travel staff Sarah Darling (left) and Anne Darling. Ellison staff raised the money through a raffle at the company Christmas party. (photo/Kate Monk) Ear -ring their- antlers Usborne Central School EarlyYearsT class students Madison Brock, left, Cody Herr, Samantha Hern and Jessica McKay do the `Reindeer Workout' during the school's Christmas Celebration concert Iasi week. (photo/Craig Bradford) to Bethlehem presented at Goshen United Church by Joan Beier VARNA CORRESPONDENT VARNA In the afternoon crisp cold air of December 24, the Sunday School children and friends toured the village. of Varna, singing carols, delighting in the warm welcome at each of their stops. At 7 p.m. with the snow gently falling outside and with candles glowing .warmly inside, the Goshen United Qukrch was filled to celebrate Christmas Eve in worship and song. The trip to Bethlehem was led by Linda Linfield reading •the Quistmas scriptures and Pastor Van Bergen narrating the journey of Mary and Joseph to the stable in Bethlehem. Julia Finlay as Mary and Dan Keys as Joseph found their journey's end at the front of the sanc- tuary and there Mary laid the baby in the manger. Cara Stephenson offered a beaudfuul solo, surging 'Breath of Heaven - Mary's Song'. Shepherds Darren Keys and Danny Peck also made their way to the stable. Verses of several Carols were sung as the story unfolded. Steve, Linda, Dan, Darren and Jennifer Keys lit the Grist Candle saying that: 'Jesus is God's gift of himself. M we celebrate Christmas let us give thanks for this precious gift that is ours - all of us together.' Erin Keys, home for the holidays, played the clarinet accompanied by her grandmother Anna on the organ. Count your blessing donations were brought forward ' and birthday cake for Jams and candles were distributed to everyone. The lights were then dimmed and Silent Night was sung, bringing the service to a sacred and reverent close. Votive candles lit from the Christ candle were taken home to be re -tit as part of family Christnuks celebra- tions. Later, at the 11:30 p.m. service, at the Varna Church, many, gathered to hear the Christmas story as told by Nathan the shepherd. Ivan McLlymont read the very familiar scripture pas- sages from the King James version of the Bible. Verses of '0 Come All Ye Faithful', were sung while Pastor Van Bergen shared Nathan's experiences. Graham and Valerie Laurie played the piano and flute and Communion was celebrated by candlelight. At 12:15 Christmas morning, exchanging best wishes everyone made their way home in a peaceful white wonderland. Sunday, Dec. 26 church was at Goshen and the con- gregation enjoyed the musical gifts of both Julia Finlay on the flute and soloist Julie Armstrong. Words of sym- pathy were offered to Elva Peck on the loss of her sister Helen June Heuton who passed away Dec. 22 at her home in Windsor. Email greetings from Graham Keys who is presently in Australia were shared: Hello from Australia everyone Today is the 23rd of December and it is 40 degrees celsius and it's been 40 degrees for the last few days making the afternoons unbearable. We don't work on afternoons like this because we are too busy sitting in front of the fans to keep cool. Also, there has been a movement of farm vehicles ban in our area because everything is so flam- mable. Fires are so common around hero that every farmer has his own fire truck. I guess my point to all this is that it is a lot different from home. Neighbors are far and few making it very quiet most of the time which is also alot different from home. Back home I always have somebody bugging me. Just kidding Greg. Over the last few months I have got to know my host family well and they are very nice. 4 have also been lucky enough to live and work with a Danish trainee named Bertel. He is also a very enjoyable person aside from ripping off gates with the cultivator, driving trucks over large rocks where they get stuck, not putting the parking brake on in the vehicles and having them role into hydro poles, etc, etc. I sure get a good laugh out of him some days. I have only stuffed up once which I think is pretty good. I failed to tie up a hose properly on a water wagon so when the hose came off during transportation, it wrapped around the wheel wrecking both the hose and the wheel. Lucky for me my host dad just said, "oh well". I think I know someone that would have had a lit- tle more to say than that and his first name starts with an Ervin. Other experiences include fishing for squid, touching dolphins that came up to the beach, driving through farms over 100 000 acres each and of course going deep sea fishing where I consequently got sea sick. I am no longer a big fan of the ocean. I have also been "blessed" with the job of fixing fences which is just grrreat fun! Because you have to stand in the same spot for a while, the flies' make .a meal out of you. The good thing about it though is that I get to see a lot of kangaroos while fencing. I saw about 30 the other day. Speaking of kangaroos, some people like 'to shoot them but not me, that's cruel. I like to drive the truck while the guys in the back shoot them; yeeee haaa!!! Well enough of that. I'd just like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and I'll see you all soon. Graham P.S., there's no place like home" Birthday wishes were extended to Bob Webster for Dec. 30 and congratulations to Harry and Elly Van Bergen on their 23rd Wedding Anniversary on Dec. 24 and Marg and John Robinson who have celebrated their 47th Anniversary on Dec. 27. Happy 38th Wedding Anniversary on December 26th. A special thank you from Bill Taylor goes out to all who supported the Huntington Society through the Amaryllis 'sales again this year. The Teen's youth group are reminded to meet at the Complex, Dec. 31 at 6:15-6:30 pm. A reminder to bring in your 'Count your Blessings donations' to the church at anytime. A reminder to everyone to have a safe and happy millennium. gen st.