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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1984-06-06, Page 15GETTING AC UAINTED — SHDHS stu • ents Paulette Rot bauer, Mary Martens and Julie Russell look atthe pictures of the eight students being transferred from the TR class at Huron Hope School to the Exeter school. Ames - Serving South Huron, North Middiese% VIM .;Y June 6, 1984 & North Lambton Since 1873 PagelA At Liberal convention To support regional ministers Most Liberal leadership convention delegates in Huron and Perth intend to give their first ballot vote to their regional cabinet minister representative.. In the Huron -Bruce riding that representative: is Eugene Whelan and in Perth it is Mark MacGuigan. Delegates from both these associations have heard the . two front-runners in the leadership race speak in Stratford. John Turner was in the Perth riding on May 9 and Jean Chretien came in two weeks later on May 23. Graeme Craig of RR 4 Walton and the Huron -Bruce Liberal candidate in the last federal election said Chretien appeals to the middle class. Craig has already stated he will vote for Whelan on the first ballot, but after that he remains uncommitted. "I have to weigh what's best for the riding in co- operation with what's best (or the country," said Craig. Perth's "Liberal candidate in the last election, Bob McTavish of RR 1 Stratford has said he will vote for MacGuigan on the first ballot but says he is uncommitted after that. However, McTavish said if it came down to a choice het - ween Turner and Chretien he would go to Turner. "Jean comes across as sincere, honest and open." said McTavish. lie wishes Chretien luck in the future but says the fac ©moi minirsif Reminder Exeter Garbage Pickup West Side of Town Thursday, June 7 East Side fof Town Thursday, June 14 (Next pickup in August) Have refuse at curb by 8:00 a.m. has to be faced that "another leader from Quebec might not be the best choice in terms of Tuckersmith girl wins essay test A 15 -year old Tuckersmith Township girl's tale about an elderly man moved to tears by a discarded Remem- brance Day poppy has won a national essay contestspon- sored by the Royal Canadian Legion. Bonnie 'Turner of RR 4 Seaforth, won the cross- country competition with her essay on the symbolic mean- ing of the poppy. She is a Grade 10 student at Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton. In recognition of her achievement, legion officials have invited her to par- ticipate in Remembrance Day ceremonies next Nov. 11 in Ottawa. About 1,900 legion branches participated in.the essay contest. getting support from the west.' John Conroy of Stratford, a Perth delegate, said Mr. Chretien's visit confirmed his total committment to that candidate. "He speaks from the heart and is open to everyone. He proved that by answering questions. He is not closed to any ideas," said Conroy. Huron delegate Paul Steckle of RR 2 Zurich, said he likes Chretien, but expects to at least vote for Whelan on the first ballot. "I doubt if anyone will know how I go on this," said Steckle. Another Huron -Bruce delegate, Bruce McDonald of Mildmay, said he heard both Turner and Chretien speak before the Stratford ap- pearances and he is a Turner supporter. "He is more of a consensus kind of candidate," said McDonald of Turner. He noted that Chretien did not make any mention of agricu,Iture although he, was in an agricultural riding. Pilot project for handicapped at South Huron Eight new students were added to the population of SHDHS on June 5. The Exeter high school has been chosen as the site of a pilot project to integrate trainable mentally handicapped teenagers into regular ceondary schools. The experiment at SHDHS will be a testing ground for Huron County, as the provin- cial ministry of education has decreed that every board in Ontario must have a plan ip place by September 1985 to provide special education for all'students in each jurisdica- tion who need it. At present, most mentally handicapped youngsters spend the years from age five to 21 in the same location in segregated classrooms. The department of education believes many of these youngsters should be in a regular environment with other teenagers. "I like change and challenge, and this will be both", SHDHS principal Bruce Shaw remarked. Huron officials get Huronview commissions Last year the clerk and deputy -clerk of Huron Coun- ty made $4,000 handling the estates of Huronview residents. Huron's deputy. clerk - administrator Bill Alcock, told the Bluewater Regional Newspaper Network on May 28, that both he and the clerk - administrator receive a finders' fee for investing about $3.4 million of Huron - view residents' assets. The two . county employees also received forthe first time, a finders' fee for investing county reserve funds this year. ' Alcock said that in 1979, the clerk and deputy clerk of- ficially became agents for Victoria and Grey, an action approved -by county council. The deputy clerk said at that time Victoria and Grey was the only trust company around, but now there is Stan- • dard Trust. So, earlier this year, the county reviewed its previous decision of having the two men act as agents on behalf of the residents and agreed to extend that to Stan- dard Trust. Alcock said the finders' fee is about one percent of what is invested, but it does depend on how many years the money is being invested. "We look at it as part of our salary", said Alcock. The clerk's 1984 salary is $46,228 and the deputy clerk's is $39,000. Tele deputy clerk said the finders' fee does not cost the taxpayer any money and saves the residents' money. The county, said Alcock, could have the . trnst„rCWn panies in:est the money for WI DONATES TO POOL -" The Elimville Women's Institute recently donatea quilt to the Kirkton-Woodhom Swimming Pool committee. Tickets will be sold on the bli.e Barn Raising quilt throughout the summer. The draw to be made in November. Above, Olga Hern who made the top for the WI presents the quilt to Usborne deputy - reeve Margaret Herr►, a member of the pool committee and her daughter Beth-ann. cecolla4k" eCial 'spom 21540/0 a "'Is lt OVsehodd etc' w until Saturday No Exeter 235-0360 A Division of Grand Bend Cleaners GRADUATES -- Richard J. Hoyter, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Hayter, Dashwood, Ontario recently received his B.F.A. in environmental design from The Parsons School of Design New York, New York. Mr. Hayter also holds his Associates from the On- tario College of Art Toron- to where he completed his Fine Arts Studies in 1978. the residents. One method would cost about $250 per resi- dent and there are approx- imately 300 residents. Another method would cost about $120,000 based on a fee of 1.25 percent on the prin- cipal plus five percent on such things as interest. The deputy clerk said there is more involved in handling the estates than dealing with paperwork. In many cases he is in charge of selling off estates for residents and spends after-hours time en these details. As for the county reserve account, Mr. Alcock said those funds had until January of this year, always been in- vested with the Canadian Im- perial Bank of Commerce. At that time, short term in- terest rates were higher at the trust companies and the coun- ty money was invested with the trust companies. Alcock said $600,000 in reserves, in $60,000 chunks, was invested. The county made $1,600 more in interest than would have been made if the money was left in the bank. The deputy -clerk said he and Hanly can split $80 for that transaction. "To be honest though, I didn't know we'd get a com- mission on the reserves," said Alcock. Stephen to buy grader Stephen township council meeting Tuesday iset the 1984 municipal WcigTt at $1,601,8:38. This is about the same figure as a year ago. The 1984 mill rate is ex- pected to he set within the next couple of weeks. The new mill rate will be required to raise a total of $462,150. Clerk -treasurer Wilmar Wein has been requested to obtain quotes from the Zurich and Lucan Hydro Commis- sions for construction of high pressure sodium street lights for Canada Avenue at Huron Park not to exceed $2,000. Road superintendent Eric Finkbeiner has been directed to prepare tenders for the purchase of a new road main- tainer to include articulating grader with locking differen- tial and wet brakes with or without a trade. Finkle iner was also asked to obtain consent from the county of Huron to construct new sidewalks in the police village of ('rediton and to app- ly for the necessary grants.. A bylaw was passed authorizing a MTC grant of 50 percent of 1983 road expen- ditures not to exceed a max- imum of $1.0(10 -for the police villages of Dashwood, Con- tT-alia and Crediton. Two tile drain loan applica- tions totalling $6,6(0 were approved. "/ A meeting will be held,lune 19 to hear objections to the township zoning bylaw. The township• will assume cost of the extra 0I1IP fees for permanent employees el- fective May 1. A resolution from Gouldourne regarding the province's unconditional grants program was supported. Permission was given to sell alcoholic beverages for Dashwood FYiedshurg Days August :3 and 4, a Crediton slo- pitch tourney August 3, 4, 5 and 6 and ('rediton Sum - rnerfest August 17, 18 and 19. ON ALERT Drivers in Exeter are being advised this week to be on the alert! The police department received their "ALERT" roadside screening device to combat drinking drivers. The machine automatically tests the breath of drivers and pro- vides a three-level designa- tion of blood alochol concentration. Test results are displayed in the form of a pass, warn or fail light indicator. When the latter indicator is flashed, the driver will be taken for a hreathalizer test or could have his/her licence suspend- ed on the spot for a 12 -hour period. Shaw has been preparing the 860 SHDHS students for the change. They were invited to the library in groups of 50 to 60 for a preparatory session to answer those universally basic questions - who, what, where, when, why and how. Shaw and former student Sheila Eisenschink, now stu- dying social work at Ryerson and working as a volunteer in a group home in Toronto, pro- vided the answers. Shaw began by saying coming to Grade 9 at SHAHS was going to be an upsetting and frightening experience for the young people from the TR ( trainable retarded) class at Huron Hope. They will be riding a regular school bus for the first time, and that bus will bring them into a new and strange situation. The eight have each been assigned a buddy, another student living close by. The buddies will assist their charges on and off the bus in the morning, get them to their classroom, and wait to help them board again at the end of the school day. The project is beginning in June to spread the shock over a longer period of time, rather than introducing the students to the school in September in the midst of all the hectic ac- tivity that takes place at the start of a new term. Shaw told each -group that all of us are subject to some form of discrimination at some time in our lives, whether it's because of looks, residence, sex, race or some other equally irrational factor. "You are all strong enough physically of mentally to de- fend yourselves. These people aren't. I won't tolerate any abuse of them, physical or verbal", Shaw warned emphatically. Sheila's approach ' was more mellow. She defined mental retardation as a reduced ability to learn, a lifelong condition one is born with or develops later as the result of accident or illness. It could happen to any of us. Sheila said the segregated programs don't work. We all learn from others, and the mentally handicapped need to see how other people act, rather than imitating each other. Identity is lost, and self-confidence and self- esteem are lowered, in a segregated environment Citing the Robertson circle of intolerance which states "we fear people because we don't know them; we don't know them because we ex- clude them; we exculde them because we fear them". Sheila asked the students to welcome the newcomers, get to know them, and discover "they are kids like you with a few extra problems they need holn with". A film made at York Memorial . Collegiate in Toronto where a similar system is in place showed one grade 12 student pairod with a handicapped teenager, whose attitude and future plans have been changed by the experience. He is now aiming for a career as a physical education teacher with handicapped young people. A SHDHS classroom has been renovated in prepara- tion for the Huron Hope students. No extra staff will be required. The six person- nel assigned to the special education program are presently employed by the Huron Board, and include a full-time qualified teacher and a teacher's aide from Huron Hope. A liaison person from ARC Industries will also spend time in the SHDHS classroom each day. Ultimate responsibility for the implementation and operation of the program lies with the principals of the Ex- eter and JAD McCurdy schools. This encompasses transportation, supervision, meals, facilities and general welfare of the new students. The eight will participate in phys ed., typing, technical and family studies classes, but will not take academic subjects. Shaw said only recently has he come to realize the needs and desires of parents and others involved with the handicapped. "They want their kids to be accepted by their peers and by the community, and out of institutions. `Removing the 'different' label is the parents' priority", Shaw said, adding that "whether the process will work or not, we are prepared to give it a try." ' One of Shaw's long-term concerns is money. The pilot project has been fully funded by supplementary grants, but he wonders if extra financing A CASE FOR TOLERANCE — Former SHDHS student Sheila Eisenschink to s to a group of students about ways they can welcome and.help integrate eight Htl!ron Hope students coming to the Exeter school. will still be available live or ten years down the road. Paul Carroll, Huron's supertendent for special , education, is optimistic. He anticipates no additional staff costs and existing secondary school bus routes will be used. The largest expenditure has been renovation of the classroom the Huron Hope students will call their home room, at a cost of approx- imately $6,000. Many of the SHDHS students have expressed a . positive attitude. Before the Huron Hope teenagers began classes, their` pictures and names were put on the bulletin board in their classroom. Paulett4 Rothbauer and Julie Russell, former McCurdy students, examined the pictures with great interest. They had worked as volunteers at the development centre, and looked forward to seeing their friends again. Both girls thought the in- tegration was a good. idea, though "just a bit iffy while eating". "One you get to know them, go past their looks, you're glad to have them as friends. They would never hurt you, but always do anything they could to help", was orte�girl's conclusion. A number of students have approached . Shaw to volunteer their help. The possibility of academic credits for peer tutoring in September is being in- vestigated. Credits are given in some other schools with similar programs. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, sir", one Grade 13 student assured Shaw. In such a cooperative at- mosphere, those words should become a self-fulfilling prophecy. On location or Studio Bart DeVries PJIOTOGRAPHY • COMMERCIAL • PORTRAITS • WEDDINGS GROU • 1 (CITY Mounting and lamina ; 11•.4.r r1d db•.vT•t.w would W w 4,r „p..r .J1 w Telephone 235-1298 137 Thames Rd. East Exeter, Ont. 1 - •