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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1977-08-03, Page 4g neIunirHnuumu►mIiuIuntunu►►►►u►mmiun►fI IImni+1►nUUt►►►►+►n►nuuu►umri►ru Positive step A recent release from the Ministry of Education reveals that Education Minister Thomas Wells is still opposed to province - wide examinations in Ontario's school system as the sole means of promotion. But it is also evident that Wells and his associates are aware that some sort of uniform diagnosis of pupil strengths and weaknesses is needed in the province's schools. A group of 33 - mostly teachers - was established last fall by Wells to consider evaluation and reporting methods. In their report this month, the group stated that province -wide standardized testing should form only one part of a broader program of student evaluation. It was further recommended that responsibility for the evaluation of student achievement should remain primarily with classroom teachers, but that considerable effort should be taken to improve the evaluation and testing skills of teachers throughout Ontario. This latter recommendation is significant in that itpoints upthe wide g variety of opinions among teachers in Ontario concerning what education is, what should be expected of students and what teacher goals should be. While stan- dardized testing across the province was proven to be an unreliable instrument to gauge what students had actually learned, the testing did require teachers to teach a standard course in a fairly standard way to obtain standard results. Many educators today are concerned about the lack of common objectives in the schools. Without them, it is agreed by most teachers, students can be the unsuspecting victims of the cruelest trick of all ...poor preparation for the tasks that lie ahead. It is good to know that some of Wells' work group recommendations will be implemented soon, particularly the development of a bank of tests related to specific curriculum objectives which will be made available to teachers to help them assess student progress as it relates to the provincial scene. With this positive step forward, there is time to haggle for a while yet, t, about what is the best course of action to follow for the kids in school in Ontario. - Parked pets The Ontario Humane Society . urges motorists not to leave their pets in parked cars during the hot summer months. "The sun can quickly heat up the interior of a car. It can be like a furnace," said Don Hepworth, OHS Chief Inspector. "The result for a defenceless animal locked inside may be tragic." Every summer OHS inspectors and agents remove dozens of animals from locked cars. Criminal charges of cruelty to animals could be laid in such cases,AInsp. Hepworth said. Well-meaning pet -owners may think the problem is solved by leaving the car windows rolled down slightly, but too often this simply won't provide adequate ven- tilation. When you go shopping or elsewhere, leave your pet 'at home. Remember, heat kills. FIRST WITH LOCAL NEWS Published Each Wednesday By J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association Manager — Betty O'Brien News Editor -- Margaret Rodger Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 Subscription Rates: $7.00 per year in advance in Canada $14.00 per year outside Canada Single copies 204 eNA Editor's Desk By MARGARET RODGER The ancestor game The identity of Zurich, Hensall or any other village is the sum of familiar buildings and streets, traditions, memories, legends and relationships. The identity of individuals is the product of bath internal and external influences. What we are depends as much on ancestral genes as environment. At this time of year, residents of Huron County pay homage in great numbers to ancestry by holding family reunions. Summer is an ideal time to assemble relatives for a picnic, count heads and bring the family tree up to date, Lately the tracing of family trees has gained in popularity. Is this because those who have migrated hither and yon have suddenly realized the importance of roots? One by one the old timers, who knew things as they were, disappear. A younger generation begins rudely asking you and me about something called the olden days. What do we know? Where did everybody come from? Where are the family records? Starting a family history, if none exists, can be like to an alcoholic's first sip. Hopeless addiction may be just around the corner. People have been known to end up tracing four, eight, sixteen or more family lines. The only way to avoid a great deal of bumbling through old records and aimless stumbling about in pioneer cemeteries is to adopt a sound working method. A veteran genealogist, driven half- way up a wall by an amateur's ill -directed questions, once asked, "Why don't you go home and do your homework?" Start with the present generation. Go back from known to unknown, recording crucial dates - births, marriages, deaths and the places in which they took place. That's the golden rule of 11111111ItllfflflfIlilf genealogy. The best way to preserve the information is on lineage forms and family history sheets and charts, preferably in loose-leaf binders, so additions can be made d easily. Overseas research is risky without a solid chain of linking relationships back to an im- migrant ancestor. It's all too easy to waste time, effort and money pursuing false leads. Family legends may contain clues, but they can be treacherous. Ethel WLiliams, who wrote the book, "Know Your Ancestors", said that a good family tree researcher was "a full-time detective, a thorough historian, an inveterate snoop and at the same time a confirmed diplomat, a keen observer, a hardened sceptic, an apt biographer, a qualified linguist, a part-time lawyer combined with a lot of district attorney, a studious sociologist and - above all, an accurate reporter." We can but try. One useful guide is the booklet, "Tracing Your Ancestors in Canada", published by the Public Archives of Canada. Their ad- dress is 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa K1A ON3. Family Bibles, military records, deeds, diaries, journals, letters, newspaper clippings, old atlases, cemetery inscriptions, census and other public records and regional history books are valuable sources of information. The Mormon Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, is helpful, too, The names of 35 million people from all over the world are stored in its computers. In the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, The Mikado, one of the characters said,"I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule." That's the ultimate in lineage research - right back to the original blob. Most of us will settle for a little less. This sur riser; keep Ontario beautiful.