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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1976-09-22, Page 19Page 20-'Citzzens NtWs; September 22, 1976 Secondary school enrollment up After a seemingly short and not -so -hot summer vacation period, approximately 640 tea- chers greeted some 12,350 students on Tuesday, the 7th, While secondary and trainable retarded enrolments are up slightly, we experienced a decrease of some 130 element- ary students. Throughout the county, how- ever, we greeted some 840 very special young people—the kindergarten pupils. While not so numerous, the teachers new to the county, 46 in all, were in turn welcomed to the team on Thursday evening, the 9th of September at the Administra- tion Centre, Clinton. Mr. Short - reed, a former Board chairman, greeted them on behalf of the Board and introduced the Board members able to be with them. D.J. Cochrane, Director of Education, added his per- sonal welcome and introduced the Superintendents with whom these teachers will be working. Individual principals present- ed their new staff members, making appropriate comments about their qualifications and experience. The comments most often heard that evening had to do with the high calibre of our newcomers—Board members and Superintendents alike were most impressed. Less formal in nature, tours of the centre were then conduct- ed by the Superintendents. Special thanks go to Dave Bieman of the Media Centre and his secretary, Anne Jonk- man, as well as to Ila Kayes of Student Services, all of whom made themselves available to outline the resources available to the schools from these departments. Best wishes to all for a successful year. During the August meeting of the Board authorization was Ch i ldrens' Aid gets supervisor Mr. John V. Penn, M.S.W., A.A.M.F.C., formerly associat- ed with the Niagara Region Family and Children's Services, has joined the staff of the Children's Aid Society of Huron County, assuming the position of Supervisor effective Septem- ber 1, 1976. Born and raised in Great Britain, Mr. Penn was a Social Worker in London, England and emigrated to Canada in 1968 where he began his professional career in child welfare in the Niagara Region agency. Mr. Penn, his wife Maureen, and two children, have taken up residence in Goderich. COME & ENJOY GUY LOMBARDO DANCE This Popular Performer and his famous group will make this event a night to remember. Why not make up a party of friends and go to the Playing 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Huron Park Rec Hall SEPTEMBER 27 Tickets can Be Purchased At • Exeter Flowers • Exeter Pharmacy • Dinney Furniture • Hopper -Hockey Furniture • N. T. Monteith ltd. Or Call 235-2416 or 235-0685 Or any member of the Exeter and District Heritage Foundation Tickets Available At The Door $20 Per Couple given the Heritage Administra- tion Branch of the Ministry of Culture and Recreation to erect a plaque honouring Dr. Robert Coats, a Clinton native who became Canada's first Dominion Statistician. The pla- que is now being erected on the grounds of Central Huron Secondary School close to the site of the old Clinton Collegiate Institute which Dr. Coats attended. As a result of another August decision, Huron County will be co-operating with the Child- ren's Psychiatric Research Ins- titute (C.P.R.I.) in a testing programme to develop local norms for the public school version of the Adaptive Behavi- our Scale. This scale is designed for use in the assessment and placement of children, especial- , ly where mental retardation is suspected. The students to be tested will be in the age range from 6-0 to 11-11. In all, only sixty classrooms will be selected randomly from the lists provided by participating Boards. While only a few classes from our Board's jurisdiction are likely to be selected, the Board considers this testing programme as being quite important. Don Young, our attendance counsellor, received Board approval recently to invite the Ontario Association for Coun- selling and Attendance Services to hold its 1977 annual con- ference in Huron County. With the information of early school leaving committees, the duties of these counsellors are increasing. As a consequence, the exchange of ideas between them is having greater local impact. Should the conference be here in 1977, our Board will be hosting a luncheon or banquet during the three-day convention. There will be a ratepayers' meeting in the Huron Centen- nial School on Wednesday, September 29th at 8:00 p.m. to discuss a proposed boundary change for Tuckersmith and Stanley Townships. Overcrowd- ing in some schools, coupled with declining enrolments in others, has led to this meeting. It would seem likely that in the future we can look for simi- lar meetings in other townships. At any rate the local citizen will be involved then and now. STUDENTS COUNCIL CHOSEN—The Zurich public school has already elected their students council members for this year. They are, back, left to right, Karen Steinbach, room 6 class representative; Sandra Datars, room 8 class representative; and Janice Luther, room 7 class representative. Front are, left to right, Connie Neeb, Treasurer; Bob Hay, vice-president; Brenda Riddell, president and Robert Willert, secretary. Photo by McKinley Drivers at heart of traffic problems The Select Committee on Highway Safety of the Ontario Legislature was appointed this year to study all a'44:tects of highway safety and to examine and consider proposals design- ed to reduce the number of highway accidents. The Com- mittee has been holding public meetings throughout the pro- vince in order to hear the com- ments of the public. As with past similar com- mittees and studies, the Ontario Safety League presented a number of proposals and recom- mendations. Whereas great strides have been made in highway design, vehicle de- sign and safety features, and legislation—safety belts, speed limits, motorcycle helmets, etc. —little attention has been paid to the driver. This is the heart of the problem: driver educa- tion. While it is true that high quality driver education is available to the general public —and the League has been a leader for more than sixty years in this aspect—little has been done by law makers to foster and promote a better class of driver. In the League's opinion, licenses are still too easy to obtain, the license it- self can readily be illegally used by someone other than the licensee, there is no control over the quality of commercial- ly offered driver education, and driver retraining has been given only lip service. The Ontario Safety League therefore made the following recommendations: (1) That the Licensing exam- ination as it currently stands be re-evaluated. It should provide a diagnostic and remedial func- tion. That is, it should be of sufficient scope that the applic- ant could be evaluated to determine his or her areas of weakness. Should the appli- cant fail, he could be shown where he needs to improve and programs would be available to help the prospective driver remedy his or her deficiencies. Such a procedure would, of necessity, than that now in expensive, the increased take use but longer would and we believe be that expenditure would be offset by a correspon- ding reduction in unsafe driv- ing. Such a procedure would also have the effect of making the public seek professional driver education at the outset. '(2) That driver's licenses include a photograph of the licensee in order to provide better indentification and to prevent theft, transfer or other misuse. (3) That teaching standards be regulated for Commercial Driving Schools. While the majority of professional driv- ing schools have proven that they are necessary, capable and concerned with the safety of the public, due to the rapid growth of the driving school industry and the wide range of methods used to train drivers, the high standards necessary to train a competent driver for today's traffic problems are not always applied. (4) That drivers who reach a specific number of demerit points be required to take a Defensive Driving Course. A network of DDC Instructors is available throughout the pro- vince through the Ontario Safety League, an more instruc- tors could be trained as re- quired. The Huron County Board of Education Invities The Ratepayers of Tuckersmith & Stanley Townships To A Meeting In Huron Centennial School On Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1976 at 8 p.m. For the purpose of discussing proposed school boundary changes. D.J. Cochrane Director of Education H. Turkheim Chairman