HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-03-10, Page 66
Exeter Times–Advocate
Wednesday,March 10, 2004
Opinion Forum News
Lack of action
infuriating
Dear Editor:
To Minor Hockey Referees, Coaches and Parents:
As the parents of three children all of whom play
minor hockey, we spend many hours a week in
hockey arenas. Over the years we've been witness
to hundreds of games at all levels and we are well
aware that injuries are part of this sport. As hock-
ey players get older, it is common knowledge that
the tone of the game becomes progressively more
physical. We have always felt that the benefits of
participating outweigh the risks involved.
There is so much that can be gained from play-
ing team sports. For the most part, kids are taught
sportsmanship. Learning to win
and lose as a team can be a
frustrating and humbling, yet
valuable experience
Representing one's hometown is
a privilege that these young
players should not take for
granted. However, there will always
be players who give the sport of hockey a
bad name. Unfortunately, our son encountered
one such player on Sat., Feb. 28 in Tavistock. The
South Huron Sabre's Pee Wee Rep team was in
town for the third game in this OMHA semi-final
series. With seconds remaining in the game and
Tavistock winning 2-0, our son pinned the puck
against the boards in an effort to run down the
clock. After the buzzer had sounded to end the
game, a South Huron player proceeded to hit our
son into the boards. As a result, our son has been
left with a broken wrist. With approximately 8
weeks of recuperation ahead of him, our son can
now only sit and watch as his teammates go on to
compete for this OMHA title. The senseless nature
of this boy's actions is upsetting; however, the lack
of action by the referee infuriates us. We know he
witnessed this situation because he made a com-
ment to the South Huron player saying, "We'll
have no more of that now." Surely checking anoth-
er player into the boards after the game has con-
cluded is not acceptable. As our son now becomes
a spectator for the balance of this season, this
South Huron player is allowed to finish his season
without penalty. Perhaps if this player had been
suspended from hockey for the same length of
time it will take our son to recuperate, he would
use more discretion next time the final buzzer
sounds.
We are well aware that this injury could have
been far worse; however, that's little consolation
for a boy whose OMHA dream was destroyed
because an opponent couldn't control his frustra-
tion. This game was over and this player made a
bad choice. As minor hockey referees, coaches
and parents, let's seize the opportunity to teach
our kids about making responsible choices.
J. & M. NEWCOMBE,
Tavistock.
Principal's message
EXETER — As you may know, for the last three
weeks we have been discussing a
possible change in the structure of
the school year for next year.
The school board rescinded a
motion that had required us to run
all our courses year-long, and we
now have the option of considering
a return to having semesters. The
only conditions attached to this
decision were that Grade 9 and 10
math and English had to remain
year-long and principals were
required to consult with students,
teachers, and parents before mak-
ing any changes. I have now completed that
process and am ready to announce my decision.
I would like to thank all those people who have
given me input on this issue, particularly those
parents, students, and teachers who came to the
open meeting last week. I greatly appreciate the
opportunity to hear your concerns, and I think the
meeting was informative. What it did reinforce,
however, is how divided we are on the issue of
semesters versus year-long courses. There are
good arguments for both systems, and each has its
strengths as well as its weaknesses. As I said at
the meeting, if one system were clearly superior to
the other, then all schools would be operating on
that system and there would be no issue.
JEFF
REABURN
PRINCIPAL'S
MESSAGE
I have taught in both systems and as a teacher, I
tend to favour the year-long approach; as an
administrator, however, I can see advantages to
having semesters. So, this has not been an easy
decision for me, especially knowing that whichev-
er decision I make, there will be many who are
happy with it but also many who are not.
One of the questions all parties had about a
change to semesters was whether this would cre-
ate more or fewer timetable conflicts for students
(situations where a student needs two classes that
are offered in the same period.) The answer is
that there is no difference: in either system we
have eight periods into which to place classes,
either four on each day in a year-long schedule, or
four in each semester.
A concern was also raised that a student may
take a course, math, for example, in the first
semester one year and the second semester the
next year, with a gap of a full year in between.
This is a legitimate concern and it is a factor taken
into account when placing classes in either the
first or second semester. We would need to look at
the previous year's timetable to see where the
prerequisite course was offered. If there are sev-
eral classes of the same course, then we would
place some courses in each semester and students'
timetables could be adjusted to prevent the "gap"
from occurring.
However, because there are so many factors
involved in creating student timetables, we could
not guarantee this sort of problem would never
exist.
Another consideration is what happens when
students transfer to or from South Huron. The
reality is that most schools in Ontario run semes-
ters, and so a student who transfers to our school
in mid -year has likely completed or been taking
only four subjects, while our students are half -way
through eight courses. Likewise, a student who
moves away in mid -year to a semestered school
has not completed any credits with us, and would
be able to earn only four in the second semester at
most schools in the province.
These situations affect only small numbers of
students. What are the concerns facing the majori-
ty of students? We have had arguments both for
and against semesters from our current students.
Those in favour of year-long programs tend to like
the variety of having up to eight different classes
and the extra night to do homework. On the other
hand, many students complained it is too hard to
keep track of eight different classes and that,
while they may have an extra night to do home-
work, they also have homework in twice as many
classes.
One of the issues I had raised by parents and
students many times in the last two years is the
number of projects and final assessments assigned
in the last six weeks of classes before students go
into final exams. I know some students feel over-
loaded with work in the last two months. This is
caused by the requirement of the new curriculum
that final evaluations worth 30 per cent of the
year's mark take place in the last six weeks of
school. While we try to co-ordinate these final pro-
jects and assignments, a student taking eight
courses will face a hefty workload in the last part
of the year. Having semesters, especially for
senior classes would cut that workload in half.
We are also concerned students are not doing
the homework assigned to them. While there are
undoubtedly many factors that influence this situ-
ation, many students tell us they have trouble
keeping track of eight subjects. I know many of
the students I deal with have trouble keeping
themselves organized, and I believe this is one of
the factors that leads to poor student achievement.
Maybe having fewer subjects to contend with at a
time will help alleviate this concern.
There are many more factors to take into
account on this issue, and I could probably stretch
this topic to cover many more columns, but the
time has come to make a decision. My preference
would be to have a blended timetable with year-
long classes in Grades 9 and 10 and semesters in
Grades 11 and 12. However, this would not solve
the workload issue in Grades 9 and 10, and I don't
believe we have sufficient numbers of students or
staff to run this kind of "school within a school"
timetable.
What I propose to do then is to have Grades 11
and 12 semestered and to have at least math and
English run year-long in Grades 9 and 10. If it is
possible to have some other classes in 9 and 10
run year-long without disrupting the timetable or
overloading students, then we will do so.
As I mentioned earlier, this has not been an easy
decision and not everyone will agree with it. We
will be monitoring student progress next year to
see if this alleviates any of our concerns, and we
are already exploring some options that may allow
us to have more year-long programs in Grades 9
and 10 in the following school year. I think it is
also important to keep in mind the structure of the
school day or year is only one of the factors influ-
encing student achievement and there are many
others that have a much greater impact.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to
congratulate some students for recent achieve-
ments. Our girls' and boys' curling teams have
performed well this year, and over the weekend
the boys' team of David Desjardine, Jeff Boyes,
Dan Shapton, and Adam Thomson won WOSSAA
and have qualified for OFSAA March 24-27 in
Sudbury. Also, our girls' hockey team won WOS-
SAA and goes to OFSAA later this month in
Pembroke.
Congratulations to all these student athletes for
their excellent achievements and for being proud
ambassadors of South Huron.
Letters to the Editor
The Times -Advocate welcomes letters to the editor as a
forum for open discussion of local issues, concerns, com-
plaint, and kudos.
By mail: P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6
By fax: (519) 235-0766
By e-mail: editor@southhuron.com
Please include your name and address.
Anonymous letters will not be published.
Panther Profile
EXETER — The Panther Girls' Hockey team
has been very successful this season, winning
W.O.S.S.A.A in Port Stanley, with a 9-1 win
against Woodstock and a 4-3 victory against
North Middlesex.
As a result, the team advances to the
0.F.S.A.A championship in Pembroke March
29 - 30.
The Panther Boys' Curling team also won
the W.O.S.S.A.A. championship last week.
They will attend 0.F.S.A.A in Sudbury in the
week after March Break. Good luck to both
teams as they advance!
Thursday at 7:30 p.m. is the last dance of
the year. Dubbed the Flashback Dance, stu-
dents are encouraged to dress up in clothing
from their favourite eras.
Tickets are being sold during
the lunch hour in the main
foyer. Sights and Sounds will
be providing the music and
there are a lot of great prizes
that will be given away. This is
the last dance of the year
before formal and everyone is
encouraged to attend!
The Thirty Hour Famine is
taking place April 2 - 3. This
will be the llth consecutive famine held at
South Huron. The number of interested stu-
dents is terrific, with around one quarter of
the student body taking part. Money raised
through this event goes toward famine relief,
education projects in third world countries,
and programs for impoverished Canadians as
well. Student Impact is leading the event,
which will include a variety of activities for
the participants, such as sports, games,
movies, karaoke and more. Every day,
around 29,000 children die as a result of
hunger and hunger -related diseases.
Contributing to the Thirty Hour Famine is a
great opportunity to make a difference to the
world in which we live. If you would like to
make a donation, you may call the school at:
235-0880. Thanks for your support!
I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing
March Break!
Coming events
March 10 — MusicFest Regionals — Concert
Bands
— CLN Class — Bowling in Zurich
March 11 — Flashback Dance - 7:30 - 11
p.m.
March 12 — Student/Teacher Hockey game
March 15 — 19 — March Break
March 25 — Comedy Night -
Small Gym at 7 p.m.
March 29 — No P.A. Day — Will be a Day 1
— Girls' Hockey 0.F.S.A.A
March 30 — Girls' Hockey 0.F.S.A.A.
April 2 - 3 — 30 Hour Famine
ASHLEY
ERB