HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-10-05, Page 3Wednesday,October 5, 2005 Exeter Times–Advocate 3
School board discusses daycare
By Stew Slater for childcare the rest of the time.
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE She also noted students preparing for
Kindergarten must meet certain medical
SEAFORTH — A preliminary Ontario ver- requirements before attending school.
sion of federal cabinet minister Ken Dryden's Currently, that demands a trip to the doctor's
dream of universal daycare could be in place office; in the future, it should be offered at the
in Huron and Perth counties as early as the "community hub."
spring of 2006, and in most communities it Education director Geoff Williams is part of
will take shape within existing publicly fund- the committee overseeing the introduction of
ed school buildings. Best Start into the district, along with other
At a regular meeting Sept. 27, trustees of officials from education, health care and
the Avon Maitland District School Board social services. He advised trustees the fund -
heard a report about the provincial Ministry ing won't come through the Ministry of
of Child and Youth Services' "Best Start" pro- Education, even though in an area like
gram, set to receive its first instalment of fed- Huron -Perth, community hubs will almost
eral daycare money next March. The first of exclusively be located in schools. (One possi-
what's expected to be three phases of fund- ble exception could be Stratford, where
ing, that money will be used to renovate exist- excess space is extremely limited in schools
ing facilities to make room for what are being and other facilities will probably be available)
called "community hubs." Still, Williams expressed confidence any
The goal of Best Start, according to the school board -funded time and/or resources
report, is to "increase the amount of licensed being spent now — by principals preparing
daycare for children ages 2-5, and create for the possibility of accommodating a com-
community hubs through which all the com- munity hub, or by administrative staff assist-
munity services available to children will be ing the implementation committee — is worth
offered." This combines elements of introduc- it.
ing children to the learning process at a Williams is also pleased about plans to have
younger age, bringing together into one loca- money flow through the municipalities, and
tion many of the services needed by young to revamp the system by which families will
children, and making it easier for parents to qualify for subsidies for the daycare portion of
juggle childcare and their working lives. their children's day. He suggested municipal -
Ultimately, once all three funding phases ly-run daycares already have a good reputa-
are complete, the plan is to make available a tion for attracting and maintaining quality
site at which children can spend five days per staff, and the subsidy changes will allow a
week in some sort of structured program, greater proportion of families to utilize these
whether they're of school age or not. Part of it superior services.
may be educational in nature; other parts Those on the Avon Maitland's Huron County
would be more like existing daycare. list include: Exeter Public School, Victoria
Education superintendent Pat Stanley Public School in Goderich, Clinton Public
described it as "a seamless day" to replace School, Howick Central Public School at R.R.
the current situation in which Kindergarten 1 Gorrie, Seaforth Public School, Brookside
students are often in school for half a day or Public School at R.R. 7 Lucknow, and
every other day, and parents must find alter- Hohnesville Public School.
nate arrangements and alternate locations
..
cooking with memories
BY DEBBY WAGLER
AdL The Best ./vt
Thanksgiving
THANKSGIVING IS A GREAT TIME OF REFLECTION FOR MANY OF US. WE ARE THANKFUL FOR BASIC FOOD,
SHELTER, HEALTH, AND SO GRATEFUL FOR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COMMUNITY. IT AMAZES ME HOW SO
OFTEN WE LET TIME SLIP BY WITHOUT LETTING THOSE AROUND US KNOW THAT WE TREASURE THEM. THIS
YEAR WHEN YOU GET TOGETHER WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS REMEMBER TO LET THEM KNOW HOW
VALUABLE THEY ARE TO YOU! FOR THE WAGLER AND CHESTER CLANS HOLIDAYS OFTEN MEAN EATING
TOGETHER.WE ALL ENJOY SAMPLING NEW RECIPES AND MANY A GOOD CHAT IS HELD WHILE SITTING AT
THE TABLE TOGETHER. HERE ARE A COUPLE OF PUMPKIN RECIPES TO TRY WITH YOUR TRADITIONAL
MEALS. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
FOR A TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING FEAST IT IS HARD TO COME UP WITH UNIQUE DESSERTS THAT STILL
HAVE THAT PUMPKIN. WHO CAN BEAT PUMPKIN PIE?! I HAVE FOUND THAT THE FOLLOWING JELLY ROLL IS
A GREAT FALL DESSERT AND IT IS WELL LIKED AND EASIER TO MAKE THAN YOU THINK.
PUMPKIN JELLY ROLL
3 eggs 3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup cooked pumpkin (canned is fine) 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each of salt, ginger and nutmeg
Grease a 10X15" jellyroll pan and line with waxed paper. Beat eggs until frothy and then add the
sugar. Beat until light coloured and thick. Slowly beat in pumpkin.Add the next six ingredients and
fold in carefully. Pour into prepared pan and bake in 375 deg. oven for about 15 min.`ti1 a toothpick
comes out clean. Have a clean tea towel with icing sugar sprinkled on it laying on a flat surface. Turn
hot cake out onto sugar. Roll the cake and towel together, rolling from the narrow end. Cool and
fill with filling:
Filling:
1-250 ml pkg of Tight cream cheese 1 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup butter softened 1/2 tsp vanilla
Beat all together and spread over cooled cake and then re -roll. Cover the top of the jelly roll with
whipped cream (1 cup whipped stiff with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla).This recipe came from
Company's Coming Desserts, which, by the way, all of Jean Pare's books are fabulous. 1 added the
whipped cream to the top because 1 find people like the idea of whipped cream with pumpkin.
SINCE I HAVE BEEN WORKING AT EDDINGTON'S IN EXETER I HAVE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT
MAKING SOUPS. I'VE WORKED WITH A VARIETY OF CHEFS WHO ALL HAVE DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES IN
MAKING A GREAT SOUP. ONE TIP I HAVE PICKED UP ON IS THE IDEA OF ROASTING VEGETABLES FIRST
BEFORE PUTTING THEM INTO BROTH. THERE IS A DISTINCT FLAVOR THAT COMES FROM ROASTING THE
VEGGIES. ENJOY THE FOLLOWING SOUP USING A SQUASH SUCH AS A BUTTERNUT OR PUMPKIN.
ROASTED SQUASH/PUMPKIN SOUP
Peel and cut into large chunks one butternut squash (about 4 cups) (you can use pumpkin or even a
mix of pumpkin, squash and/or carrot) Drizzle the squash with olive or canola oil and roast at 400 till
tender crisp.
In a large dutch oven pot:
1 onion chopped 2 celery stalks
2 tbsp butter Roasted vegetables
3 cups chicken broth Salt pepper to taste
Your choice of seasonings: 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and a shake of nutmeg
OR 1 tsp curry OR If using a lot of carrot 1 tsp dill weed
Cream or milk to thin (you might use up to I cup)
Saute the onion and celery in the butter `til soft and then add the remaining ingredients. Let boil
gently `til all is soft and then puree with a hand blender or a blender. Put the soup back on the stove
and add cream or milk to bring it to the desired consistency. Heat and adjust seasonings
and then serve. If you want to keep the soup reserve some before adding the cream and then
always add the cream fresh.
School board holds forums
By Stew Slater
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE
SEAFORTH — To the sounds of
Zurich Public School principal Betty
Beer performing a song she wrote
for the occasion, and a keynote
speaker who inspired hearty
applause, the Avon Maitland District
School Board hosted the first of
three scheduled "Community
Forums" Sept. 29 at the Mitchell
Community Centre.
Under the theme ""Cultivating
Character," about 250 people from
across Huron and Perth counties
gathered to consider how to pro-
mote desirable character traits
among students.
"When you have effective charac-
ter education, teachers spend less
time on discipline and more time
on teaching," stressed keynote
speaker Dr. Avis Glaze, the chief
assessment officer for the provincial
Ministry of Education's Literacy
and Numeracy Secretariat.
Glaze has already assisted two
other Ontario school boards in a
move towards injecting character
education into the existing curricu-
lum. She remained in Perth County
on Friday to address this and other
topics with all Avon Maitland teach-
ing staff during the board's first
Professional Development day of
this school calendar.
On more than one occasion during
Glaze's presentation, "character"
was described as "what a person
does when no one is watching." She
showed a video about a major
American corporation, in which
one executive claimed an effort to
promote strong character among
employees was followed by a
decrease in workers' compensation
payouts from $24,000 per month to
between $2-4,000 per month.
"If you look at the Enrons, the
Worldcoms ... this is a crisis in
character. It's not about skills,"
Glaze said. She added the people
conducting job interviews are often
just as concerned about the
prospective employee's character as
their skills, so boosting students'
characters will correspondingly
boost their chances at securing
work.
Jerry Selk, vice-principal at F.E.
Madill Secondary School in
Wingham, is co-chair of the board's
Cultivating Character Committee. In
an interview, he stressed the goal is
not to create additional material to
be taught in the curriculum.
Instead, it's hoped the process —
including the three community
forums, the committee work which
will follow, and ultimately the
teacher training which will likely be
rolled out in September of 2006 —
will make it possible for Avon
Maitland staff to take advantage of
what Selk calls "teachable
moments" to promote character.
"We aren't going to tell people
how to teach or how to run their
class, but we are going to tell them
certain elements which should
appear in every class," the commit-
tee co -chairperson explained.
Those at the Community Forum
are all considered community lead-
ers in some way, and were either
invited directly by the board or
invited on the advice of the leaders
of each school in the board. But a
brief survey of a few attendees
showed word of mouth also played
a role, and Selk agreed several peo-
ple just showed up for the evening
without invitations.
He was noticeably pleased with
the turnout, adding he had already
been in discussion with people
from a wide range of backgrounds.
There were lots of teachers,
trustees and administrative staff,
but also students and custodians.
Those from outside the board
included clergy, businesspeople and
members of the media.
In an interview, top board admin-
istrator Geoff Williams said money
for the character education process
was set aside in last June's budget-
ing process, and he called it money
well spent.
Ideally, the same guests will
return to look deeper into the ques-
tion at the two upcoming forums in
the same location, Oct. 20 and Nov.
24. But the committee also wel-
comes others who'd like to partici-
pate.
Board worried about confidentiality
By Stew Slater
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE
SEAFORTH — School boards
across Ontario are concerned a pri-
vate member's bill before the
provincial legislature, proposed in
an attempt to ensure transparency
in public meetings, may jeopardize
the confidentiality of students facing
disciplinary measures.
At a regular meeting Sept. 27,
Avon Maitland District School
Board trustee Jenny Versteeg com-
plained proposed BM 123 "is not set
up for a school board."
Versteeg, the North Perth trustee
who's also the board's representa-
tive on the Ontario Public School
Boards Association (OPSBA), men-
tioned the issue in her regular
report to her Avon Maitland col-
leagues.
"OPSBA is in favour of trans-
parency but the new Bill sets differ-
ent parameters for in camera
meetings," states the written ver-
sion of Versteeg's report.
More precisely, the proposed Bill
allows for discussions of personnel
and some finances to take place "in
camera" (behind closed doors), but
fails to mention others of what are
now similarly -treated key aspects of
board of education business. These
omissions include the acquisition
and disposition of property and
information regarding parents and
pupils.
Huron East/Central Huron trustee
Shelley Kaastra was quick to ask if
that means disciplinary issues —
including the names of students
involved — will have to take place
in public. Wingham-area counter-
part Colleen Schenk, who serves on
the OPSBA executive, then con-
firmed the province -wide lobby
group has "grave concerns" about
student confidentiality.
The OPSBA has registered those
concerns with the provincial gov-
ernment.
(AI Dr. Geoff Hann
a�
�d„aa 105 MAIN ST., EXETER 235-1535
chiropractor • back/neck/joint pain • workplace injuries
• auto accidents • sports injuries • orthotics
1
NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS