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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-12-21, Page 3434 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, December 21, 2005 Panther Profile EXETER — The winter holidays are a beautiful thing. There's just so much to love about a lack of school. I mean, spending my days in a classroom is fun and all, but a couple weeks of break is much appreciated. To prepare for this lack of school, the student council has planned out a stack of sweet events this week to keep things exciting. On Wednesday at lunch for $2 you can get photographs taken with Santa in the main foyer. This is a small fee for a snapshot with the jolly fat guy. On Thursday there will be a snowperson-making con- test. On Friday candy grams will be distributed. Candy grams can be bought all this week. Also on Friday is Kraft Dinner dominoes, so make sure to bring in some boxes of KD. Your donation will go to the food bank. On Thursday night the semi -formal takes place here at the school. This is your chance to show off your recently acquired dance skills. Tickets should have been purchased by now. If you don't have your report card response form in yet, you need to do this before semi -formal or you won't be able to attend. Breaking it down can only occur after the paperwork has been done. So have an extravagant holiday, full of good vibes and non-alcoholic beverages. Drive safe. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. School begins again Jan. 9. It will be aday 1. And now, for some more upcoming events: Dec. 21 — Midget boys basketball at Clinton, bus leaves at 11:35 a.m. — Girls hockey tournament, Carling Arena, London Dec. 22 — Senior, junior girls volleyball, St. Anne's, 12:45 p.m. Dec. 25 — Christmas! MATTHEW MINER PANTHER PROFILE Christmas services inVarna this week By Joan Beierling VARNA CORRESPONDENT VARNA - The Stan Lee Club held a Christmas party on Tues., Dec. 13 in the Complex with 41 present. Everyone enjoyed a lovely beef dinner catered to by Sandra's Catering. Charles Reid, president of Stan Lee welcomed every- one and BM Taylor thanked Sandra and her helpers. Mel Graham gave a reading on the Missing Nativity Scene. Margaret Hayter read a special poem for Senior Citizens. Entertainment was provided by Lil Audrey from Exeter. Her singing and accompaniment was much enjoyed. There were several draws for poinsettias. Winners were Muriel Lockart, Elly Van Bergen, Eleanor McAsh, Mary Ostrom, BM Crump and Gordon Johnston. Thanks to Mel and Betty Graham for donating two of the poinsettias. Charles and Bernice Reid arranged that everyone would receive a little gift. The next meeting will be Thurs., Jan. 5, 2006 in the Complex at 2 p.m. The fourth Sunday of Advent was celebrated in Goshen Church with the Keys family lighting the Advent Candle followed by a Christmas prayer. Pastor Elly read a Christmas Story Dorky the Donkey, told by the Donkey. A gift of music "Little Donkey" was sang by soloist John Robinson and accompanied on piano by his daugh- ter Lorelei Lingard. The rest of the Christmas story con- tinued with Madison Louch portraying Mary and Annie McBride portraying Joseph. Hymn "Jesus Our Brother" (Friendly Beasts) verse one and six sung by the congregation. Verses two to five were read by Steven Consitt, Kim Consitt, Makailah McBride and Jacob Govier. Alysha Dowson shared her gift of music and sang "Walking in a Winter Wonderland", and "Silver Bells". Pastor Elly Van Bergen's message was on "Age of Skepticism". Hymn "In the Bleak Midwinter" was sang by the con- gregation and soloist John Robinson sang verse four. The choir's gift of music was "Jubilate Deo". Varna - Goshen are blessed to have many gifted musicians Principal's message EXETER — In the last week before Christmas Break we are often under pressure from students to set aside the regular classroom activities in favour of sea- sonal activities. In the past we have usually had an activity day, often on the Friday just before the break. However, in the last couple of years participation in these seasonal activities has not been good, and many students have chosen not to attend school on the last day. Consequently, I have decided we will not have a pre -Christmas activity day this year: instead, it will be business as usual as we try to make up for the three snow days we have had so far. There will be a Christmas assembly at the end of the day on Friday, but we will run all four classes for about an hour each. So, just in case parents should happen to have students coming home say- ing there will not be classes Friday, I thought I would let them know in advance that this is not the case. The Students' Council will be running some noon - hour activities throughout the week, but these will not interfere with classes. I have also asked teachers not to give in to student requests to have Christmas par- ties and show movies in this last week. Now that we have returned to being primarily a semestered school, this time of year is important academically as we head into the final weeks of the semester and prepare for final exams. The exam period for first semester runs from Jan. 27 - Feb. 1, and the exam schedule will be posted shortly. Students are reminded to check the schedule carefully when it comes out to ensure they know where and when their exams take place. Any exam conflicts or problems should be brought to the atten- tion of the office as soon as possible. As many of you know already, the Minister of Education introduced new legislation last week that will require students to stay in school until they have graduated or turned 18 years of age. Those who drop out of school before age 18 will be disqualified from driving if the new legislation becomes law. The Minister also announced some changes to diploma requirements and to the programs schools offer. At this point, few details of the proposed changes have been released to us and so we have many questions ourselves about the Minister's announcement. We are expecting more information will be shared with secondary principals early in January; so, hope- fully I can provide more specific information on the proposed changes early in the new year. I have some information to share on another serious topic — drug use among our students. At least once a year I devote one of my columns to providing parents with information on drug abuse, and I usually share with my readers my view that education and aware- ness are the keys to dealing with drug use by our stu- dents. I don't see my primary role as being one of drug and alcohol law enforcement, but unfortunately that has become an increasing part of my job. And it has become obvious to me as well that drug use among our students is on the rise, mostly in the form of pot smoking. It is reasonable to assume that the other drugs of choice — crack cocaine, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and crystal meth, to name a few — are also out there. Unfortunately, these drugs are readily available in our community and that means they are no doubt in the hands of at least some of our stu- dents. Consequently, I have contacted the OPP to arrange some drug sweeps of the school. They will be bringing in dogs from the canine drug unit to check out the school. Any students caught with drugs in their possession will be suspend- ed from school and, at the discretion of the police, may also face charges. Any student found with a sub- stantial quantity or assortment of drugs may face charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking. Should such a charge be laid, the student would no longer face suspension from school: the consequence becomes potential expulsion from school. This conse- quence can happen, by the way, whether the police actually lay such a charge or not: if we believe a stu- dent is trafficking in drugs, we may choose to expel without the necessity of a charge being laid. The last time we had a drug sweep, the OPP brought a dog from Canada Customs, a dog that is used to check out people who may be carrying drugs. This type of dog will identify individuals who have been using drugs, even if they have no drugs in their possession at the time. You might wonder why I would share this informa- tion in advance of the drug sweep. My goal in bringing in the police is to keep drugs out of the school: it is my hope that providing this warning will help accomplis this goal. And it is also my intent to have the canine unit in several times this year if necessary, to send the message that drugs have no place in school. I realize this is a very controversial issue, but I have strong reason to believe that drug use among students is at higher levels than in the past, and it is having a detri- mental effect on the education of our students. Consequently, I feel compelled to take this step. JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE amongst the congregation. Art Bennett read a Scripture reading from Isaiah fol- lowed by Hymn "Go Tell It On the Mountain" and the Blessing. Christmas Eve Service is in Varna Dec. 24 at 7:30 p.m. with a birthday celebration for Jesus. Christmas Day Sunday will be in Goshen Church at 10:30 a.m. and Jan. 1, 2006 New Years Sunday the Service will be in Varna. Pastor Elly Van Bergen has her son Ben and new daughter-in-law Danijela home from the east coast for Christmas. Happy 70th birthday to Ronnie Coleman on Tues., Dec. 20. To all my readers this Holiday Season I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with good health and happiness. While celebrating lets remember the reason for the season! Do you know your Hospital Foundation Members? THE SOUTH HURON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION MEMBERS ARE VOLUNTEERS WHO SERVE ON THE FOUNDATION AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COMMUNITY SERVED BY THE HOSPITAL. OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS, WE WILL INTRODUCE YOU TO THE MEMBERS OF OUR FOUNDATION. A quick review: the Foundation is a committee of residents from south Huron and north Lambton whose responsibility it is to raise money in the name of South Huron Hospital and assist the hospital and its physicians in allocating those funds; it is not part of the hospital Board and should not be confused with the work the Board does. These profiles will introduce you to the people who sit on the Foundation, and the articles which follow are an attempt to make you aware of what is needed to keep our hospital in step, and current, with the demands placed on it in a new century. JOHN WUERTH John Wuerth was born and raised in Exeter, graduating from South Huron District High School and the University of Western Ontario (Honours in Business). John and his wife Linda own and operate shoes stores, not only in Exeter, but also in Goderich, Listowel, St. Marys and, as of this summer, Stratford. They have three high achieving daughters: Rebecca Lynne who is finishing her nursing degree at York University, Sarah who works with her parents and is a certified pedorthist (someone who is qualified to fill prescriptions dealing with foot problems and footwear) and Amanda who is finishing her third year at the University of New Brunswick (just last week, she was named female athlete of the week). John is a member of the Allocation and Finance Committee of the Foundation. Last time, we looked at the problems of the Emergency Department: although we may have an excellent staff, they are severely restricted by not only the physical layout of their work space, but the very environment in which they treat patients and the equipment which assists them. To be specific, there is no way, under the present physical configuration of the department, to improve the quality of the air which circulates in and out of this area, and there is no means available to prevent air -borne infections from spreading throughout the hospital no matter where they originated. Provincial guide -lines, since SARS, have been devised to reduce the risk of infection. (You will remember those new hand -washing stations that sprang up in all hospitals two years ago. That was the first step in addressing the inadequate safe -guards that exist in most hospitals, proving the 'urban legend' that says you can go into a hospital healthy and come out sick.) In a word, South Huron must adapt to the changes that have been mandated by the Ministry and the accreditation process and literally re -build the Emergency Department to improve the air quality to guarantee a 'sterile' workplace and to ensure privacy. As well, the diagnostic equipment used in Emergency must be able to do the job required by staff and physicians. Most hospitals still use X-ray machines and radiologists to determine breaks and abnormalities in the body, but X-rays, as we know them, are on the verge of becoming obsolete. All emergency departments in the province must move to a system of digital imaging so that readings taken by ultrasound and x-ray can be computerized and transmitted (or linked) to a doctor or hospital anywhere in the province. The hospital has begun the long trek to 'getting on side' through its acquisition of new ultrasound technology, but the new imaging equipment, to replace the aging X-ray machines, will cost almost $1 million. NEXT TIME, WE'LL LOOK AT SPECIFIC NEEDS AND THE COST OF IT ALL. IN THE MEAN TIME, TO SUPPORT YOUR HOSPITAL, BUY A CHANCE ON A TRIP ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD (OR CASH PRIZES). TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FROM MANY SOURCES IN OUR REGION INCLUDING THE HOSPITAL ITSELF.