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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-03-16, Page 3THE HURON EXPOSITOR, MARCH 16,1988 — 3 Radwanski creates. consternation in education From what most people have heard about it, through the media and from educators, the Radwanski report is one of the most con- tentious items on the education scene today. The principal of Seaforth District High School, Jim Empringham, has been back and forth through the report a few ,times, and while he still disagrees with a lot of the recommendations and observations, he sees some merit in the study as well. As the prin- cipal of a school which has one of the highest percentages of students in the province, re- tained until graduation, Mr. Empringham had a lot of interesting things to say about the issue of dropouts, and the Radwanski report. BACKGROUND The "Ontario Study on the Relevance of Education, and the Issue of Dropouts," is a report written by George Radwanski, the editor of the Toronto Star. Mr. Radwanski was commissioned to do the one-man report by Chris 'f l ard, Minister of Education, to in- vestigate Ontario's education system and *hat effects it has on the number of students who leave school before graduation. The report has been criticized for many reasons, but one of the flaws that is most ob- vious to educators in Huron County is the background research comes from an urban environment, and has little application in smaller rural schools. Apparently Mr. Rad- wanski did the bulk of his research in the Toronto area, and rural boards such as the Huron County Board of Education were not involved in the study. The recommendations made in the Rad- wanski report call for a lot of sweeping changes, and if even a handful of them were put into operation it would result in a massive overhaul of the education system. Some of the recommendations are: •Every student is to have a teacher responsi- ble for monitoring that student's progress in all courses, and identify any academic or personal problems. -Weekly individual mentoring sessions for students at risk of dropping out. -Remedial classes during, summer for students who are having academic difficulties. -Early childhood schooling beginning at the age of'three. -Abolishment of streaming students into academic, commercial, or technical course studies. -Make students aware of the hazards of part time employment while going to school. -Abolishment of the current policy of streaming high school students into academic, general and basic courses of study, and be replaced by a single undif- ferentiated high-quality educational stream for all students. Mr. Empringham says- he agrees with some of the recommendations, but finds many of them are impractical or don't apply to the educational system as he sees it. An example he takes is the recommendation there be no more Wale, general and advanc- ed classes, but rather a mainstream class for all students. He says this would help some students achieve as they would have to work over their heads, but others would just become discouraged. DROPOUT RATES The dropout rate Mr. Radwanski deals with in making his recommendations is 12 per cent of advanced students, 79 per cent of basic level students, and 62 per cent of general level students. He says of those who do graduate only those who complete the advanced program are getting an acceptable high school education. The situation in Huron County is significantly different. Based on last year's statistics, 76.54 per cent of the students stayed to earn their diploma. The rate at Seaforth District High School is a dramatic contrast to Mr. Radwanski's provincial fin- dings, as 92.75 percent of the students were retained and graduated. The year before this figure was 85.53 percent and prior to that it was 78.75 percent - always well above the provincial average. JIM EMPRINGHAM, principal at the Seaforth District High School, like most educators has taken a serious look at the Radwanski report on the issue of dropouts. Also like most educators, he doesn't agree with everything in the report, but says it does make teachers take a look at themselves and at the system. Corbett photo. Mr. Empringham says there are a lot of reasons which contribute to this, but it all really boils down to the size of the school.' There are only 330 students at Seaforth District High School, so problems like alienation which contribute to the high dropout rate in Toronto area schools are not an issue here. Some of the staff members have personal relationships with many of the students. "We don't go on a first name basis around here, it's still Mr. and Mrs.," says Mr. Em- HCBE keeps pace with computer industry The computer industry is a field that is than hardware, and let the quality and quan- constantly expanding and can be a difficult tity of software dictate which hardware pro - one to keep up with. At the March meeting of duct will be purchased. In his oral report to the Huron County Board of Education the the board Mr. MacDonald said educators board looked at an inventory of its computer are no longer as interested in raising pro- grammers, but put more emphasis on operators and therefore should be more con- cerned with software quality. -Provide special capital allocations of $30,000 annually for the next three years for school office automation. -Allocate $20,000 annually for the next three years for the automation of school libraries. -Provide further research into a network linking the Education Centre to all schools. -Provide sufficient support and training to principals so that automation of school of- fices does not compromise the role of the principal in the school. Mr. MacDonald commented to the board that it "can't let the hardware, or the software, or the whole automation thing get in the way of dealing with students." -Establish a general -access ICON lab in all school as a place where cross -curricular work can happen, and teachers can use the computers to help them in teaching another subject. -The last recommendation in the report is that there be a committment for continuing support of the board's computer program. "Provide, continuing support for ad - resources. A report of computing resources of the HCBE was put together by Frank Mac- Donald, the board's Computer Co-ordinator. Paul Carroll, Superintendent of Operations, says the report is a pause to take a look at "how far we've come and how far we've got to go," since 1985 when the last report was done. In more exact terms, the report was to conduct and analyze an equipment inven- tory; to analyze the curriculum re- quirements; and to coordinate "a direction for the evolution of office administration and student report systems." The report gives a number of recommen- dations ecommendations to the board such as . -Standardize excellent software. Right now teachers across the county have many slightly different copies of the same resources, and these could be standardized to avoid confusion and possible copyright embarrassment. -Establish an annual Research and Development fund of $10,000 for the purpose of identifying and licensing excellent software. -Make the emphasLA on software rather pringham,, "but smaller classes are better for the students and research shows it." Another things Mr. Empringham disagrees with in' the Radwanski report is the idea students should only be given infor- mation on career or academic subjects, and not on lifestyle subjects. Things like how to write a cheque, cook, or other lifestyle oriented subjects are better left to be learned at home according to the report. scene But Mr. Empringham sees a definite need for courses of this nature in schools. And as long as there are important basic lifestyle skills or information students may not get access to somewhere else he thinks there is a place for it in our educational system. Mr. Empringham disagrees with a lot in the report, but he isn't totally opposed to it like some educators. "The more I read it the less supercritical I am of it. I am still critical -some of the recommendations are impractical- but some are still true." A lot of the things Mr. Empringham does see as reasonable are obvious, or are well established facts to educators. Like the issue of part-time work and education -everbody knows there can be problems both academically and socially for students who put in too much time at a part time job. "We have to keep the perspective of the age we are in," comments Mr. Empr- ingham. He says kids are now .staying in school longer than ever before. And there are not a lot of jobs for 16 -year-olds anymore, and kids know they can get a bet-. ter job if they get an education. "But as long as there's dropouts there's things we can be trying to do about it," says the SDHS principal. For its part Seaforth District High School will be looking for a storefront on Main Street as a place for an alternate school for dropouts or students at risk of dropping out. This allows students to contract courses for upgt~ - ' allows flexibity for the stu- dent t. ., courses around their job schedule. This school would be staffed by a regular teacher who would do mostly marking and general assistance for students who would work largely independently. "Anytime someone like Radwanski writes a report like this it can't be all bad because at least it makes people look at their system and see if it applies. It makes one look in- ward and that's always good," says Mr. Emnrineham. ministrative and academic staff as they develop competence in the use of computer hardware and software." There were also several specific recom- medations as to what software should be us- ed in various parts of schools such as the library, the office, etc. The board will forward each of the report's recommendations to the commit- tees which should deal with them. For its part the board will be requesting $300,000' from the Ministry of Education, which is 33 per cent more than last year. Because of the rapid changes in the com- puter industry the HCBE has to do these reports with some frequency to ensure that their program is up to date. For example, in 1985 when the last report was done it was believed all the same type of computer should be used for uniformity's sake, but the 1988 report shows thatiiifferent computers should be used for different jobs. Because it is important not to be 1ocRed in to any one policy for too long in the computer field, another report will be done in approximate- ly three years -in the early 1990s. Mr. Carroll says the board's main objec- tive bjecttive with its computer program is to keep moving forward and toward the current ministry recommendations. "If we follow this plan we'll be exactly where the ministry says we should be," he says. Tuckersmith Township council looks at landfill issue At this month's meeting of the Holmesville Waste Disposal Site Agree- Tuckersmith Township Council Doug ment. The agreement will probably be sign - Matheson of the Ministry of Environment ed on March 15, and following a hearing with discussed the status of the St. Mary's land- the Ministry of Environment the site will be fill site and the legal requirements that open to tise by Tuckersmith. would be necessary for another municipali- Dick Kloss attended before council to ty to dispose of their garbage at the Bite. receive the Celebration '88 Medallion as the In order to start using a new site, the male athlete of the municipality. Township would have to go through a hear- Wilma Oke, the past press reporter for the ing with the Ministry of Environment. municipality attended before council to Council questioned Mr. Matheson as to the receive a plaque for her outstanding service suitability of the site, and as to whether the to the community over the past years. Ministry was recommending the site to Motions were also passed to allow Doug other municipalities as a potential alter- Poulton, the Road Superintendent to attend native instead of establishing a landfill the T. J. Mahoney Road School; and James operation of their own. Adkins to attend the Grader Operation A motion was carried that the Township of School offered by the Ontario Good Roads Tuckersmith council accept the proposed Association. Council also accepted a quotation from Goderlch Energy, Seal and Insulation for the insulation and siding of the hall at the Vanastra Recreation Centre at a price of $12,150, The Township will be granting $225 to the Hensall South -Huron Agricultural Society, the Central Huron Agricultural Society, and the Seaforth Agricultural Society. Accounts approved for payment include Day Care $9,492.26; Lady Diana Nursery $7,277.16; Recreation 10,770.06; General $192,198.35; and Roads $17,120.70. The total accounts approved for payanent amount to $236,858.53. And the old township shed property has been designated to be sold at some future date. WORLD'S BIGGEST SUNDAE - Ms. Reynolds' Grade 7 class at Seaforth Public School was treated to a giant sundae recently for their effort in a student council fun- draising campaign. The students were selling magazines to raise money, and this class sold $1,825, while the entire school sold $4,250 in magazines. Here they are shown reaping their rewards. Corbett photo. WHM1S puts demands on Seaforth Public Utilities The Workplace Hazardous Materials In- formation System (WHMIS) was again brought up at the most recent meeting of the Seaforth Public Utilities Commission. WHMIS is a system to provide workers and employers with information on dangerous materials in the workplace. The system comes about after negotiations between the government, management and labor, and will become law in the fall of 1988. A delegation from the Seaforth PUC was sent to a special meeting at the London PUC which outlined what standards are going to be expected under the new WHMIS legisla- tion and how it will act the operation of the PUC. It was learned when WHMJS comes into effect on October 31, 1988 it will be necessary for the PUC to have a full written inventory of all hazardous materials, a floor plan of any building that contains hazardous materials, data sheets in the workplace -including on the PUC trucks or on other job sites, labels on any hazardous materials, and employee education and training in the safe use and handling of hazardous materials. Even seemingly mundane items such as magic markers, typewriter correction fluid, and motor oil will have to be identified and labelled for the new program. It was also learned legislation will be strictly enforced and there will be penalties for non-compliance. The Seaforth utility is now starting to list their inventory. INFRA RED INSPECTION The utility recently had an infra red in- spection of their lines and, found four hot spots, where there could have been possible problems in the future. Maintenance of the hot spots has already been completed, and nothing had to be replaced. The object of the infra red testing is to find the hot spots before they can become a problem, or result in an interrup- tion in service. The testing was done at a cost of $350. MUNICIPAL AUDITORS The municipal auditors have finished auditing the PUC's books and a statement is forthcoming. The net income was $7,000 higher than predicted this year, and there will be a small surplus from the water budget. WATER TOWER The utility did a visual check on the inside of Seaforth's water tower recently and Commission found it to be in good shape. There was no The utility's rental water heater program ice in the tower and no score marks where has been widely accepted in Seaforth and ice had damaged the inside of the tower. the 101st new tank has just been installed. The commission is looking at The commission did decide to review its maintenance on the tower in 1989, and will policy on installation to see if a change in the be getting quotes in the fall of this year. cost of installation is appropriate. The ren - WATER HEATER RENTAL tal rate, however, will remain the same. CHARITABLE PRESENTATION - Seaforth Mayor Alf Ross and Marlen Vincent, chair- man of the Seaforth Community Hospital Fundraising Committee, accept a cheque for $2,500 from Rod Lyons for the hospital building fund. The presentation was made at Lyon's Market last week at the open house, in which Mr. Lyons pledged $2 for the building fund for every person to visit the store. 535 people attended to total $1,070, and Mr. Lyons added an additional $1,430 for the worthy cause. Corbett Photo. COMMUNITY CALENDAR 11 you're organizing a non-profit event of interest to other Seaforth area residents. phone the recreation office at 527-0882 or the Expositor at 527-0240, or mail the information to Communi- ty Calendar. The Huron Expositor. Box 69. Seaforth, Ontario. NOK 1W'0 weft m advance of the scheduled date Spare for the Communr:4Catendar is donated by The Huron Expositor. Wed. March 16 8:30-9:30 a.m. Yoga at S.D.C.C. 1:00-3:00 p.m. Moms and Tots Skating 1:30-4:00 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard 4:30-5:30 p.m. Tween Ringette 5:30-6:30 p.m. Pee Wee Practice 7:30-9:30 p.m. Wood Carving at S.D.H.S. Thurs. March 17 9:00-10:00 a.m. Fitness is Fun 4:30-5:30 p.m. Novice Practice 5:30-6:30 p.m. Bantam Practice 7:30 - 12:30 Men's Broomball Fri. March 18 4:00-5:00 p.m. Senior Houseleague Practice 5:00-6:00 p.m. Junior Houseleague Practice 6-00-7:00 p.m. Atom 11 Practice 7:00-8:00 p.m. Junior Ringette Sat. March 19 8:30 a.m. Canadians vs. Oilers 9:30 a.m. Bruins vs. North Stars 10:30 a.m. Leafs vs. Flyers 11:30 a.m. Jets vs. Whalers 11:30 - 12:30 p.m. Mites 12:30-6:30 p.m. Knights of Columbus Tournament - (Juniors) 1:30-2:30 p.m. - Story Hour at the Library Sun. March 20 12:00-6:00 p.m. Knights of Columbus Tournament - (Seniors) 6:00-7:00 p.m. Ringette 7:00-8:00 p.m. Ringette • 8:00-9:30 p.m. Penguins vs. Bruins 9:30-11:00 p.m. Hawks vs. Flyers Mon. March 21 4:30-8:30 p.m. Figure Skating 7:30-9:30 p.m. Wood Refinishing at S.D.H.S. Tues. March 22 9:00-10:00 a.m. Fitness is Fun 5:30-10:00 p.m. Minor Hockey - Teams Unknown' Wed. March 23 1:00-3:00 p.m. Moms and Tots 1:30-4:00 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard 4:30-5:30 p.m. Tween Ringette 5:30-6:30 p.m. Minor Hockey Practice 7:30-9:30 p.m. Wood Carving at S.D.H.S.