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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-09-14, Page 3Ott Enrolment see -saws at -area schools, n It was business as usual when local students went back to school last week, but there are a lot of new faces on teaching staffs In our schools and other changes students will be seeing. SDHS Enrollment at Seaforth District High School is 362 compared to 322 at the end of June in the 1987-1. l; school year. Jim Empr- ingham, principal at SDHS, says there has been a significant influx of students from other schools, many of whom are coming to SDHS to take advantage of the semester system. There has also been a highturnover inch e teaching staff at SDHS. With Jim Moore Rob Parr, wh gone to the board office o comes from to Seaforth from Clinton, will take over as vice principal at the school Brian O'Connell is then pew director o business, and he comes from South Huron Delaney i District High School. Jaynes teaching Business at the school, and is a former SDHS student who cones back to the school from Galt Collegiate. Lynne Godkin is teaching Family Studies Science and English, and she comes to SDHS from Althouse College. Bruce Eccles is the new head of the English department and he comes to SDHS from South Huron District High School. Greg Sherwood is teaching Ar • t at the school and will be working with the alternate education class which will be held upstairs at the Town Hall. Mr. Sherwood also comes from Althouse College. These six teachers make for a 25 per cent turnover at' the school, but Mr. Empr iugham says this should have a positive effect. "It keeps new ideas coming into the school, and we grow as a school because of that." The alternate class, for mature students or early school leavers, will be operated by the school this year. There are currently 14 students enrolled with the coarse, but there is still room and time for more to sign up. The class will be held in an upstairs room in Seaforth Town Hall. Students in the course will work mostly independently for credits toward graduation or upgrading. SDHS has also increased its computer resources, and per capita is now the best computer equipped school in the system. Resources in the libi ary have also been increased. SPS AND WPS Seaforth and Walton Public Schools' 1988 enrollment is virtually identical to the previous year's. This year there are 350 at- tending students in comparison to 353 in the previous year, so enrollment remains steady. There are a total of nine changer in the teaching staff -three at WPS and six at SPS. Carol Hoelscher will now be teaching Grade 6/7 at SPS and brings with her ex- perience gained at the Hensall Public School. Verna Kane has Grade 4 and Special Education, and was previously involved with Student Services. Brenda Pincombe, who previously taught in Hulled, comes to SPS as its new Kindergarten teacher. Al Sygrove, previously at Walton Public School, has moved to the vice principal posi- tion -at Seaforth Public School. Taking on the job -of- teacher -assistant at SPS will be • Joanne Papple. In Walton Louise Wilson of Wingham is the new vice principal, as well as its resource teacher. Gwen Hugill will fill in with the Grade 1 class until Christmas dur- ing the regular teacher's maternity leave and Janice Vivian will teach the Family Studies classes at the school as well as at five other schools. June Johns will be the new secretary, and comes to Walton via Vanastra where she had the same position. Aside from staff changes there have been some other changes at the schools this year. In Seaforth the Quest Program will be in operation. Quest is a guidance program which is operated in conjunction with Lions International, and it helps children to make decisions about peer pressure, drugs and alcohol. There will also be a new emphasis on Science for students in kindergarten through Grade 6, and the Language Arts curriculum has undergone some changes. The library at SPS has been computerized. HURON CENTENNIAL SCHOOL Enrolment at Huron Centennial School in Brucefield has dropped 14 from the 485 THE HURON EXPOSITOR, SEPTF/mil ;j4, 1988'- 3A - �t t SDHS new teaching staff consists of Rob Parr, Vice Principal; Greg Sherwood, Art and alternate class; Jayne Delaney, Business; Lynne Godkin, Family Studies, Science and English; Bruce Eccles, head of English department; and Brian O'Connell, Director of Business. Corbett photo. SEAFORTH AND WALTON PUBLIC SCHOOL new teaching staff consists of (back, left) Gwen Hugill, Grade 1; Janice Vivian, Family Studies; Al Sygrove, Vice Principal; June Johns, Secretary WPS; Joanne Popple, Teacher -Assistant; (front) Carol Hoelscher, Grade 5 6; Verna Kane, Grade 4; Brenda Pincombe, Kindergarten; and Louise Wilson, Vice Principal WPS. Corbett photo. CAL NEW TEACHERS at St. Columban school Farwell, Principal; Tina Doherty, Grade 1-2; Mcltwraith photo. students attending the school in June of this • year: New staff at the school includes Debra - Bennett who will teach Grade 6 and comes to Brucefield indirectly from Hallett Cen- tral; Kindergarten teacher Cindy Hamather who previously supply taught in South Huron County; and Paul Dyck, who spent three years in Holmesville and prior to that taught at Robertson Public School, Seaforth Public School and in Waterloo and Lampton counties. He will teach Grade 8 Language Arts, 7-8 Phys. Ed. as well as act as the school resource teacher ST. JAMES St. James Roman Catholic Separate School has seen some changes in both enrol- ment and staff. There are now 163 students at the school, compared with 157 the previous year.. There are also five staff changes. Fran Craig of Egmondville is teaching the Grade 5/6 class and is the library resource teacher. Mrs. Craig comes from St. Boniface in Zurich. Paula Nowak-Droog has the Grade 7/8 class; Angelo Ippolito of Listowel is teaching French classes part time at the school; Celeste McCreight has moved from teaching Grade 5/6 to Special include: Helen Krauskopf, Grade 2-3; Don and Cleste McCreight, Special Education. -1,. 4 Education; and Mary Sithlis With the Kfnde?gartetrctass whflelerrygn Bakel is on maternity leave. ST. PATRICK'S Enrolment at St. Patrick's School in Dublin is up 11 to 137 students, but there are no new teaehers at the school. ST. COLUMBAN Conversely enrolment at the St. Columban school is down - but by only one student. Enrolment is 125. Don Farwell, previously at Immaculate Conception in Stratford, will take over the principal duties this year. Tina Doherty leaves the board office in Stratford to teach Grade 1/2 at the school and Helen Krauskopf leaves St. Patrick's School in Kinkora to look after the Grade 2/3 class. Celeste McCreight, also on staff at St. James School in Seaforth, will look after the special education needs of the school on a half time basis. Other changes at the school include smaller and split grade classes this year, and a new portable to accommodate one more teacher than what was previously on staff at the school. NEW TEACHERS at St. James Separate School are Fran Craig, Grade 5,6, and Paula Nowak-Droog Grade 7,8. Corbett photo, NEW FACES at Huron Centennial School In Brumfield include: (from left) Pat Soldan, Principal; Debra Bennett, Grade 6; Cindy Hamsther, Kindergarten; and Paul Dyck, Grade 8. Mcllwraith photo. Huron County Board of Education trustees redistributed Trustees on the Huron County Board of Education have been advised of their redistribution and the accommodation of two additional trustees to bring their number to 16, in what Director of Education Bob Allan called "one of the most signifi- cant political changes that could happen to the board." The clerks of the three highest populated municipalities in Huron County, namely the towns of Goderich' and Exeter and the Township of Stephen, formed a committee in early August to discuss trustee distribu- tion for the HCBE. Bill 125, which was pass- ed in June, provided for trustees across On- tario to be distributed according to popula- tion rather than on the basis of property tax assessment. This necessitated the redistribution, and two trustees were added to the local board to reduce the workload on existing trustees through a board decision in June. The implications of the distribution are largely political, as most of the trustees will be running in different electoral districts in the upcoming municipal elections in November. The current trustees could also be forced to run against each other if their home addresses are within the same chang- ed electoral boundaries. Some of the other political implications are: the former division of Seaforth, Hulled, and McKillop which was represented by Graeme Craig and John Jewitt, is now divid- McKillop opposes McKillop Township council is at odds with the Ministry of Natural Resources. A Ministry of Natural Resources commit- tee recently completed a report on the con- servation authorities in the area and recom- mended 'a number of changes. In reviewing this report and these changes, the township council noted a recommendation to amalgamate Maitland, Saugeen and Grey- Sauble conservation authorities into one authority. The McKillop council sent a letter BRIEFS ed into two separate divisions including Blyth, Blyth and Hallett, and Seaforth and McKillop -each with one trustee. Another change of note is that the Town of Goderich has a population that warrants two trustees. Prior to the redistribution there was one trustee for the Town of Goderich, and a second representing Col- borne and Goderich. OPSTA ADDITIONAL FUNDING The Ontario Public School Trustees' Association requested roughly $5,000 from the HCBE for a campaign to lobby the pro- ' vincial government, but the board agreed to table the request pending further information. The OPSTA claims the money is needed to fund a campaign to protect the right of school boards to tax commercial and in- dustrial assessment. This right is currently being challenged by the Ontario Govern- ment, or more specifically, the Macdonald commission. The contribution requested of school boards is 1/100 of one per cent of the board's overall budget -about $4,800 for the HCBE. SUMMER SCHOOL 1988 "Summer school could be thought of as easy marks for dumb kids by teachers from amalgamation to the ministry committee objecting to the amalgamation on the grounds that the three authorities are not geographically compati- ble, and the economics of the merger are not justified. The council was also notified by the Huron County Board of Education of a redistribu- tion of trustees, and there will in the future be one trustee to serve McKillop Township and the Town off Seaforth. The Huron -Perth Turn to page 17 the bottom of the barrel." Frank MacDonald, principal of the sum- mer school, says these words reflect the type of negative attitude he sees in people who don't think summer school is a viable way for students to make up a year's failure. They ask how a person who fails a year can make up his grades in three weeks. Mr. MacDonald and Janice Hoist, who was a program supervisor at summer school this year, attended before the board to tell how. Mr. MacDonald says the students who come back for more schooling during the' summer have all failed -but they have come to grips with their failure and decided to do something about it. He calls them motived kids, and this motivation combined with a concentrated three hours of study per day, plus homework, gives them what they need to get their credits. The delegation remarked the staff at sum- mer school is generally a good mix of new teachers as well as experienced ones who come hack year after year. Generally, he says summer school attracts an en- thusiastic staff who enjoy the low teacher - pupil ratios in their summer classes. "The bottom line," Mr. MacDonald says, "is that it's well worth doing." There were a total of 167 students who at- tended summer school in 1988, which was a decline of 18 per cent over the previous year. No reason for this can be given other than the guess that the many summer jobs available to students this summer had an in- fluence. Of the 167 students who attended summer school all but seven were successful. OPSTA CHARTERING MEETING A special meeting of members of the Nor- thern Ontario School Trustees Association, the Ontario Public School Trustees Associa- tion and the Association of Large School Boards of Ontario will be held on September 24 in Toronto. The purposes of the meeting are to pass a resolution authorizing the merger of the operations of the three boards, and to consider the resolutions of the Board of Directors of the OPSTA and the Executive Committee of the ALSBO A authorizing their amalgamation pursuant to the Corporations Act. STUDENT AWARD WINNERS David Josephson of South Huron District High School was the winner of the 'Royal Canadian Geography Society Award' presented by the Canadian Geographic Magazine. He also received $1,000 and a three year subscription to the magazine. David was one of 25 winners from across Canada. Deanna Brindley of Goderich District Col- legiate Institute was the first place winner in a shorthand contestsponsored by the On- tario Business Educators Association. Deanna placed first in Huron County with a mark of 91.8 per cent, and placed first in the Provincial Business Educators Shorthand Contest. Said Osman of South Huron Districi.High School is the winner of the Chem 13 News Exam Award from Waterloo with a 96 per cent average. Said was one of 6,000 con- testants from Canada, The USA and Great Britain. DAY CARE IN SCHOOLS The HCBE received correspondence from the Toronto Board of Education stating that board had adopted a resolution stating: "That the Ministry of Community and Social Services be requested to provide financial assistance and a financial plann- ing service to public non-profit Day Care Boards located in schools and operated by boards of education in the province." No action was taken by the local board on this issue, but Director of Education Bob Allan commented that Day Care in schools would be a good thing and this is a good cause for the Toronto board to champion. Wed., Sept. 14 7:00.9:Oti.m. - Joint Registration Night at Arena & Equipment Sale 7:30 p.m. • Seaforth Horticultural Society Dessert Meeting at Seaforth' Public School. Fred Prescod from Royal Botanical Gardens will speak on "What's Wrong With My House Plants". 8:00 p.m. - Fitness Is Fun at Arena Thurs., Sept. 15 8:30 . 9:30 a.m. - Fitness is Fun at Arena Sat., Sept. 17 Fall Fair Dance at Arena Sun., Sept. 18 9:30 a.m. • Terry Fox un - Allstar Game at Lions Park Mon., Sept. 19 6:00 p.m. • Seniors Games Potluck Supper Tues., Sept. 20 8:30 • 9:30 a.m. - Fitness is Fun at Arena Wed., Sept. 21 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. • Fitness Is Fun at Arena 7:30 p.m. - Ringette meeting at Arena, everyone welcome. 7:30 . The Celiac Association, London Chapter, will meet Wednesday, September 21, 1988 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 131 at Vic- toria Hospital Education Centre on Hill Street. Guest speaker will be Dr. John M. Howard, Gastroenterologist. Non members 2:00 p.m. - Huron County Men's Fastbali 268-7875 oro 2lcome. 88-7590. For Information, call 4