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The Citizen, 2012-01-26, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012. PAGE 7. Snow angel: You’re doing it wrong Whether Mitch McNichol of Blyth Public School got a little confused or a little creative when trying to make a snow angel is something only he knows. McNichol was one of many students at Blyth Public School and other schools across the area that had their first few days of solid winter weather this school year including snow last week. (Denny Scott photo) Continued from page 3 a list of all the things they would like to do before they died after being diagnosed with cancer. There was only one wish to help others on their lists, the rest were things that they wanted to do for themselves. Jesus gives us a way to do things. Here are five tips to help us: 1) Start small, don’t bite off more than we can chew; 2) Scale up. Start small and increase our opportunities; 3) Let Jesus live. When we have Jesus with us we can do many things; 4) Take love seriously. Love is like a garden, if we don’t care for it the weeds take over. Love allows us to see the glory of God; 5) Pay attention. Pay attention to others around us. People of faith will change the world. The choir sang the anthem, “I Stand Amazed in the Presence.” The receiving of the offering was followed by the offertory hymn, offertory prayer, the prayers for the world, a silent time for prayer and the singing of The Lord’s Prayer. The last hymn was, “He Leadeth Me” followed by the commissioning and benediction. Everyone was invited to stay for coffee and fellowship after church. Lessons to live left by Jesus Continued from page 3 Tootles – the train who believed in himself and made it over the high hill. The Senior Kindergarten class concentrated on the C, K and CK sound while learning about kangaroos and camels. They have put together a math toolbox and will begin solving math problems using the Bansho method of problem solving. They made New Year’s booklets with important dates and birthdays to remember as they journey through this new year. They learned two new songs about the months of the year. By Courtney Bachert The new year is boosting off to a great start. All of the students are learning a lot and having lots of fun in the winter weather. In Mr. Gole’s Grade 2 class, students created Inuit settlements with materials like marshmallows, styrofoam cups and paint, to make igloos and things like that. They are studying their lifestyles and comparing the differences from now and then. In science they are learning about solids and liquids and the water cycle. To make it interesting, Mr. Gole had each student make their own little snowman and put it on a small plate. Then they put food colouring in it to make it look pretty. Once they were done, they watched it go from a solid to a liquid and are now relating it to the water cycle and how the water will eventually evaporate. In Mrs. Middleton’s Grade 3/4 class, the students made brochures about Blyth for social studies. They talked about rural and urban communities during the whole process and compared the differences. In science, each student made their own habitat for their favourite animal. They all had a lot of fun and did a great job. In art, Mrs. Middleton had five winners who won the Legion poster contest. Mrs. Middleton is very proud of them. In Mrs. Decker’s Grade 4/5 class, they are learning about forces on structures in science. The students are building bridges with toothpicks as a fun project. In math, they are learning about area and perimeter. For language, Mrs. Decker is teaching them how to give effective assessments, as speeches are going to be said in the upcoming weeks. The class is having fun using the program “Edmodo” for a variety of projects and assignments. In Mrs. Zembashi’s health classes, the Grade 7/8 students are learning about making important and good decisions in their life. The Grade 6/7 students are learning about harassment and who to talk to if you get into a situation involving it. In gym, she is teaching the kindergarten to Grade 2 students to play co-operatively in all of their games. In French for the Grade 4/5 students they are learning about different winter sports, activities and destinations. In Mrs. Todd’s classes, the Grade 7 students are reviewing area and perimeter and learning a few new things. In the Grade 3 reading class, they are reading Robert Munsch books and applying reading strategies for improving their skills. They are talking about predicting, asking questions, clarifying the meaning of words in sentences and the summary. Gr. 2 class studies Inuit Huron East approved its portion of the 2012 Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) budget, just over $12,000, at its Jan. 17 meeting. ABCA General Manager and Secretary-Treasurer Tom Prout was asked to make a presentation to council about the budget, answering questions and discussing the average 5.5 per cent levy increase. Prout said that initially a 16 per cent increase was being considered, but that eventually it was brought down to 5.5 per cent. A breakdown shows total costs to municipalities of $977,053 with Huron East paying $12,379 of the cost. Prout said that in the 2011 budget, as well as the proposed 2012 budget, there had been a lot of fluctuation between line items and that there was a number of reasons for that happening. “There is a lot of fluctuation from budget to actual (costs) for a number of reasons,” Prout told council. Prout, for example, explained one line item that was budgetted for $90,000 that ended up costing $490,000. He said that when government grants are made available, the money can be used for various projects, which is why line items may jump substantially. He did outline, however, that there had been no significant staffing changes made with the ABCA. Prout explained that there is a substantial amount of leveraging that takes place with the ABCA’s annual budget. Of the 2012 budget, which tips out at $5 million, Prout said, only $1 million comes from municipalities, while the ABCA is left to leverage the rest. Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan asked about what kind of a “float” the ABCA carries, saying that judging from the budget numbers and the interest the ABCA was banking on making from the money, that it would likely be in the neighborhood of $1 million. Prout said that was accurate and the number was around $1 million, but that it has traditionally been around that number. He said the funds are held for various projects as they come along. He said the money is in an unrestricted reserve, but that much of the money is designated for certain projects. MacLellan said he had no problem with that practice, but asked if the account had a top limit, asking if the account reaches a certain amount, is there a provision to require the ABCA to spend some if it reaches that ceiling. Prout said he has been with the ABCA since 1981 and the reserve has never been above $1.2 million. “I just think it’s not a bad idea to have guidelines,” MacLellan said. Huron East Council approved the budget after Prout’s presentation. By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron Eastapproves ABCA budget portion