The Citizen, 2009-09-03, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009. PAGE 13. Huron East economicdevelopment officer Jan Hawley and
her two tourism ambassadors
presented a tourism update to
council at its Aug. 25 meeting.
The group said that last year was
one of the most successful years ever
in Huron East tourism, largely
thanks to two large events, WaltonTransCan and the Seaforth CountryClassic.In addition to those two events, thegroup attributed increased traffic in
the visitors centre in Seaforth to the
recently-installed washrooms and
the free wireless internet provided
there, two new initiatives started in
Seaforth this year.
Hawley said the group has been
taking a much more proactiveapproach to tourism, with membersof her team talking to visitors andwelcoming them to the municipality,rather than waiting for them to come
into the visitors centre for
information.
The Seaforth visitors centre has
also extended its hours, making it
more accessible for people when
they stop into the area.
By their numbers, visitors toSeaforth and the visitors centre were61 per cent non-local, 31 per centlocal and eight per cent unknown.There had been travellers in
Seaforth from as far away as
England, Belgium and Australia, in
addition to all over North America.
Councillor Joe Steffler, a former
resident of Brussels, asked what
initiatives were being undertaken for
Brussels. In addition to the installation ofnew televisions in the Brussels,Morris and Grey CommunityCentre, soon to be installed in the
Vanastra Recreation Centre and the
Seaforth and District Community
Centre as well, Hawley said she was
working on a brochure for Brussels
similar to the one already complete
for Seaforth.
In the Kittmer household in
Lakeside, there has been a particular
pleasure over the past few days for
the two younger children.
Madison, 11, and Brandon, 12,
have been relentlessly teasing their
high school-aged brother and sister
because they don’t have to start
school until a week later than their
older siblings.
This year, the Kittmers aren’t
alone in this unique scenario. That’s
because the attendance area of St.
Marys DCVI, which lies within the
Avon Maitland District School
Board, includes students who attend
elementary school in the Thames
Valley District School Board.
And this year, the two school
boards have different start
dates.
Avon Maitland (along with the co-
terminous Huron-Perth Catholic
board) is among a small number of
school boards in Ontario which
have chosen, this year, to
commence classes prior to Labour
Day. That’s because Labour Day
falls on the latest date possible –
Monday, Sept. 7 – making it difficult
to schedule the required-by-
legislation number of instruction
days before the June 30
conclusion of the 2009-10 school
calendar.
Thames Valley administrators,
like most Ontario boards, chose
instead to schedule a series of
teacher professional development
days between Sept. 1-4. Classes
don’t begin until Sept. 8.
“I think it’s absolutely silly, in all
honesty, that my oldest kids are
going back to school for three days
and then getting off for a long
(Labour Day) weekend,” said mom
Shelley Kittmer.
She recalled out-of-town DCVI
students losing over 10 instruction
days a couple of years ago due to
snow and fog-related bus
cancellations, “and (Avon Maitland
administrators) didn’t get all
worried. But Labour Day’s a little
late and suddenly they’ve got to
change everything.”
She also questioned whether there
will be a commitment to learning
among students – and even teachers
– when they’re in school for three
days (Tuesday, Sept. 1 to Thursday,
Sept. 3) and then away for a four-day
long weekend.
For Kittmer, the split start dates
for her kids isn’t a hardship. The two
youngest, she says, are old enough to
take care of themselves. Plus, she’s
working an evening shift Sept. 1-4,
so she’ll be home.
A friend, however, isn’t so lucky.
Her younger children, aged eight
and 11, attend Plover Mills Public
School near Belton. Her older child
is entering Grade 12 at DCVI and
would normally be there to watch
over the younger siblings.
“It’s just another week when she
has to juggle schedules,” commented
Kittmer, whose younger children
attend A.J. Baker Public School in
Kintore.
For the Avon Maitland school
board, a similar boundary-crossing,
elementary/secondary split exists
within the attendance area of F.E.
Madill Secondary School in
Wingham. A number of students
come to high school in Wingham
after attending elementary school in
communities like Lucknow and
Teeswater – part of the Bluewater
District School Board, which also
starts classes Sept. 8.
There are few, if any, similar
scenarios in the Huron-Perth
Catholic District School Board. And
education superintendent Dan Parr
says his board has not received calls
of concern leading up to this year’s
irregularly early start date.
“Last spring, (after trustees
approved the 2009-10 school
calendar), there were some concerns
raised, so we tried to get the message
out about the various factors leading
to this,” Parr said in an interview.
“But I haven’t fielded any calls (of
concern) recently.”
That doesn’t mean, however, that
the early start date in Huron and
Perth Counties hasn’t created
challenges even for families in
which all the kids start at once.
Kittmer, for example, says her
niece won’t be attending classes in
the Huron-Perth board from Sept. 1-
3. She was enrolled in a ringette
camp before the school calendar was
finalized.
There have also been reports of
students making decisions between
either attending classes or filling out
their obligations for summer
jobs.
Early start date for schools causes problems
HE Tourism says 2008 was a great success
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