The Brussels Post, 1979-07-11, Page 9People we
know
Robbie Glew from Seaforth
and Chris Langlois spent two
days on a fishing trip to
Owen Sound and one day at
Benmiller fishing with Jim
Glew of Seaforth.
Mr. and Mrs. Ross Smith
'and daughter Janette of
Lethbridge, Alberta, are
visitors with his mother,
Mrs. W.W. Smith, and other
relatives.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold
Thomas returned last week
from a vacation in England
where they visited with
friends.
A large group of the Smith
family gathered at the home
of Mrs. W.W. Smith
Saturday evening where they
enjoyed a social get-together
and a lawn supper.
Jitney Held
Results of the .. jitney
tounnament sponsored by the
Brussels Lawn Bowling Club
on July 2 are:
Florence Johnston 3W31
George Johnston 2W23
Ron Coultes 2W36
Frank Carter 2W33
Les Douglas 2W31
Bert Johnston 2W26
Wilbur Turnbull 2W26
Ruth Hupfer 2W25
Ida Evans 2W24
Jim Scott 2W23
Anstett Jewellers Ltd.
Seaforth
INio\VN all day Wednesday
O P 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
for your shopping convenience
We now do in store engraving of Silver Trays - Pewter mugs
Silver Baby Cups and offer same day service.
JEWELLERS
ANSTETT
Box 52 Seaforth 527-1720
11 Albert St. 203 Durham E. 284 Main St.
CLINTON
WALK ERTON
EXETER,
482-3901
881-0122
235-2468
MEMBER AMERICAN GEM SOCIETY (,,ItTs.) •
THE BRUSSELS POST, JULY 11., 1979 , 9
BRUSSELS LIONS WIN—Fred Stephenson
holds the Labatt's trophy won by the Brussels
Lions in a slo-pitch game against the New
Hamburg team. Brussels won 7-4 in a game
played in Atwood on Monday, July 2.
(Photo by Langlois)
FACING
THE
FUTURE
PROFITABLY
A practical,
twg giqy Beef Congress and
exhibition for progressive
beef producers.
JULY 18 &191979
Western Fair tirotinds
London,Ontario
for further information contact
Ontario Cattlemen's Association
590 Keefe Street.Toronto, Ontario M6N 3E3
(416) 766-9217
Organized by the Ontario Cattlemen's Association
1
PHONE 338-3121
Programme subject to
unavoidable changes:,
MONDAY, TUESDAY,
WEDNESDAY
JLTLY 91 10, 11
Walt Disney Presents
NORTH AVENUE
IRREGULARS
"All Star Cast"
Ken Barry & Sandy Duncan
Star in
THE CAT FROM OUTER
SPACE
ChIldrereli Admitislori 256
PROGRAMME
STARTS AT DUSK
CHILDREN IN CARS
(12 Years and Under)
ADMITTED FREE
THURS., FRI., SAT.
JULY 12, 13, 14
`A Marvelous Perfotmance
By Gary Busey"
THE BUDDY HOLLY
STORY
—And--
CALIFORNIA SUITE
With Alan Alda, Michael
Caine, Bill Cosby arid Jane
Fonda '
[Adult Entertainment]
SUN., MON., TUES.
JULY 15, 16, 17
HALLOWEEN
—Plug--
PHANTASM
R wvriitTk
ESTRICT
1Q
g:Z46111-
4. ittilliri ,F44 ,1 -14
Every year, when %July rolls around, I
breathe a pretty heavy sigh of relief. Not
because school is over and there's a long
holiday ahead. That's nice, But I can teach
English with one hand tied behind my
back. And I'm not that wild about holidays.
No, the reason for the relief is that I have
managed to wiggle my way through
another year of being a department head
without having any deaths, suicides or
nervous break-downs among my staff.
Being head of a large department in. a
large high school would seem to be a rather
enviable position. You are paid extra for it,
and usually teach one less class than the
other teachers.
Those are the good aspects. But there
are others, and they are not all a piece of
cake. I won't bother moaning about the
incessant paper work, the scrambling to
stay within a meagre budget with cost of
books soaring steadily, the taking of
inventory of about twenty thousand books.
Those are the drudge jobs, and everyone
has some of this in his work.
It's the personalities involved that make
the job something less than a sinecure. A
department head must be a combination of
Momma, Polonius, Machiavelli, Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde, a priest,- Napoleon and a
touch of a psychiatrist.
For one thing, English teachers are a bit
more creative, articulate and rebellious
than most of their contemporaries, perhaps
because they continually deal with ideas,
not facts. Ideas are shifty things, and the
conveying of them to students is more
slippery than the teaching of more prag-
matic subjects: science, math, geography,
shops.
As a result, the English deparment head
must serve as a wailing wall for his
teachers who loudly and sometimes
tearfully vent their frustrations at their
inability to impart their own skills to their
students. He must oil the joints of his
department frequently, when some of its
members seem about to come to blows with
each other. He must act as a buffer
between them and the administration. Arid
he must standup for them vigorously when
someone is trying to shaft them.
Now, I hope you are not expecting me to
say that I do all these, things. A pat on the
back here, a word of praise there, a
shoulder to cry on, long one-on-one talks to
restore their confidence, a stern rep-
rimand when necessary, frequent depart-
ment meetings where we "talk things
out."
Not at all. If I tried to do all those things,
I'd have been committed or had .a heart
attack long ago. I just leave them alone, let
them crack up or break down, and try to
show them, with invincible calm, my old
theory that there is nothing, absolutely
nothing in' this world to get excited about.
It seems to work pretty well. 1 am rather
shy and don't get involved in their personal
lives, except to listen once in a while, if I
can't avoid it. When they are seriously ill, I
don't bug them, don't even go to see them.
We've had three department members
with serious heart trouble in the last three
years. They're all back on the job better
than ever. Probably because I left them
alone, didn't show any particular sympathy
and let them solve it themselves.
When a couple of members are at each
others throats, I tell them to sort it out
themselves, not come running to me for
help.
We'd never think of having a meeting at
which we "let it all hang out." We have
the shortest department meetings in school.
Most of them are taken up with ribaldry, a
little business, and a quick acceptance of a
motion for adjournment.
We have quite an assortment. Three
working mothers. One artist. One student
who has been taking extremely difficult
courses for several years. One poet, One
guy writing a novel. One syndicated
columnist. Three of us are former
newspaper people. One lady teacher is a
dogged and determined member of the
salary committee.
We have a devoted Catholic and a couple.
of agnostics. We have a mixture of racial
backgrounds: Polish, Scotish, Irish, Greek,
French-Canadian and German.
Occasionally, one or two members of the
department need a good blast from their
head for recalcitrance, mopery or gawk.
But I am psychologically unable to ream
somebody out, and the trouble usually goes
away, like bad weather.
Once in a while. when I become a little
depressed at the way they are draining me,
without knowing it, I take out a booklet
entitled, "Duties of a Department Head."
This gives me a good laugh, when I realize
that I am a lousy department head, 'and I
feel better.
There is only one area in which I fulfil my
function. And this is a holdover from
wartime. A good officer always'defends the
men under him. Unless, of course, they are
hopelessly incompetent. When somebody
clinibs on the back of a member of .my
department, the usually benevolent. Bill
Smiley unsheathes his claws, and the
attacker backs off.
Some departments have lengthy meet-
ings, terrific infighting, and resultant
smoulderings. We have the happiest, most
relaxed department in the school.
Just want to say thanks, guys, for a good
year. And next fall, don't tell me your
troubles, tell your husband or wife or
mother or kids, and we'll have another
great year.
Sugar and spice
By Bill Smiley
A sigh of relief
pannaparnon
The Canadian movement for personal fitness.
Fitness. In your heart you know it's right.