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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2002. PAGE 7.
AMDSB trustees consider future of Tech 21
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Thanks to some proactive lobbying
by teachers in the Avon Maitland
District School Board's Tech 21
program, students and parents
received a heads-up about an issue
which was originally slated only for
closed-session discussions, but
which could become a key issue as
administrators prepare to release the
By Shelby Crawford
Clinton News Record
The Avon Maitland District School
Board has decided to lend a helping
hand to students by going online.
Jacqui Vercruyssen, the designer of
the program Getting Students
Connected (GSC), said "Students
have easy access to over 950
links in the website
www.avonmaitlanct on.ca/—amdsbnetr.
Elementary school students using
the program are able to e-mail
questions to teachers and have the
answer e-mailed right back, she said.
Vercruyssen also said GSC is the
solution to safer Internet use for
children.
Students just click on the link
provided on the site and it takes them
where they need to go. It saves time,
and it saves them from accidentally
going to an inappropriate site, she
explained.
She also talked about the links to
police sites put out by the RCMP to
help students identify drugs, learn
how to say no and learn the laws and
consequences for taking drugs.
-"It allows parents to have a more,
active role in their children's
education," said Vercruyssen,
commenting on the printable learning
sheets that students will be able to use
at home for extra help.
The website has information for
kindergarten.to Grade 8 with special
links. from each site that allot
children to access information that
suits their curriculum.
Vercruyssen also said she is
2002-03 budget.
First, teachers sent letters to
trustees and parent councils,
expressing concern that board
administrators are examining a range
of options for the program, which
features team-based, career-oriented
instruction at three specialized sites
for all of the board's Grades 7 and 8
students.
Those options could include
anything from retaining the program,
planning for a new website geared to
secondary students.
Vercruyssen talked about the
website's design which was made to
fit anyone's computer, taking into
consideration not everyone has a high
tech computer.
"Over 40,000 students have visited
the site already since September 16
when it went online," said
Vercruyssen.
March 27 was its official launch
date. All services are free.
Teachers are also able to submit
assignments on the site to go to other
teachers with different ideas and
eattiptatulatiatto,
On behalf of the staff and
players of the
Auburn Flaming A's
we would like to
congratulate the
Blyth Sting Hockey
Association
on their victorious win,
clinching the A
Championship in the B.I.H.L.
It's great to see such a
team pull together and
come out triumphant in
such a competitive
league. Congratulations
guys.
The staff and players
of the Flaming A's
to altering it so a form of Tech 21 can
be offered at each school site, to total
elimination, the letters explained.
"If you feel that Tech 21 is a
valuable part of the education that
your children receive and would like
to see the program continue ... there
are things you can do," stated the
letter to parent councils, before
listing such things as contacting
trustees, surveying parents and local
businesses, addressing a board
meeting, and starting a petition.
It was no surprise, then, that an
update on Tech 21 appeared as an
agenda item on the closed-session
portion of the board's regular March
26 meeting.
Information ahout the teachers'
letter was released to the media prior
to the meeting, hOwever, by North
Perth trustee Don Brillinger. "I think
we need more time to review the
whole program," Brillinger told The
Listowel Banner newspaper.
Interviewed during the public
portion of that meeting, before
trustees went back behind closed
doors to receive the scheduled
update, Brillinger didn't seem
satisfied.-
He expressed frustration with the
possibility that the only chance
trustees might have to vote publicly
on the termination or revamping of
Tech 21 would come in the form of a
budget approval - vote. He argued
such a vote could cover a wide range
of potential cost-cutting measures,
and some trustees might be reluctant
to support Tech 21 if it means
delaying measures they feel are more
pressing.
Brillinger wasn't the only one
urging a more public airing of the
issue. Two public delegations in
support of the program were received
during the public portion of the
March 26 meeting.
Dan Gill, school council vice-chair
for Stephen Public School at RR2,
Crediton, said Tech 21 provides
"practical approaches to problem-
solving that accurately reflect real-
methods for teaching their classes,
she said.
There is even a link on the site for
teachers to access websites faster, that
way surfing the net is no longer a
problem, said Vercruyssen.
Vercruyssen also commented on
how she believes this will have a
positive impact on the children,
especially those who are afraid to ask
for extra help.
"My biggest hope is that it helps
students. I hope it helps parents. That
was the main objective," said
Vercruyssen.
world challenges."
And Judy Jeffrey-Chambers, one
of nine full-time teachers in the
program, said Tech 21 has been the
"spark" for possible career decisions
by many Avon Maitland students.
She said teachers have been
informed that board administrators
will recommend that cost-cutting
changes be made to Tech 21, with the
money possibly being put towards
early literacy programs. A consultant
may also be hired, she said, 'to
examine how technology-based
elements of Ontario's curriculum can
still be met by offering a form of the
program at each school site.
Tech 21 currently operates at three
centralized locations, in Stratford,
Clinton and Listowel. It was first
instituted at Clinton in 1995 —
ironically, as a cost-saving measure
of the old Huron County School
Board — to replace what used to be
called the Family Studies and Design
Technology (FS and DT) programs.
All Grades 7 and 8 .students attend
for eight full days per year.
According to Avon Maitland
system principal Maggie Crane, who
has headed the program since its
inception, Ontario's revised
curriculum no longer includes an FS
and. DT component. But the 18
different "modules" of Tech 21 have
been altered to conform with the new
requirements. And two.years ago, the
Bluewater District School Board
(Bruce and Grey Counties)
purchased the Avon Maitland model
and have since established four
centralized sites.
At the March 26 meeting, Jeffrey
Chambers argued that, even if the
board could place specialized
equipment and materials at each
school site, it would be unlikely that
a similar program. could be delivered
without specialized teachers.
"Time constraints and equipment
shortages in some home schools
often hinder the most dedicated of
classroom teachers," she said. /
Following the return to closed-
session discussions, trustees emerged
with news that board staff will
deliver a report about Tech 21 in
public at the regular April 23
meeting. According to
communications director Steve
Howe, the report will provide
information about the costs and
benefits of various options for the
program.
Now that's cold
Putting your hared in a pail of ice-water is bad enough but
these students were asked to imagine what would happen
if they fell into a lake or stream this spring season. The
students, from Marni Tomson's Grade 3 class at East
Wawanosh Central School were going through the dos and
don'ts of river safety with Kirk Tysick of the Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority. (David Blaney photo)
AMDSB helps students get online