The Citizen, 2005-10-20, Page 1Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 21 No. 41 Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005 $1 (93c + 7c GST)
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NH
| NORTH HURON PUBUSHING COMPANY INC. |
Inside this week
Pg. 6
Pg-8
Rural students
benefit from project
Local girl rides to
victory
i
Pg-13 Home section
begins
p Calendar girls
Hr " ' pose for a cause
p 2-] Grey residents
Hr J* attend meeting
AMDSB
revisits
French
immersion
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
The Avon Maitland District
School Board will again decide
whether it will try to gauge* interest
in French immersion programs
outside Stratford, this time voting on
whether or not to hold what are
being called “registrations” in
Listowel. Wingham, Goderich,
Exeter, Clinton, Mitchell and St.
Marys.
The board currently offers the
program at just one site: Bedford
Public School in Stratford. Interest
across the rest of Huron and Perth
Counties was deemed insufficient
when the Bedford program was
introduced in 2000.
Then last year, as a result of
lobbying from a group called
Canadian Parents For French, a
subsequent round of parent surveys
was distributed. Again, board staff
recommended remaining at one
location.
Last spring. South Huron trustee
Randy Wagler, after communicating
with a particularly persistent group
of Exeter-area parents, received
support for a motion asking
administration to “prepare a report
that would provide information
about a potential ... program to start
in September, 2006.”
An advance summary of that
report was delivered to trustees at a
regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 11,
and a full report including the
“registration” recommendation will
be released for the subsequent
meeting Oct. 25.
The registration, tentatively
scheduled for Dec. 5-9, is far from a
sign that the expansion of French
immersion is a sure thing, however.
Instead, staff would use the
registration numbers to- gauge
interest, then assess the financial,
Continued on page 32
Harvest season
With Halloween just around the corner, it’s pumpkin time and this bunch is ready to be carved
into jack-o-lanterns. Patricia Smith sits with her nine-month-old daughter Chloe, beneath a
tree on their farm in Belgrave beside a bushel of pumpkins for sale. (Heather Crawford photo)
Accident victim in London
A 33-year-old Brussels father of
two small children remains in
Victoria South Street Campus
hospital in London after sustaining
injuries in an industrial mishap Oct.
12.
Firefighters from Brussels and
Grey responded to a call shortly
before noon to McCutcheon Motors
Ltd. on Turnberry Street.
Steve McCutcheon, a long-time
employee at the garage, had been
putting a vehicle up on the hoist and.
Programs
By Heather Crawford
Citizen staff'
Due to rising dropout rates among
Ontario high school students,
Premier Dalton McGuinty created
new programs that focus on
increasing the number of high school
students who graduate.
One of the changes to the system
implemented this past year in local
area schools was the creation of a
student success leader.
This position co-ordinates- new
programs at each school which will
be designed to help struggling
students.
Linda Pettigrew was hired at F.E.
Madill Secondary School in
Wingham this school year to work as
the student success leader.
School principal Jim Ryan said the
creation of the position is to benefit
the entire student body as well as
teachers.
“[Her job is to] create programs
that help the whole school as well as
a smaller group of students and offer
support to the teachers.”
Also the government implemented
according to a police report, had
stopped to check it when it was
approximately four feet from the
floor.
The vehicle shifted, tipped and
pinned McCutcheon.
Firefighters used extrication
equipment to free McCutcheon, who
sustained a broken back.
A spokesperson for the family said
McCutcheon underwent surgery
Thursday night to relieve pressure
on the spine.
focus on graduating
six new locally-developed
compulsory credit courses. These
courses are required subjects such as
math, science, history, geography and
English and are available to Grades 9
and 10.
They offer smaller class sizes,
Ryan said, that are tailored to kids.
“There is board support for the
courses, and there have been a
number of students who have
responded well to the individual
attention.”
The government would also like to
raise the legal age one is allowed to
leave school from 16 to 18.
The King Report, recently released
by the Ontario government states that
about 48,000 students (30 per cent of
all students) did not graduate since
the inception of the new curriculum
changes in 1999.
Ryan does not appear to agree with
the way these findings were
measured. He said he would rather
see students graduate as well
educated as possible rather than as
quickly as possible.
“If a level-headed student who
accesses a broader education and
The Ministry of Labour is
investigating.
An account has been established
at the Brussels CiBC branch for
donations to help this family in this
difficult time.
The spokesperson expressed the
family’s gratitude for the acts of
generosity. “Jason at Foodland
donated groceries, and people
have been dropping off food and
coupons for gas. It has been
overwhelming.”
makes sure that they fully understand
what they have learned, graduates in
four-and-a-half or five years, then
[according to the government
measurements of graduation rates]
that student doesn’t count,” he said.
Robyn Nicholson, a Grade 9
student at Madill said that she knows
some students who have dropped
from academic to applied programs
since starting high school.
“I’m finding it okay,” she said of
her current school work. “But it will
probably get more difficult later.”
Nicholson said that there is a lot of
homework in high school and she
spends an extra hour and a half each
day on her schoolwork.
Further initiatives from the Ontario
government include an alternative
secondary school diploma expected
to be offered in the next few weeks.
The diploma will “give
prominence to the ability to develop a
skill or trade,” a press release from
the government said.
Estimated reports on Ontario’s
dropout rate has varied from 30-40
per cent, one of the highest in
Canada.
Halloween
a scary
time for
parents
By Heather Crawford
Citizen staff
Halloween is usually a fun time
for kids but can be w.orrisome for
parents. Keeping an eye on little
ones dressed up in costumes, going
door to door in the dark can be
stressful.
Lori Pipe from Brussels is the
mother of three children ages 10 and
younger. She said she or her hus
band usually goes out with the
children.
“We make sure they don’t wear
masks, and they know not to go to
doors without lights on,” she
said.
“Our oldest wants to go out with
her friends more now,” Pipe
said. “We set a boundary that limits
how far she can go.”
Lynn Chalmers of Blyth is also
letting her 10-year-old daughter go
trick-or-treating with a friend this
year for the first time.
“We told her she can only go to
certain streets so that we know
where she is, and she has to stay
with a friend,” she said.
Chalmers, the mother of four
children under 10, said that she goes
out with her kids every year as
well.
“We generally don’t let them go to
houses unless we know who lives
there,” she said.
Pipe said she usually sets a limit
of a two-block radius and asks that
her kids check back with, her after
that.
“I’m not too worried. We live in a
pretty safe town and we know
almost everybody,” she said. “1
don’t have too many concerns.
1 hope I never have any con
cerns.”
As you are thinking of costumes
and ways to keep you kids safe here
are some tips to help for Halloween
night, provided by the Canadian
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation:
-paint faces with hypo-allergenic,
non-toxic make-up rather than wear
masks;
-help children map out a route in a
familiar neighbouihood and remind
them only to approach lit houses;
-accompany young children and
suggest that older children travel in
groups;
-stick to the sidewalk or the left
hand side facing traffic if there isn’t
a sidewalk;
-provide children not
accompanied by an adult with small
change or a cell phone in case they
need to make an emergency
call;
-check out your children’s candy
before they eat anything. Remove
any items that aren’t wrapped or
look tampered with.