The Goderich Signal Star, 1976-04-01, Page 11r 717
1 Deo, 1 p7
,.
P'll,bito Iibary ,
52 Mon-ree, , St.: -
G de, cti, - Qnt . , N7.. 2G.4
Calculators
A 6gne or a,6lessing?
'BY•DOUG BUNDY, • -
' GOC( S.TA•FF •
In today's inflationary market,what's the best bargain
. around? Quite sirnply9•it'S, the pocket calculator.' Models
with the four simple' arithmetic functions are,available
for under $20, and even the more; complex 'Ones; with
memory and a program function can be bought for less
than $100.
I:s the :calculator . the bargain • it , should. be .? - Are
. and , science students becoming button -
.Pushers ands leaving computational skills behind?
The use of the'calc.ulatey in the high-school classroom
has become a hotly -debated subject. Critics argue that
-`an erosion of -Computational skilrs will result, creating a'
generation of computational illiterates.
Proponents cpntend that the calculator can be a
significantforce in -moving the. school away from "an-
swer oriented'' instruction. 'they say it can relieve the
drudgery of massive simple calculations and provide
speed and accuracy to allow the,student to solve. more
complex, thought-provokingpreblems:'
How has the prolification def calculators affected Huron
County's. Students? To date there has been, no official
policy set forth by a„e Huron County Board of Education,-
either for or against -the use of calculators in its schools.
In 'the Science Department at G,o.deriCh District
Collegiate, we have adopted the policy of allowing the use
of calculators in class and on tests and exams in the
senior grades only. (Grades 11-13) Exam problems have
not necessarily been made more complex, however, and
the student without a calculato.r is not being. p.enaltzed
and should still be able to complete. any of the assigned
problems with the same degree of acc.uracy,'and speed as
before. .
At the Junior grade level (Grades 9 & ,10) ,calbulators
are tolerated in some class. situations, but not allowed
during°exa:ms or tests, We try to encourage therstudent
to solve •'the probtern without; using the calculator, but'
Unfortunately,' more and more of the junior students are
•bringing a calculator to class..
It_ is_aur.apinion: that students shoulddiearn the basic
compli:fa;tionet sk 11s'-'b°ef"ore tiiey7aelegate t ese-s-kiTts to a`
calculator. I. is, amazing to us, aseducators, howmany'.
students have difficulty doing;' simple division and
° multiplication; 'their reliance on the calculator to "do the
problem for them" ' is a crutch that .robs them of the
necessary .understanding and appreciation of many
areas • in science and mathematics. We wonder .why
students in the •junior' grades. show -up with calculators.
DoLparents. feel their children need this kind of aid to
•
succeed?'
-- AAfth senior level�where.scientific problems are more
complex, kwe feel that electronic calculators' can •be -a
° • helpful tool in handling' the .uninspiring tasks while the
mind is free to assimilate the understanding necessary
for the solving Of the problem. ; -
We find students are now willing to tackle complex
• `mind -demanding" problems in Chemistry and Physics
since•theycan leave the drudgery of the computation to
the calculator. • Nevertheless, we still insistthey know
howto translate „a problem into the steps requiredfor'
solution; and in fact ;have an idea of the approximate:
answer before using the calculator, -
'Iitishort we:are proponents for the L ge of' calculators,
but .only after the student has become proficient at the
basic computational skills. He must also' know the
limitations of such.electronic'aids. It is only as good as
the operator. •:
• We in the •Science Department at GDCI. would be in:
terestedin comments. from parents on'thistopic. Write
or -phone the school, or reply. with your comments to the
' Signal -Star! • "•
Wh�t';do y•ou.-.think?
Let: us know!!
.•"
129.YEAR 14
THURSDAY, APRIL 1 , 1 976
SECOND sEcTioi4
E ducctiOn•
•
BY MARY-ELLEN'SALMON
the children are doing." ' ,�. have . been working' on ' this about his plans for Education
Victoria's Principal Dion every '.noon -hour since Week. • . •
O'Brien said, "The students Christmas. Weknow it's a Looks like Brookside willbe
willbe working when -the' hard production but we're striving, with its program, to
parents do come in." • • working on it and we are very do just that,
Some of the children, hopeful that it will be a good Principal Jewitt stated,
however, will not be in class presentation: - `School swill .be' open Thur -
at . that time. There's a ... As for the rest of Education sday, April 8 in the morning
pleasant treat in the_ works •• Week, Mr, Harland stated, and during that time people
for Goderich. '• "Parents and 'public can can visit in any or all of the
Residents, according -to Mr. come to the school any time classrooms. At the :same
• O'Brien, are going to get a . during the school . ;day. :time, individual classes are
'peak atDisneyworld. Children will be rehearsing • bringing in resource people to
, He :. said, °`Sotne of:, .the. ,..all day. Monday (April5),: so <"provid.e• - special.'intere.st:
,. students will be preparing for any qday after that up :until groups: These resource
:.. •
_.__:----._.. Y ": ...' .. _ . ;•. a..;.S�:Ise=F.�an?-�a..,.�rrd�a3�r�ya1'1 rtght..--•-Pa-wall.-b
Education Week 1976, April , their musicand ar't'periods on where it can be arranged:"
"We're hoping for the
•Public Health Nurse for one
session and:"hope to co-
ordinate the resource people.
into classeswhich, s'u'it that
particular . program," Mr.
Jewitt said:: "This particular "
part of our .program hasn't With appropriate items --like
5 to 9, should -'bring Goderich the life and works of Walt
and area parents many new Disney. This will . premier
'insights 'into what their later in the month of April,
children are actually learning possibly the 26'th.or 27th."
in' schools today, Indeed, the
week. will . also. allow op- QUEEN' ELIZABETH
•portunities . for any person.
interested in education to see Bonnie Graham, •°principal
--•-wImes-be-mg. done_antx of --th=e (�ueexrr. t' ailed;=i in -^-
•
educational system; Most -in Victoria •School said `.`We,
•
schools. have:pointed out that, are setting up .,times. for
at certain times, the public is parents to observe : their
welcome, children.;'in class, withan
Each elementary school in after' -class idiscussion'.period.
the area will' be, running a We're also arranging for a ST. MARY'S
At GDCI
Try new format
.GDCI
It's going to be unusually
busy week for . Goderich
residents, what with the
. variety ' of activities ` from
which to chose.
. Last, but certainly not
least; Goderich District
Collegiate Institute will he
premiering a new Education
Week' Programa •Principal
John. Stringer said; "Thi§ is
an opportunity .to see the
school in action." -
;Apparently, in other years,
parents and the public have
: been able to come in and see
what the . kids . have done
:different: type- of program
during the week. Some of -the•
planning is still being done. It
takes' a lot .• of work:
Therefore, one or two.s'chools
had to 15e'yague as to ;what's
in store. There'll probably be
numerous Pleasant surprises.
VICTORIA PUBLIC SCHOOL•.
dramatic productions . or
musical programs, for
example. • '
This' year, 'they're
operating., on the principle
that parents° may be in-
terested in how the produc-
tions and programs are put.
together. Usually they only
see the finished project.
GDCI has an instrumental
• music program. 'Any in-
terested parents are invited
to. come in. and see this in
process. People have,seen the
band in action and now they'll
get the ,cbance to see how it's
' (continued on page 4A)
iloso
There's lots of talk about education.
these, days'— the.cost of it, the worth of
,.it; the ideas behind it., ' •
-Next week . April 5 9 — is Education
Week 1976: In order. that the citizens of
Goderich and area .could understand
more about the. educational process at
Goderich District -Collegiate Institute, '
Principal John Stringer, Vice -Principal
William Murdie and 'the, staff at GDCI'
sat down together and hammered out
their'philosophy regarding education.
"We have organized the'school and •
, .have developed a curriculum upon these
beliefs," 'stated John Stringer.
We believ n' the Credit System. -A
student is not ticked intq".a program
` Stone
he must take all subjects. at the
` Samlevel of difficulty,-- but 'lie seleots
subjects' according to his interests,
abilities and goals. Subject promotion, a
part of" the Credit System, allows a
student to;arepe"at a' course in 'which he,•q
has' not achieved an acceptable standard
•
Il,
•
_•
Miss--Heleri ;dean,- ice-. • Memorial in Goderich, will be
• principai,•of Victoria -'Public. :headirigforthe `Big Time'.•
visit •-to -- the . 'swimming
-=pr-eg-r-am-at-Vanastra Pool' in
Vanastra Recreational parts
on April' W between 1:36 and"'
She added, "Interested
people may visit on April 7."
: ROBERTSON MEMORIAL
One ' school,'Robertson
•
•
School in Goderich, outlined Principal. Garnet Harland
explained: "At eight p.m. on
Victoria's pians which in -
(chide both parents and the
"public:: "Wednesday, April 7,
is Open House through the
day. Parents can'come and
watch the children in class. In'
the evening the school will he
open right Lip until 9 p.m. on
that particular Wednesday."
• Friday, April 9, will be
unique. According .to Miss.
Videan, "Friday from 2:30 to
3:30, • approximately, there
will be a display of children's
Elective Groups."
-" "For the past six Weeks on
Thursdays the last hour has
been devoted to activities the
children wouldn'-tgetin class.
We will be showing. the results
of the six-week period with
activities such as 'sculpting,
wrestling,; °bo•wling, bad-
minton and folk -dancing,"
she said. •
• With regard to opening the
school's Education Week
programs to the public, Miss
Videan said, ``I think- this is
part of our community
relationship.. We are -a public
° building and people should be
able to come and. enjoy what.
•
-the nights of Tuesday) April 6
and Wednesday, April 7, we
are having our operetta !Anne.
of Green .Gables' put on by -
our Grade 8. students. It will
be - for parents and . the
public." ::•
He continued; "The _tickets
will be available the week of
the 29th ....of March. The
children will be selling them
and they'll be available at the.
door. The operetta will be
,held in .the gyri; which holds
approimately 230 people:
Miss .Cathy .Britnell of
Goderich will be the.. focal
`point of the production. as
'Anne'. The presentation will
be a combination of song arid.
drama."
It sounds like'quite a
production for the Robertson
Memorial Grade 8 students
and these things don't happen
instantly:.
According • to Principal
Harland, "The children acrd
three music supervisors (Mr.
Cameron,. Mrs. Ruth Shad -
dick and• Mrs.,,. Marjorie
Freeman - ai1 from Goderich)
;t: Mary's Separate School
,p-,Ar<ipal Larry Cook wants
;:`joiners" • to turn out for
Education Week. NO . sitting
around and looking on -at this
school. •
This is the way it should be
at St. Mary's:
- "The school is open to the
public all -week. There'll••be
classes going on • and• people
'can come in and observe. But,.
we want people to join in. For
instance, in the art class we'd
like to seepeople involved in
the actual lessons."
An additional feature:' to
Education Week, ' according
to Larry 'Cook is''a Metric
Information. Session the night
of Thuxtsday, April 8 'at 7:30
p.m.
"We're having a speaker
White . from
in, Mr. George . W
the Ministry of Education,
Waterloo Office," Mr.. Cook
saidr"This is for parents and
the ;:public, meaning it's a
purely" adult session and it's•
free." .•
• Principal Cook Said he'd
attended oneof these sessions
before, finding it :very in-
formative and interesting.
He said, "You understand
the metric system somewhat
better.' °.
°
BROOKSIDE
"I want to get anyone in the-
corrimunity who is interested
into the School,"• said Gary
Jewitt, Principal. of
Dungannon's Brook -side
public School when asked
Steffler in charge will be
inviting parents to open house
from 7. to 8 p.m. •Tuesday,
°
The plan will be: vAt eight,
we have a Metric Workshop
put 'on by Gord ° Keeler,
Waterloo office of the
Ministry, of Education. The
metric ".session. is for 'the
public as well as parents." `
• Principal S.teffler outlined a
can come in• and feel free to •
visit with the' teachers and
assess the progress of their
children; There's a short
program put on in the gym.
Every half-hour something
different (for ' instance, . a,,.
choir sing) is going to be
going on in the gym."
Apparently, in times past;
they've run into congestion as
P-rincipa1' Kane remarked-•
special event scheduled . for that the serving of coffee is a
Wednesday; "'April.' 7. ' " co'nvenientfecal point utilized
'-"Parents.and public can tour to keep people moving in and
during class. 1.inie arrct'see = out of 'elassroorns: Alter "ati
.what., the children are, 'ac- those classrooms; that cup of
'ttually , learning,: We will coffee becomes a necessity..
•
celebrate' a Mass at 10 a.m.. •
tha.t• morning. The .sermon
will • be on the Value.'' of
Education. Everybody ' is
welcome.
it can b.e--seer'--th�atP-
=
hoping to get,a representative Education . Week is' being
th s b'ect of local taken seriously by aIl schools
felted . ,1tet-ace re a1_
in on e. u 1, in the Goderich area. .
history,"
And that's not all.
"That same morning',we're
doing something ' new . and
4-7
without repeating ail his other cou"r"ses.
We believe in aCore Curriculum; that•
is, we believe that certain' subjects, .are
basic to a student's education so that a
student 'can pursuehischosen career. In
a core curriculum English is mandatory,
mathei'natics. and science are rno,st
important, 'and physical fitness, an
appreciatiari of p'rench culture, and an
awareness of Canada's '.heritage are
emphasized. •
We believe in a Balanced Curriculum.
We are proud that we offer effective
'progra'ms in ,art,, fnstruniental music,
drama commercial . and technical
'subjects. We.. believe that students
shb.uld have the opportunity to ,develop
their the
in the fields of Technology
and the Arts. A wise blending of ,a basic
curr.icultlnt with add,tional option to
allow young people td explore personal
interests is our goal.
We believe that inv,glvement in: extra='
curricular adtivitiesis Constructive and '
beneficial' to young People (as member's
•.b .
of school clubs, as participants in
Student Government, and as m'mhers
of school tearns). The opportuni,ties to
o'iganiie and plan, to assume leadership
roles, to gain, recognition, to improve
one's self-concept, • and to mature
socially are realized to a•very great
degree through involvement in the ac-
, tivities program: . •
.We believe that the greatest -happiness
for a student occurs when he is .working
and achieving. Because there is an inner
satisfaction that _ comes° , from
achievement, we believe; therefore, it is
important to adjust the level of a
•student,:s cotfrse(s) if•he is working, but
not achieving "
' We believe that student motivation.is
related to, the 'environment within the
school. We shall continue to examine our
techniques, 'our organization; our -goals,
and to work- closely with parents, and
social agencies to motivate the students
that are not presently stitiiulaled,
We believe that education is a
To .continue: "On -Thursday
afternoon at two we are
having a Confirmation
setting up a hobby fair. The .. Workshop .just•forparents. It
public and parents -can come will toueh on subjects such as -
late the :auditorium., and we:: , a 'discaission„of. the .parent' 8,
•
hope to. have different types'involvement in the 'child's: HOtMESVIY LEaFS
of hobbies ' done by the--.eon-B:rma ,There: will .also •.
•
children,, with demon- be a film presentation: Fer ° Now for a' shocker. Prin- 1
strations:and displays: There Friday;; for anybody in cipal Bob Reaburn,.__
will-• be no sales and the " terested, there'll be School Holmesville Public School,
children will be on hand to Assembly; • a children's stated, "We're 'doing nothing
explain," Mr. Jewitt added. • : 'presentation' and, at 1 p.m.,' ' on Education Week at all,"
• Brookside will really be an Audio. Visual Presentation' Granted, there's a good.
moving on Thursday, April -8. which the teachers--a-r-e , reason. As explained -by .Bob
Gary Jewitt said, That putting together." Reaburn, "We've had open
afternoon all • children at house and the parents are
different times will get the It all sounds promising. welcome at all times, and
•
to o unto the when we set up times, the
auditorium and see what they - : parents tend not to attend."
can do next year in the way of • So, this time it's different:
hobbies .and demonstrations"
and display. Our 'objective,
chanceg
Holmesville;; Public School
'MS come up with a ne:w way •
r.�> r.
here into let,t'he children see to.get the parents (and, '
what the others are doing:: ) �`' , �, , hopefully, the public) out.`
In a sense,. Principal -.Gar. ' 1� r , •i .. t' After all, the idea • is to let
Jewitt and staff will be
creating •a unity within. the.
school which corresponds
with the basic rationale for
Education Week '76.
They'll still be at itafter the
4.7 ' 1-•
•
- s:
parents see what their;
children:can, and do, achieve. .
On.April"13 and 14 in the
school auditorium at 8 p.rn.,
• the pupils from•Grades 4 and
COLBORNE CENTRAL 5 will display their -music and
week: is' over. On Thursday, ' dancing expertise iri ,the •
April 29 at 8:15; the Annual . The program for Education classic operetta `Hansel &
Spring Concert win -be held in Week is still under Con-- Gretal'. The- auditoriumcan'.
the Brookside gym. • sideration tat Principal' John contain around 300peopleand,
' Kane's Colborne Central Bob• Reaburn .is hoping for' a
School.
'� :Ile said, "This isa format
•=r �'�( used _ in years past and the
parents and .teachers seem to
like it andit's a good: way for
them Ito get together . over
\ `. - According to John Kane,
LJ
It ,.':'i •-5. ° "We will have the classrooms
KINGSBRIDG)g SS open for pig"rents to visit at
cert'ain times. One.evening
Si: Joseph's, Kingsbridge during the week we will have
School, with Principal Clem a Parent's Night where they_
u cat'i,on
humanizing process, and that a school
has a "personality". A.classroom where
the rapport between teacher and student
reflects understanding' and friendliness
Can :be'a place of learning: We believe
that the cultivation of conditioi s'which'
increase the morale of all within the'
school `• is' iniportantin •achiey:ing the
desired "personality".: ,
We believe there should be close.
commnunication between'the'school and '
the community. Education Week• (April
3 to April,9) offers another opportunity
for citizens to yisit the sthorn 'ini order to
observe current educational practices, •
and to exchange, ideas with the staff and
students.
We believe that we areprogressing
toward the achievement of our goals: In
spite of the many problems facing our -"
schools; and the current political tiur-
bulence• swirling around professionalism
and bureaucracy, educational finance,
and Seltiool systeit"i-effectiveness;'We are
:optimistic for the future.
at
full house. The students wih
be selling the tickets.''
Principal Bob Reaburn,
•excitedover the project; said,
"The operetta; will. be under'
the - direction • of the _music
teacher, Mrs. .Irla Stewart
and the' Grade 4 -and 5
teachers - Linda Pierson and.
Dave Scholl." .
He added, "All the staff is
contribgiting and the students ..
are working,hard.'r