Loading...
Wingham Advance-Times, 1977-12-28, Page 5s of nd I lore Lure 1971 at able i as our sell ien- the scil, ent and curs and a hat we the tial and ', a in rry to can !fly :air red are ing rith per of ces CA ces es. )ne :he Ind ng, .un )us no ed. the :es- ng he he rs, est m- re- tly iur ly, on nt. XO 14, e" all Kt, ny in - he 10- ve to he ed ed Dk ed m ut n-. )n io Livin � skills are taught at the Golden CircieSchool The. most noticeable thing about the Golden Circle School is that the people there seem very happy. Everyone at the school works together and appreciates each other's progress. The Golden Circle School for trainable mentally retarded chil- dren began' in Wingham in 1958. In 1973 the school was moved into Wingham Public School. The school program stresses living skills along with nor- malization and integration, said Florence Reavie, principal of the school since 1962. Normalization has een ex- plained as "making a ailable to the inentally retarded patterns and conditions of everyday life which are as close as possible to the norms, and patterns of the mainstream of societyshe said. "Skills for,living are the reason for learning to read, to count and to write to figure things out so that one can participate in general living and be a part of whatever groups he or she is in," she added. Children at the Golden Circle School learn self-care and good manners. They learn to par- ticipate in and -enjoy events In general they learn to communi- cate with the world. As the children advance, so do the living skills taught. Later in their school life the children are taught reading, writing, arith- metic and typing. They take turns getting lunches ready and washing dishes. They learn to be contributing, co-operative meth - hers in the school and in their homes. The children stay at the school until they .ne 21. The ultimate goal of the s r� ool program is to have people le to shop, count change, tell time, use the tele- phone and generally fit into society when they leave the school, said Mrs. Reavie. People at the school learn a number of ,Icrafts. Darrell and Michael worked on hooked mat for two weeks. They had good reason to be proud of their work when it was finished. SPEECH THERAPY—Danny, Robbie, Jacqueline, Alan, Karen, and Jeffrey sit in a circle for their speech therapy class with Mr. Kilpatrick. Cheryl is a bit more modest than Darrell and Michael, but she is justifiably proud of her ability to type. Cheryl has a special bar over the keys of the typewriter that prevent her fingers from slipping off the keys. Her typing is very accurate and surprisingly fast. Jill does volunteer work at the Silver Circle Nursery every Wed- nesday morning. Friday morn- ings, she cooks for the Jack Reavie Opportunity Workshop. Jill has several ideas about what she would like to do with her life. She would like to work in a nurs- ing home, be a companion or shop .for someone who lives alone, or work in a small shop.. Field trips are an important part of the school's curriculum. The children go swimming, bowl- ing, and out into the community often. Last October, the children visited Tony McQuail's farm. They had an opportunity to see farm animals, to ride on a wagon drawn by horses and to par- ticipate a little in farm life. Volunteers from the area help the school staff often. Some people from the community help with teaching the children at the school, some help -when the chit- ,Siren are taken bowling, swim- ming or skating. Sports are a large part of the students' activities. There are many very good .bowlers at the school. The Golden Circle School has captured the Southwestern Bowling Trophy the past two years. When the children go to Winter Olympics,. said Mrs. Reavie, "We come back with more medals than any other school." The children are given indi- vidual attention. Each child pro- gresses at his or her own speed. Many childreno,can't talk when they first go to the school so one of the first classes they have is speech. When one considers that many of the children are unable to talk, walk, or communicate when they begin school, and then looks around andsees what each child can do, it .becomes obvious what the school and the teachers have done to change the lives of these children. Thirty years ago there were no Golden Circle Schools or Silver Circle Nurseries or Jack Reavie Opportunity Workshops. Thirty years ago retarded people had very little chance to learn. • "By having the children in school it proved that even though their mental growth is limited, still they can learnbut more slowly than others and they are limited in what they can learn,!' said Mrs. Reavie. Happy New Year FROM Golden Circle COOK FRIDAY—Jill Swatridge of the Golden Circle School cooks at the Jack Reavie Opportunity Workshop every Fri- day. Here, she is busy peeling carrots after having made a salmon loaf. HARD AT WORK—Cheryl and Sally hard at work. MISS KELLY ENJOYS ART. • MUSIC TIME—Barry and 011ie and Andrew decide it's time for a little music. THE TYPIST—Cheryl can type fairly quickly and very ac- curately. She has a special cover over the keys to help keep her fingers from slipping off the letters. HARD AT WORK—Andrew keeps busy hooking a rug while Barry studies his numbers. DESKWORK—011ie and Jimmy do a little deskwork in the early afternoon.