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Whtby Free Press, Weckday, Febnuary 22, 1995, Page 25 Stefanie Antunes ST. CHARLES GARNIER, By now everyon hudhv recoavered rm =as Wedhesas Garierval. Garnierval, is Saint Charles-Garner'sverion ,of <Carnaval! There were ail types of winter fun activities for varied interests, and it .sure. seemed everyone was having lots of fun., Most pe went-tobo gg at EninioMkilen Conservation Area, and by the end of the day,th crazy carpets, inner tubes -- and wish them the best of Iuck. They Whitby. She's been playing the inort bodies - were scattered ail are also practicing for the violin for 12 years, and lias over the bull. SMASH tournament whichwiil played for*the Durham Strings .At first the funi of it was just take place at aur school ini Mardi. Orchestra and participated in going down the hiil and trying to This invitational tournament is Kiwanis mnusic festivals., set record speeds, but later came for ail French language secondary Like ail of our other exceptional contesta for the best tumbles, and students in southern Ontario. students,, she- holds- a high there were some great ones. This -week the young lady who average. She has been on theLyear This Tuesday our junior girls' holds the prestiglous titI. of book cornrittee since. Grade9 voileyb1l team wiil participa;e in esudent of teweekilewas born iand bas been on studentý council the LOSSA tournament and we Noélville,ý and in 1987 moved ta for the past two years. She is one of the mout, artistic people in' our ochool, her ~tin 8 shown at the gr g L Art Gallery. She recevedan honourable mention at, Brock University when she attended a yearbaok workshop. Her name is Julie Berry and we congratulate her. A la prochaine. 'Uninformed' view inartoicle To the. editor I amn writing in response ta the article, 'Sinclair experiment angers some parents,' written by Mark Reesor in the Feb. 15 edition of your newspaper. I arn currently a Grade 10 studont. at Sinclair Secondary, and I amn angered by the article. It represents an uninformod view held by many. people living in VAtywocnmnt iir themeelves before passng judgment on something new, such as the Wednesday program at Sinclair. The Wednesday prograrn doos not represent 20 per cent of aur class time, anly 15 per cent. Wednesdays give us knowledge that cannot, be taught ia "onormal" classraom environment. We have ta sign up for the classes that we want, whici teaches us how ta make decisions for -ourselves. This je somethixi that le needed in the. real world but most schools -- except Sinclair -- have not yet found ow ta teach that. To be able ta sign up for the. 'Excellent environ ment'y To the editor: -I read 'wth interest the article 'Sinclair experiment angers some parents,'in last week's edition of the WitbyFreeProsse. , My son started secondary echool this year and elected ta attend Sinclair. As the eldeet of three children and the. firet ta enter Grade 9, I was mast interested in -the pragrame available at Sinclair. .* Twenty-five years had passed since I graduated from higi school, so I found myself learning sanie new concepts and termes. The terminology included ' destreaming,' 9'common curriculum' and 'integrated studies.' Athougi these tapics have been the. subject af many articles in your newspaper over the past few yeare, I found myself having ta play catch-up ... after aIl, my sonsà future was at -stake. As any conoerned parent, I have monitored my1 son's progrees at Sinclair Secondary over the. past six montis and would like ta share my impressions with athers. I have faund that destreaniing aiaows studente with variaus interests, abilities and backgrounds ta work tagether and sacialize. This je dramatlcaily 'different tian the aId- system lu which students were immediately grouped inta tocinical, commercial or academic programe based on performance in grade school. At Sinclair, it appears that part of the "experiment" je warking, as destreaming has not resulted in a polarization of distinct groupe within the. schol. This je certainly a more positve enviraument for ail students and may ielp ta avoid the gang mentality that je prevalent in many of aur educational institutions. The common curriculum exposes first-year students toaa wide variety of subjects while still maintaining a focue on core subjecte such as mati, science, English, French and fine arts. This allowe the students tume ta assose their individual strengtIis which will assiet them in charting a career pati in subsequent yeare. For those first-year etudents with career objectivies and goals a]ready establisIied, opportunities are provided on 'Elective Day' for additional studios. The integrated studios program requires that the teaching staff in key subjoct aroas agree on course content and establisi a thenie for oaci semester. This approach allows cancepts taught in one course ta lie applied in another. For each major assignment the students are required .ta work as a group and sulimit ane project for evaluation. This requires that the. students wark tagether in developing ekilis suci as planni*ng, time management, leadership and teamwork. These elîs are essential elemente for success in any profession. In my opinion, Sinclair provides - an excellent environment for learning.The. firet term for my son at Sinlair was a success from -bath an academic and social perspective. A new school, Sinclair is bound ta have growing pains. However, it je my impression that the students, staff and administration are ail doing a commendable job. Keep up the good work! K.W. Thompson Wbitby Article wasone-sided To the editor- I amn writing in response ta that very one-sided article that appeared ln last Wednesday's Free Pregs, 'Sinclair experinent angers sanie parents." My two children are bath students at Sinclair Secondary School sud have had nothing but pstive experiencos there. They lve the. Wednesday prograzus, especially the. academic aspects They have learned msuy 1f.ekille on these days that are not included ithe, normal echoal prograin. Moet of the. courses offered on Weduesday are academic-oriented sud offer su excellent opportunit for a'student ta learn about hf. s many facets. The theatre tripe are an excellent opportunity for students who mugit neyer experience live theatre. Each trip ie connected with an educational tour of a performing facility. And the sports offer an opportunity for aur studenst ta ke.p physically fit. unlike msuy parente. My husband was involved with su educatuon commlttee, made up of several industrial sud business persans, that analyzed what taday's bigh achoole are not teachlng the. etudents. And the. recommendations that were made stated that bigi schol students should b. taugit mare how ta work as team playere as weil as more 1f.eille courses included lu the curriculum. It appears that Sinclair îs tryîng ta produce situdents wio fulfil !heue needs. Parents could benefit from, finding out exactly wIiat je offered on th ose Wednesday before passing judgrnent sud see that every student will benefit from the pragram if they use it wisely. Mayb thase parents who are not happy with their chld's cholces should become more actively involved lu helping theni decide. There are numerous excellent tapie ta choose from that will enhance any student's education. Most students at Sinclair are very proud of their school sud take great pride in going tiere. A few whining parents shauld not b. allowed ta muin the. chance for aur students ta experience a new sud innovative education sud end up with a well-rounded education. IE. Shields A proud.SincIaf-r parent Wednesday activities, we must lie swift. It forces us ta, get rid of ba.d habits such as procrastination and indecisivenese. To get the classes w. want, .w. have ta lie at schol, nat skipping -- a problem at many other schools. It could be said that the. Wednesday curriculumn at Sinclair is what keeps aur attendance rate so high. It really annoys me tiat people will quickly pass negative judgment on somnething just because it is new. When I firet carne ta, Sinclair, I did- not know wIiat .ta, expect. It Would b. the first school 1 attended that would lie lees than 25 years aId. That meant that we would b. able ta, get the newest equipment,- the lateet technology and anything oe. that was innovative and new. When people give descriptions of the Wednesdays, and they focus on the more trivial subjects such as basket-weaving, it reaily annoys me. They do not see the good that cames from the Wednesdays. Students can seek help in any of their subject areas an Wednesdays, so that they do not hald up the rest of the regular clase. Most of the. classes held on Wednesdays are remedial and onriciment classes. Only a few, the. ones an which people seem ta dwell, are non-curriculum-based. We can go ta enrichment classes such as: canteet preparatians held by the math To the. editor. Re: Feli. 15 VWhitby Free Prose article, 'Sinclair experiment angers some parents.' I only read one side ta this story. If there were two people charged with assault, the. judge listens ta bath sides bofore h. decides. I arn a parent of a Grade 9 student at Sinclair. I and other parents are very happy with the. Wednesday program. Wednesdays are nat ail fun sud gaines as it was put lu the article. If your ciild needs or wants extra Iielp, ail they have ta do le sign up for it. -My daugiter, alang with a lot of other children lu this echool, is reeponsible enougi ta know when se neede help. You wiil get the. odd child that want sign up but you also get the. odd persan at work that won't pull hie or her weight. I have tire. aIder daugiters and have gone tirough four Iiigh schools due ta moving. I had ta department (for contesta'that are mandatoiy for some students); Broadway musicals offered by the music department; computer and writing labo held by the English departm-uent; extra help with Fncl, held by the French depatent. It i8 mandatary for Grade 9 students ta, talke French classes on Wednesdays, ta help them get a botter understanding, of the French language in general, not just, focusing on the mechanics ofiît. Yes,-I do agree that some of the pragrame are not curriculum-based, but ini the business world not evorything that everyone does from - ine ta five ise directly related ta what is Written in.their job description. That type of class is there ta help us become more weil-rounded individuals. They give. us a chance ta broaden aur horizons and se what other talents w. may have that have not yet been discovered. They help us ta, see what inds of things are out there for us ta do with aur lives. The Wednesdays are'a great incentive for us ta stay in echool. They keep aur attention and aur interest. I think, along with a great many people, that the Wednesday activities are a good idea. I hope it je what je ta, corne in the. schoolý of the future. Pamela fKlaassn Grade 10 Sinclair Secoeidary School fight with my kcids ta get thein ready for echool and ta go ta school. My youngest wants ta go ta scholsud nat just on Wedneedays. The kids get the same turne for math, science, etc. as other schools. People want their ida ta, act like adulte when they are in higi sehool. Their decision ta do more math, science, etc., je their choice. Every parent hopes they use their choices wisely. Being a teacher nowadays le a very liard job. If tis prograin can makekIdds want ta go ta sehool, then it will make thekidds want ta learu more. The. teachers at Sinclair are not only teaciers but they are also friends to, the students. When ids want ta go ta echool, that's half the. battie. If you want and like ta go ta, work, you do botter at your job. I give ail the. teaciers at Sinclair à big round of applause for making very important years of my ahter's life a lot smooher. Sharoei Berner Whitby Not ail fun and games