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the HERALD School News Wednesday February Acton High School student reaching for the top School student Matthew Fleet an A level student who plann to enter fall to become a teacher But because he partially paralyzed ana confined to a wheelchair he won be able to unless a recently formed group the Wheels for Matthew Committee Is able to to purchase a van for him to drive Herald Photo BOONSTOPPEL POT The Herald Matthew leet dreams of going to University to become a teacher but because partially paralyzed his immobility is threatening that dream But thanks to a newly created community project known as the Wheels for Matthew Committee his dream may come true The committee began meeting in January to plan fundraismg events in the hopes it can raise from the community in order to buy 19year old Matthew a special van If thev raise this money within the community a government program Vocational Rehabilitative Services will cover the cost estimated 20 of modifying the van to suit Mat s needs It will mean a whole new life for Matthew who since 1988 has been confined a wheelchair hat year he and his family went vacationing in the Dominican Republic during the Christmas holidays An athletic and adroit swimmer Matthew was out body surfing and in a bizarre twist of fate he dove in to a wave and was washed up on shore partially paralyzed Matthew t know if he hit the bottom or if the strength of the w ave twisted his spinal chord but as a result of the dive a chip of bone dislodged in his body became pressed into his spinal chord and impaired his ability to move certain muscles his arms and legs He was in the hospital for a year recovering but returned to school in a wheelchair to complete his studies and graduate with his Grade 12 class He now an A level OAC student at Acton High School Says Matthew with an accident like this half the battle is accepting the disability and the other half is overcoming the barriers that relate to it He s won half the battle but is still fighting to overcome barriers particularly ones that hamper his mobility Thanks to help from teachers students and a machine a wheelchair lift Matthew is able to manoeuvre around the school and get to his classes But without aid the weakened and paralyzed tricep muscles back of the arm muscles in his arms t powerful enough to propel him up steep ramps over snowy or rough roads over roadside curbs or stairs I can go anywhere or do anything on my own anymore he said A van could provide the freedom that has been taken away from me With a van I could participate in so many other things again and would be able to interact with the community again he continued Having mobility would help me regain my self confidence and self esteem because I be more in dependent Now he relies on Activan for transportation which has limited hours the hours flexible enough to allow him to maintain a part time job or perform any volun tcer work something he was very involved in before the accident had to give up two chances for mer employment not because t capable of handling a job but because he had no means of Iran to get to work everyday worst of all without a van he can t get to a university to further his studies as there is no com muting service for handicapped persons which provides such far reaching service Soon he may no longer have to worry about this anymore if the wheels for Matthew Committee can raise the 000 to purchase the van They hope to raise this money through donations and fund raising events Three have already been scheduled They include A Winter Carnival to be held Feb 2429 A Gigantic Garage Sale to be held May 2 and a 50 and GO s com car show and dance to be held in early June Locations and times for the even ts have not been scheduled but the Hills Herald will keep readers updated on the fund raising events Anyone interested in contnbuting to the Wheels for Matthew Com mitte or anyone who has questions can contact Dave Boycott at Student needs a priority in Halton school system Principal GDHS Herald Special With the economy in recession there has been an increase in media scrutiny of the educational system A recent Statistics Canada survey indicated that one out of every four unemployed people under the age of 24 have not finished high school This com pares with about one in five high school graduates and one in ten college or university grads who are also unemployed It is also commonly believed that about per cent of Ontario s high school students drop out before earning their diploma The logical conclusion to this data is that our young people must stay in school if they are to increase their chances for employment in an increasingly competetive world Our school board recently reported that drop out rate is approximately 5 per cent This is an outstanding achieve School board honored for United Way work The employees of the Board of Education have rallied to sup port United Way setting an all time rei for the Education sector of Burlington Hamilton The Public Board of Education has raised an amazing 13 more this year compared to the previous 1990 campaign Despite the tough economic times there were also new contributors to the campaign Under the direction of Bert of Acton Distnct High School and Volunteer Campaign Coordinator and Bob Williams Director of Education employees of the Board of Education have set a record for the largest donation from the tion sector to United Way a record that shows their caring for more than 1 in people in our community who use United Way services Their donations will actually help thousands of people who will use the numerous services offered by United Way s agencies The 1991 United Way Team for the Board of Education will be recognized at the Board meeting Thursday tomorrow at the Board of Education at 8 00 m While it may be argued that more and more young people are returning to school to improve their skills it should be noted that our retention rates have improved about 2 per cent since the beginning of the recession I believe the overwhelming reason for our success is the careful planning and hard work of our staff The Board has been proactive in systematically pur suing a Retention Strategy At Georgetown our school based social worker has been busy dealing with community and family concerns that might affect a student commitment We also offer a special pro gram that allows students to complete credits that have only been partially completed the previous semester We offer a variety of support groups to help students problem solve and make more effective decisions Our new Grade mentor pro gram this year linked up senior students with Grade 9 students to help them begin their high school careers on a positive note We have another group of teachers called the Teachers Network that meets monthly to discuss strategies to help better meet the classroom needs of our students We offer 33 different team sports throughout the year in volving over fifty adults and hun dreds of students The research tells us that student retention is increased when students are m in a cocumcular commit ment Very often their coaches or club advisors become the key adults their lives who en courage them to stick with it I believe this is a good news message that our community needs to hear Our success in and in Georgetown in keeping our kids in school is part of our over all strategy to meet the varying and complex needs of our student population School hall passes under the gun By TESTA Herald Special After a week of holidays it is hard to adjust back to the school But duty calls and we are all back for another semester of hard work fright Semester two has begun and with it came a little change that I should like to bring to your atten The GREEN CARD A little piece of neon green laminated paper that permits students to be in the halls of the school That s right Hall Passes So what do you think of that This is quite a change so I have interviewed a number of students and I also received some input from teachers regarding this issue Let us understand first of all where this idea of the hall pass comes from Well we can thank our American neighbors for one thing Hall passes were distributed among many high schools in the United States The purpose of these passes was to minimize disturbances in the school not only the classroom but also to avoid conflicts bet ween students I assume they mean fights Not a bad idea considering the size of most schools in the US and the pro blems they have had among gangs etc The idea would be to control the number of students that roam the hallways without legitimate reasons All in all this seems to make sense but has it worked Hard to tell let s just say that it has helped So why bring the hall pass to Georgetown As most students can confirm there are quite a number of people who roam about the hallways But that to be expected in a high school Administration says the Green Card has been created in order to control and minimize the number of students that are in the halls Not a bad idea I think we can all agree Each classroom has two cards and every time a student wishes to leave the room he must carry out a green card What are the down sides to this issue Most teachers feel this method is silly and pointless They look at the passes and laugh as if to say what will they think of next If you think about it nothing has really changed with these hall passes Teachers controlled the number of students that left the classroom only there were not any green cards The number of students who do not have classes obviously could not have been controlled then and they cannot be controlled now because they do not have a class in which to obtain a hall pass The Green Card is a short term solution to a long term problem But I ask you does it seem natural to walk into a school and have no students in sight I not saying that should be crowds of people just standing about in the school but it is nice to see that there is life in such a building Like the US like Canada Let s see what happens How to buy a computer Georgetown High School is the place to find out the dif between IBM compatible computers and Macintosh com Both will be set up for you to try for yourself along with a workshop explaining about the different software and hardware need to get started at home Confused about how much to spend or whether to spend at all This session will answer all of those questions and more The date is Saturday February to 11 30 a m price J4 Register by Visa or Mastercard by cilhng or for more information call It