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THE HERALD Wednesday February 27 Page Robert Little School hoping to acquire muchneeded funds School News- Alterations and additions amounting to over to Robert Little School in Acton are desperately needed says a local trustee who hopes the Halton Board of Education will approve a tentative budget and work plans for the school at their next meeting Its been a long time coming for this school said Trustee Arlene Bruce The school needs a lot of upgrading and more space Ms Bruce along with Trustee Dick Howitt are members of the board property committee in vestigating the scope of work needed at the school Their report complete with site plans of the proposed work will be presented to the board Thursday tomorrow where members will be asked approve sketch plans Ms said there been a lot of letters sent to the board by parents unhappy with the lack of space at Robert Little Shortage of space and the need for guidance and testing space were concerns expressed about the school said Mrs Bruce From viewing the school herself she s seen the overlapp ing of space teachers and students have had to make The principal office has been used to test children and halls are where gym equipment is stored she said The proposed addition will negate the need for overlapping The amount of work needed in the report includes an extension to the present gym and a gym storage room altering the pre sent classroom and tion area at the front of the school and expanding the area to include two change rooms one tor office one general office one health unit one guidance cen and one special services area construction of caretaker and school storage facilities con structlon of four new classrooms upgrading of roof windows ceil bigs and light fixtures provision of additional parking and bus tur ning circles upgrading building to present building and fire code requirements and providing facilities for physically handicap ped students Ms Bruce says there are still some quirks In the plans to iron out but is basically happy with all the additions except for the bus situation It not an easy place to put a bus turnaround she said Nobody is very happy with that point of the plan It will need a lot of changes before it is passed The estimated cost of the pro posed project is That amount breaks down to for the front addition and altera tions 000 for restoration work for site work 000 for furniture and equip- and miscellaneous Mrs Bruce said the cost is higher than first estimated because the property committee felt it should expand with an eye on the future so that this year expansion won be too small in four or five years The committee outlined in its report the effect of long term development by indicating future development in Acton along with the potential of Junior Kindergarten and the school own French Immersion Program ensure that enrolment at the school will remain high If the Board passes the sketch plans at Thursday meeting the committee hopes to start adver Using for tenders by April 26 and have the alterations completed by Sept 3 1991 The classroom additions have been timetabled for completion by J an 1992 The project will also require committee of adjustment ap proval from the Town of Halton Hills before construction can begin Reading Celebration Day Several moms and school officials were on hand and read stories to Matthew Moore left at Joseph Gibbons School last Thursday to take part and Daniel right who snuggled with in the school Reading Celebration Day Linda their teddy bears and pillows Herald photo by Lisa Hunter was one mom who camped out on the floor Boonstoppel Pot Acton High School joins new educational concept By COLLEN GREGG Herald Special This year the OAC Geography class at Acton High School has been granted the privilege of tak mg part in a new and exciting Public Speaking Contest I Public School lit Id its iiiuual si list which r idi hut Mi rodilh Soncs front Icfli won She punning to New York SUli whitli was In Inpu or her wimi nil a linn Grant s iltil bos It is hi r braces fin i spttcti that tier runner up Oilier in the com pel it ion Included row left lo Don Gridi Brown Gr Grant Gride hick row left Grade ill trade i Greor Grade I I Shot bridge Gridi r till educational concept Under the supervision of geography teacher Keith Black students will represent their home country of Canada in a universal negotiation program similar to that of the ral life United Nations organization The program is called ICONS the International Communication and Negotiation Simulations pro ject This project is worldwide and multi institutional assisted by computer terminals It is an ex project developed by the University of Maryland ICONS involves the tion of 22 different countries Argentina Brazil Canada Col Cuba China France Hungary India Japan Mexico Nicaragua Nigeria Poland Pakistan Peru South Africa Spain United Kingdom USSR Germany and Zim The project functions on the sending and receiving of messages Messages are directed to the University of Maryland where they are processed or translated into the appropriate language and sent to a ing country AH countries have computer laboratories working to their advantage com with a computer terminal modem printer dedicated telephone line and a communica tions and word processing soft ware package Messages involved in ICONS are actual negotiations talks concerning the world issues of European Economic Unification Arms Control Third World Debt Global Warming and Human Rights and the Persian GulfMiddle East situation To ensure that the program operates successfully the University of Maryland is responsible for call conferences between coun tries two or three times a week Working on time students from all over the world will communicate with one another for minute time periods The ICONS project forces students to experience the world of negotiations and attempted maintenance of universal peace Students must not only reach harmonious Status amongst themselves over Canada world policies but they must also create a courteous and negotiable image for their part countries Students are ex pected to research thoroughly the actual policies Canada and the other participating countries have on the discussed world issues in order to obtain an un biased perspective ICONS offers an experience not available to students through everyday educational settings ICONS has the potential to teach students about world difficulties and perhaps better the understanding of why solutions are often hard to come by O a