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EXPRESS HOTKL£^SUITIS Q.E.W. & Bronte Rd. Literacy Council offers lessons in reading Maxi excitement for Mini relaunch B est w h eels 905-847-1000 » Fo cus THE OAKVILLE N O R T H A M E R I C A 'S Vol. .{<> N o . .57 M O S T A W A R D E D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S P A P E R .> <> 1\ ijjj< *s /. > (.< `i us ii >h A M e t r o la n d I 'uhlit iilio n w i .i ) m :s i ) .\ v . m a h < i i J 7 . j ( x )_> ( ;s n P o lic e i n v e s t i g a t e r o a d r a g e l i n k t o Halton Regional Police believe road rage may have played a part in Saturday's tragic death of Oakville teenager Alex Maijanovich. Late Tuesday, investigators said there may have been a road-ragetype incident between several cars prior to Maijanovich being struck as he stood next to his car on Upper Middle Road near Fourth Line. Police said, however, that they believe the collision was unrelated to that incident. As a result, police are still piec ing together the circumstances of the death and are urging witnesses to come forward. Eighteen-year old Marjanovich was struck and killed by a vehicle around 9 p.m. in what investigators are describing as a "confusing acci dent." According to police, M ar janovich pulled his Honda Civic over to the curb lane of Upper Middle Road near Fourth Line. When he got out of his car and was standing by the open door, he was hit by another vehicle travelling eastbound. Marjanovichfs condition was described by police as "extremely grave" and the youth was rushed to Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The occupants o f two other vehicles involved in the crash were not injured. Investigators are remaining close-mouthed about other details surrounding the accident because they don't want potential witnesses being influenced by publicized d e a th information. He was apparently on his way home when the accident occurred. He had spent that afternoon with his girlfriend. Samantha Robertson. 15. Bom and raised in Oakville, Maijanovich was a member of the young men's group at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A (See 'Funeral' page A4) Alex Marjanovicti H a lt o n te a c h e r s te s t- y By Tim Whitnell SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Parent and student input on teacher I performance and a new qualifying test for incoming instructors are creating even more anxiety and uncertainty in the profession, say the heads of some teacher unions in Halton Region. Last week the Ontario government introduced new measures for the per formance appraisal of teachers. There will be more intensive involvement of parents and students in the overall eval uation of a teacher's ability ; there is also a mandatory teacher qualifying test for those who have just completed teachers' college. The president o f the public Elementary Teachers Federation o f i Ontario, Halton chapter, is concerned about what form both new endeavors will iake and the impact they'll have on teach ers and their ability to work. "It's a political thing," said Kathy Clarke, implying the Ontario govern ment is trying to influence the elec torate. "Let's vote for the Conservatives because they are giving us the right to evaluate teachers," she said. "I think the majority o f parents are satisfied with their teacher(s) and what happens within the boundary of the classroom," said Clarke. "We advise teachers that you have to meet with parents (occasionally or when necessary); you can't teach in isolation. "I'm not denying a parent's right into having input, but you can't have parents filling out an evaluation form. You might have a wonderful teacher and one kid who might not like him or her and that could leave a black mark that could stay on their record or even lead to their dismissal," she said. Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, District 20 Halton union head Joe Harwood has concerns similar to Clarke's. "Do they want an evaluation of every teacher by every kid in the classroom?," asked Harwood. "W hat weight will it carry? It makes it more like a popularity Peter McCusker · Oakville Beaver contest. CHAMPIONS! Ah, the th rill of v ictory is evident as C h ristian Mazzilli c arrie s the cham pionship "We want a qualified person (doing trophy for his W ings aro u n d the ice Sunday afternoon at R iver O aks A rena. T he W ings won the the evaluation) otherwise it becomes a the m in o r atom red cham pionship. The annual highly-anticipated M O M S cham pionship week perception game," said Harwood, notconcludes at R iver O aks A rena tonight w ith the m idget w hite and red cham pionship gam es at 6:20 p.m . an d 7:50 p.m ., respectively. (See Parents' page A3) Early Years funding threatens parent mentoring program By Robb Swybrous SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Peggy Russell isn't about to let the Halton Parent M entoring Association go down without a fight. Co-founded by Russell in 1998, Halton Parent Mentoring is a non-profit local service group with a mandate to provide support and counselling for area par ents and families in need. Included it its services are support groups and weekly one-on-one mentoring. It also includes referrals when it's determined a parent's needs are beyond the man dated scope o f the program. More than 100 families in the region use the associa tion's services. Peggy Russell Halton Parent Mentoring they're going to charge us a has an annual operating reduced rent. So once we get budget of around $40,000 ourselves going on fundrais which pays for one part-time ing we'll be able to afford it." staff member and yearly The donating company administrative costs includ wishes to remain anony ing phone service, office sup mous. plies and rent in a small The decision not to con Burlington office building. tinue funding was made by Each of the past four the Ministry of Community years the province con and Social Services, the tributed $26,500 to the pro same government ministry gram; the rest of its operating that initially funded the pro budget comes from money gram. Russell first learned of raised by a one-time the funding cut last fundraising initiative. November and received offi Russell, however, recent cial conformation in early ly learned the government February via a letter from funding they've relied on to ministry program supervisor date is no longer being pro Ray Mahoney. vided. This means the group In his letter, Mahoney has to find other ways to informed the association the come up with the money to decision to discontinue fund provide services to its clients. ing "was a very difficult one "We plan to keep going," to make." Russell said. "But obviously Mahoney also explained we have certain needs in the ministry would review its order to do that." financial situation again next The group, which is based year and consider extending in Burlington, but services funds to Russell's group. the region, recently got a However, he offers no assur financial boost when an ances of that. investment company donated A ministry spokesperson some office space in a build said money originally spent ing free of charge until July 1. on programs like Halton "It's just great that (the Parent Mentoring is now company) has been able to being directed to the govern give us that space," Russell ment's Early Years project. said. "And after July 1 (See 'Parent' page A3) Local woman ensures Hurricane Mitch victims aren't forgotten By Claudia D'Souza SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Editorials................. A6 Focus...................... B1 Artscene...................B4 Sports...................... Cl Classified.................. C4 Easter Worship..........C6 Business................... C8 Best Wheels..............D1 P artial D d»O T : R o n aG n fo w n iG a rd e nG a lle ry . G u a n h a nD ru g s. F u tu reS h o p , N a tio n a lS p o rtsC e n trr. A n iaC o n stru c tio n ,S e a rs, t\n taO w niclitM ,W h ileR o se rtcn sM an * ·4 3 5 -2 0 1 In the wake of Sept. 11, the victims of other tragedies around the world seem to have become even more invisible. But Oakville resident Hilda Rossi won't let us forget the victims of Hurricane Mitch. Rossi is the chief organizer o f a third humanitarian mission to Guatemala that will take place in a few short weeks (April 27-May 12). The main goal is to complete the work she and group of 18 Canadian volunteers began in 2001 - the construction o f five houses and a M ulti-service Community Centre and Health Clinic in G uatem ala's impoverished village of Timushan. Canadian relief donations will be distributed during the trip and a group of 26 volunteers will conduct development workshops to help foster community and economic independence. On Sunday, April 7 (from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.) Burlington's Appleby United Church and the Halton and Peel Central America Relief Effort (with support from the Halton Multicultural Council and the Hispanic Development Council) will host a catered Fundraising Luncheon and Silent Auction at Appleby United Church. The cost is $20 per adult and $10 per child under 10 years old. Peter Hoyle, Pastor at Appleby United Church, and his wife Cathyann Hoyle and their daughter will be a part of April's mis sion. In 1998, Mitch devastated Central America hitting Rossi's homeland of Guatemala especially hard. Twenty thou sand people died, a half a million families were uprooted and 11,000 men, women and children disappeared without a trace. Rossi's family miraculously survived, but when she learned that many villages had (See `Volunteers' page A5) Hilda Rossi Oakville Volkswagen 55 7 Kerr Street 1 PeterWatson 1 1 1 1I N V E S T M H N I S 4 9 0 5 .8 4 4 .3 2 8 5 WWW.oakvilleVWaudi.com MOTION a ll-w h e e l d riv e RETIREMENT PLANNING SPECIALISTS F r e e C o n s u lt a t io n Drivers w anted 8 4 2 -2 1 0 0 !VLI5j \ . , P e te r C W a tso n