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THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, November 10,2000 All p ro ceed s fro m th e N o v em b er c o n c e rt w ill go to buy m u sic for In te rlin k C h o ir (Continued from p a g e 29) The Trinity Ringers of Grimsby, under the direction of Marguerite Couldridge - a former Interlink Choir director, will be joining the choir for the November concert. "Last year we asked her to bring her bell ringers, and they're coming back again this year," says Barber. "We will do two pieces together and then they will ring some on their own." The choir, adds Barber, sings in four parts - soprano, alto, tenor and bass - preferring upbeat or inspirational tunes along with a few spirituals and some familiar songs from popular musicals. `T he choir is all volunteers. All the money we raise goes right towards the music for us to sing from," says Barber, adding that Oakville's Interlink Choir was the second of its kind in Canada. "Now there's a few scattered through out. We've even got some across the world." The children and the seniors practise sepa rately, the latter rehearsing weekly at the Sir John Colbom e Centre. The two groups get together for socials and joint rehearsals sever al times a year, usually prior to a < ^ l s a c o m m u n ity p a r tn e r , w e a t concert. Togeth er, they perform at Christmas and (Q a k v ille (£ P la c e ( ^ h o p p i n g C e n t r e spring concerts, local senior resi dences and the e n c o u r a g e a i l c i t i z e n s to v o te o n hospital as well as at the Volun teer of the Year ( s M o n ^ a y ( ^ N o v e m b e r 1 3 th . and the Senior of the Year cere monies. This year the choir will also be part o f the Seniors' Spectac ular 2000 show case at the Oakville Centre 905-842-2140 · www.oakvilleplace.com for the Perform ing Arts. >AKVILLE PLACE ENOUGH Less h e Xlp fo r stu d e n ts M ore classes to teach A d d in g an extra d a ss to each teacher's workload with 20 to 40 more students to prepare and m ark for gives each teacher a total of 150 to 21 0 students tl O ntario teaching load is higher than in 23 other industrialized countries. All students suffer because there is sim ply less time available for each student. Fewer teachers, support staff an d resource personnel There has been a cut o f about 15 percent to the number of teachers. This means teachers must teach outside their subject area and fewer teachers are available to run extracurricular activities. Cuts to secretarial and custodial staff, educational assistants and professional support staff mean fewer services for students and parents. " Fewer departm ent heads These experts have alw ays guided hew curriculum implementation and helped new teachers. Just when this help is needed most, the number has been cut. Teachers and Students ore the losers. (A ENOUGH m -i mf Information for Parents Curriculum a n d te stin g N ew curriculum The ii station has been hasty, without all materials and textbooks ready sufficient teadjer training. Professionakactivity d ays h c w b e e ri * * reduced from nine to four per year just when in-service is needed most to leam new curriculum and assessment methods. Students yrho began the new grad e ' nine curriculum last year will be guinea pigs for four years, because curriculum changes will be introduced in each year. Spine students have no textbooks and must work from photocopies materials oo share textbooks with others. G rade 10 test of reading and w riting ; Because this is a future m andatory graduation requirement, teacher and student preparation is needed. A t least five to 10 hours must be taken from other courses to prepare for and write the test. The ted is to determine w hich students need extra help but the government has m a d * no provision for that. In fact, there are fewer teachers and more students^.making remedial assistance even more difficult. This year's grade nine math testing ill interrupt courses, take up sting w will to a week aw ay from topics on the required < curriculum, dem and significant preparation, and increase stress for students. . Shorter exam period The exam period reduction fro m T S to students with extra help and for markii of a semester, more students face multi| stress from "cram m ing" increases. N ew a ssessm en t m ethods Teacher shortages W HF Chronic underfunding and dem eaning of teachers hove led to thousands of premature retirements. Specialist in subjects such as computers, math and technological education are choosing more lucrative careers. Students are the losers. For five years, the Harris government has imposed severe funding cuts and relentless change on our secondary schools. These changes take aw ay from the time teachers have for individual students and at the same time, add to teacher workload and erode teacher morale. The cumulative effects are staggering and in fact are creating more obstacles to students learning. Teachers as professionals and parents whose children are losing out, must stand up and say: Enough is enough! Let teachers teach. Contact yo u r local MPP, school board trustee, Mike Harris [w ebprem @ gw .on.ca} or Janet Ecker (janet_eckerco@onlla.ola.ora) to express you r concerns For more information, check out www.sosontario.com has lessened time for providing only five exam days at the end on foe same day and student . > A V) > Teachers now grade by levels rather than marks. There has been insufficient time and inconsistent training for teachers in new methods of assessing student w ork and progress, - ..w.,TM , , ...... New report cards Teachers have had to deal with software nightmares, insufficient and inadequate computers, and hours more work per class. This time is taken aw ay from other activities that directly benefit students A A m essage from Ontario's public high school teachers and educational workers O.S.S.T.F., District 2 0 - Holton