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1 Education D.C.H.S. Prin cipal Looking Forward to New Challenges The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, June 22,1994 13 Retiring Librarian Turning Interests to Science ; Ren Siebenga, who has been the principal of Durham Christian High School for more than 20 years, will be leaving this summer to take up a new position at a Woodbridge school. He's looking forward forward to the future, although he will miss the friends and colleagues he's leaving behind. by Lorraine Manfredo After 25 years at Durham Christian Christian Secondary School in Bowmanville, Bowmanville, Principal Ren Siebenga is moving on. ; Mr. Siebenga will take up the reins at Toronto District Christian High School in Woodbridge starting next fall. ; Although sad to leave Durham's familiar halls and his cherished colleagues, colleagues, he looks forward to the challenges ahead. Toronto District Christian High is an urban school, he explains, and therefore subject to certain pressures that might not affect small town students students to the same degree. Siebenga is prepared to meet teenagers whose life-choices are made more complex by their proximity proximity to the inner city. He notes that bars and video arcades are within Chosen to Play for Ceremonial Guard Jill Brown Former Clarke High School student, student, Jill Brown of Newcastle, has been chosen by audition on trumpet to be a member of the Band of the Ceremonial Guard. Affiliated with the C.A.F., the band plays for the changing of the Guard Ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa during the summer. She plans to return to the University of Western Ontario to continue studies in music this fall. easy walking distance of the new school, in contrast to Durham, which is surrounded by a residential community. "I've learned many things during my years here," he said. "I'm hoping hoping to practice the same way in the new school! I'll continue to encourage encourage the teachers to develop themselves themselves professionally. I hope to instill instill some of the same atmosphere we have had at Durham Christian Secondary." And that's been an atmosphere based on trust and mutual respect, he says. "Students have to feel that there is room for them to be who they are meant to be. That's kind of the stamp that we've had here at Durham." Durham." Ren Siebenga started as a teacher in 1969, When Durham Christian Secondary was still an extension of Knox Christian Elementary School. He was promoted to principal in 1971 and saw the present high school building constructed in 1977. He's had the pleasure of teaching the children of some of his earliest students. "It's probably good for this place to have a new principal," he figures. "I worked hard over the years to stay fresh and alive and new." Siebenga has witnessed a shift in schooling away from total emphasis on textbooks to include more practical practical experience. This past school year, Durham students travelled to Toronto and the United States to participate in various various service projects for the disadvantaged. disadvantaged. "Ideally there should be a balance balance between thinking and doing, theorizing and practicing," Siebenga says. "If you emphasize one or the other, you get in trouble." The new principal at Durham Christian Secondary School will be Fred Spoelstra, who comes to his new position from Chatham Christian Christian School where he was principal. Mr. Siebenga and his family will be moving into their new home in Bolton this summer. "Moving on gives me a sort of sweet and sour feeling. I've been vacillating between crying and feeling feeling liberated," said Siebenga. by Lorraine Manfredo As he counts down the days until his retirement on June 30, school librarian librarian Ken Weller is contemplating taking on more volunteer work with the Ontario Science Centre. After teaching for 38 years (three more than were actually needed to earn a full pension), he's still eager to light the spark that prompts kids to study the world around them. "I always wanted to be a teacher," teacher," he said during an interview last week. "My parents will tell you there was never anything else I ever talked about doing." Now he's toying with the idea of getting re-involved with the Science Centre's Jason Project, launched by Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the sunken Titanic. This is a project where kids interact by satellite hook-ups with archeologists, deep sea divers, explorers and other adventurers. adventurers. "It really helps interest kids in science," says Weller. Top Honors for Welding Student A St. Mary's Secondary School student has received national honors in a welding skills competition. Angelo Torrieris, of Cobourg, placed fourth out of 12 Canadian high school finalists participating in the recent recent National Welding Competition. Competitors came from British Columbia, Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. An OAC student, Torrieris had earlier earlier taken first prize in the Regional Welding Competition in Cobourg. His work welding a tube onto a flat plate won him a one-year scholarship to Durham College. Later, at the Ontario Skills Competition Competition provincial championships held at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, students had to work from blueprints and weld sections of a square together onto a plate. Angelo Torrieris placed second at the provincials and qualified for the nationals. He plans to use his Durham College College scholarship for technical studies. OSTRICH & EMU SEMINAR SATURDAY, JULY 9 th, 1994 NEWEST ALTERNATIVE IN FARMING LOCATION: Ontario Ostrich and Emu Breeders Lot 3, Concession 7 Janetville, Ontario LOB IK0 (905) 983-5804 Office (905) 983-6397 (905) 986-0166 ■ Seminar starts at 9:00 a.m. to I p,m. ■ Coffee and Donuts will be available ■ Prc registration $ 10.00 / person ■ Attendance will be kept small and Informal to allow a better question and answer session AGENDA ■ Ways to get started and costs ■ Feeding and costs ■ Fencing - Housing - Bedding ■ Winter! - How ratltcs handle ■ Information about the Ontario Ratltc Assoc. ■ Tour of the farm, following with questions and answers TO REGISTER, CALL OR WRITE TO THE ABOVE © I t He was bom in Streetsville and raised in Clarkson. He attended Port Credit High School and went on to Toronto Teachers' College after graduating. "My first successful job interview was conducted in a cemetery. " "My first successful job interview interview was conducted in a cemetery," he recalls. It landed him a teaching position at Pennville in a one-room school house back in 1956. He had 29 students. From Pennville he went on to his next assignment at Tecumseh Township Township where his annual salary was $2,400. A few years later he got a position position at Ontario Street School in Bowmanville where the money was somewhat better. He taught grades 6, 7, and 8 at Ontario Street until the Bowmanville Bowmanville Senior Public School opened in 1974. Mri Weller has been the librarian there for the past seven years and has been responsible for the challenging challenging task of selecting titles to suit the reading levels of grade 7's and 8's. In his early days as librarian there were certain texts on sexuality that were available on request only. These rarely left his office, he said. Today, the range of subjects included included in BSPS's collection of 3,000 non-fiction and about 2,000 fiction titles is much wider. In addition to the encyclopedias, atlases and dictionaries. There are also "tasteful and educational" books dealing with drugs, growing up, divorce, child abuse and many other issues that today's young teens must face, Weller says. He describes himself as a traditionalist traditionalist when it comes to teaching. He recalls advising one colleague who, complained about kids being distracted, to put the desks back in rows. The new teacher found the concept concept effective. Weller encouraged kids to talk in his classes. They would spend time debating issues such as the seal hunt. Weller would try to get every kid to express their ideas just to get them thinking. "Ideally, kids should be able to form their own opinions," he says. "I don't think we should be pushing our opinions on them." According to Mr. Weller, books are in no danger of being overshadowed overshadowed completely by computer terminals. terminals. "Perhaps we make too big a fuss over the information highway. A lot of kids still don't have computers and the portability of books makes them valuable." Mr. Weller had his Retirement Tea at the school on June 15th. After 38 years of teaching, Ken Weller, currently the librarian at Bowmanville Senior Public School, will retire. Weller began his career career in a one-room schoolhouse. After this year, he hopes to do some volunteer work and catch up on his reading. The Canadian Statesman, your community newspaper, will be publishing a special Commemorative Edition on Wednesday, October 5th. This unique newspaper will be honouring the 200th Anniversary of the founding of our community in 1794. This issue will be full of special stories, interesting articles, historical features and never-before-published photos gleaned from area collectors and archives, which tell the story of our community's very interesting history. If you would like your company or business to be included in this edition, please call Display Advertising at The Canadian Statesman at 623-3303. 62 King St. W. 623-3303 Bowmanville Clarington's Newspaper Since 1854