A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday March 22, 2000 T h e O a k v il l e Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director Teri Casas OfficeManager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director ofPhotography B e a v e r O PIN IO N RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: O n t a r io C o m m u n ity N e w s p a p e r s A s s o c ia tio n Metroland Printing. Publishing & Distributing Ltd.. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser. Attston Herald/Courier, Barrie Advance. Barry'S Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardan. Burlington Post. Butngton Shopping News. City Parent. CoHngwood'Vfesaga Connection. East York Mirror. Erin Advocat^Country Routes. Etobicoke Guardian. Flamborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Huronia Business Times, Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week. Markham Ecnomist & Sun. 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ZJ C a n a d ia n C o m m u n ity N a w s p a p a rs A s s o c ia t io n S u b u rb a n N e w s p a p e rs o f A m e r ic a 467 Speers Rd., Oakville OnL L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 SK s ilk Jir-qlEBEll Fu-Sd /° r ^ > T V A U C T IO N o lO a W JMem f p "frhe © ^J^ward Oakville (^iw a S s TOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE E d ito ria ls Making it clear One of the many changes to take place in Ontario's education system, has been the formation of school councils as a way to monitor the performance of teachers and students. Idealistic in vision, the councils appear to be far Ifless money comes into s less to from perfect or in many cases, even workable, the school there' according to recent research by the Ontario English spend on books etc. and Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA). guess who loses in this U nder the old m odel, schools used Parent scenario? Yep, the very T each er A sso c ia tio n s or H om e and S chool kids who need such basicl Associations to raise funds for so-called school tools far more than their `extras' such as new playground equipment, field more well-offbuddies trips, school dances etc. down the road. But now all that has changed and in the eye of the OECTA, not for the better. The new model sees the school councils as a way to raise money, not for `extras' but for essentials such as textbooks and other classroom materials. This is a paradigm shift of responsibility from the various boards of education and the Ministry of Education, to the parental level. In effect, the quality of the school councils can, in many cases, dictate the learning environment of a particu lar school. If less money comes into the school, there's less to spend on books etc. and guess who loses in this scenario? Yep, the very kids who need such basic tools'far more than their more well-off buddies down the road. And there are other areas where the grand design of school councils have fall en flat. The province had planned on volunteers coming to the fore to help with the fundraising and other functions. In many instances, this simply hasn't hap pened. In the inner-city schools of the province, many students come from basic families who don't understand the system, have language or societal barriers or hold down two or more jobs to make ends meet. The OECTA report found that it's hard to both attract and retain volunteers and that means a lack of continuity with many positions either being filled by acclamation or simply left empty. We agree with the OECTA that the province needs to fine tune a framework for the councils or they will simply fail to function. That result helps no one. [ [ | Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Much at stake when school trustees vote I The w orst thing about it was the rats. Swarms of them! The size of cats they were. In the final days of the school, they'd hardly lo o k up fro m th e m o u n d s o f refuse lining the halls when one o f the few re m a in in g stu d en ts shuffled by. The school's only full-time staff person, the principal-come-janitor-come-grade-3-45-teacher, would hurl an epithet along w ith som e bit o f detritus left by the street people who had long since abandoned the neglect ed structure, in the general direc tion o f the interloping rodents, scattering them . "M on D ieu, it can get no w orse! G et back to your class, Harold! You know it's not safe out here!" Yes, school closure, or even the rumour of school closure, can c o n ju re up so m e p re tty w ild images. I am the parent of a child at a sch o o l m a rk e d in th e H a lto n District School Board's "Strategic Capital Plan" for closure in 2004. Having had a child in this school for three-and-a-half years, I no longer have any illusions about why we chose it, or why we will enroll our tw o younger children here, too. W hen w e m ad e o u r fir s t important choice, we considered the alternatives: home schooling -- good, but a tough road social ly; private school -- can't afford it; neighbourhood school -- con venient, but fields o f portables; French Immersion school -- nice, but all bused, French a bonus! I am am azed at the m eander ing p a th o f q u a si lo g ic th a t b ro u g h t o u r d a u g h te r an d our fam ily to th is p ro g ra m . I am amazed at our luck, considering th at the o n ly e n try p o in t in to French Im m ersion is grade one, and recognizing our naivete at the time. I look back on the fifties and sixties when I was in school and recall what it was like. The build ings w ere the sam e; the c la ss rooms were the same; the teach ing and curriculum -- well that's an o th er story, but so far I like to d a y 's a p p ro a c h b ette r. My child's getting at least as good an education, and you know what else? She's learning in two lan guages! The kid's becoming bilingual. With the benefit of a few more years of experience in "the sys te m " , I now see th e v alu e o f le a rn in g in a second language before all the synapses are hard w ire d . A nd the F ren ch Im m e rsio n p ro g ra m 's not too hard. Granted, it's more work for us "anglo" parents, but this keeps our heads in the game. The school building's nice too. Maybe it's better than any other in the area. B ut if the French Im m ersion program moves, my kids will move with it, whether the school closes or not. Right now, many parents are facing the very same difficult first educational choice that we did. They will pursue a logical path similar to ours to reach their deci sion. F or them , how ever, the spectre o f closure looms. W ill they choose a nice building with a future for their child? Will they choose a stable community? Will they choose a vibrant program? W hat key factor will ultimately influence their choice for their child's primary years in the edu cation system? Closure? Let's put that earlier lurid image of the death of a sin gle lonely school aside, and con sider a less sensational perspec tive. In Southwest Oakville, two schools are on the closure list. In all, nearly 900 elem entary stu dents will be displaced to other sc h o o ls in S o u th w e st and Northwest Oakville. Where will th ey go? M any to e x istin g schools, some to a new school. Will their com m unities be split up? Yes, to some degree. For all I know, half of our students will move to a school in the North and h a lf to a sch o o l in the South. How will this relocation affect the existing school com m unities in West Oakville? The new school in the North will have students from holding schools in the South and fro m o u r sch o o l. In the South, all the remaining schools will be affected. One will receive our kids; others will receive kids from or lose kids to their neigh bouring schools. Heck, even if the immersion kids in the South aren 't kept together, the ripple will be felt everywhere. In fact, in the year 2005, my son who starts French Immersion next year will be in a different school, pos sibly with the son or daughter of parents who chose not to put their child in this program "because our school was closing." A differ ent community and perhaps a dif ferent building for both of them. So, the choice isn't so simple. Or is it simpler? And, the spectre is gloomier and more imposing. Or is it just a will-o-the-wisp? I know w hat I 'm g o in g to do. What are you going to do? By the way, if you h a v e n 't heard about the Strategic Capital Plan, the Halton District School B oard tru stees w ill vote on it Wed. March 22nd. Letter of the Week Arrogance, thy name is Jean Chretien Hubris: a scornful overweening pride-transgression o f the divine or moral law through ambition or one o f the passions, ultimately causing the transgressor' s doom. (Gk tragedy-W ebster s dictionary.) Cancer Society ready to help W ith the A pril C an cer Campaign almost upon us, this is a good time to remind residents that no one has to go through the experience of a cancer diagnosis alone. There are three Oakville orga nizations to assist newly-diag n o sed cancer patien ts: C a n su rm o u n t, L iving w ith Cancer and Reach to Recovery, to g eth er w ith an active trans portation service to assist patients who have to travel some distance to obtain their treatment. T he R each fo r R ecovery P ro g ram is fo r b rea st cancer patients. It is composed of trained volunteers who have experienced breast cancer. These volunteers have undergone the diagnosis, the surgery, the chem otherapy and radiation treatm ents. They are well aware of the emotions aris ing from breast cancer diagnosis. The Cansurmount program is run by trained volunteers who have experienced other forms of cancer, eith er perso n ally or through family or friends, when a newly-diagnosed cancer patient phones the Cancer Society asking to meet one of our volunteers, we do our best to match the volun teer by age, type of cancer, treat m ent and the fam ily circ u m stances. Living with Cancer is a regu lar monthly meeting which offers support to both cancer patients and their families. There is also a Parents of Children with Cancer group which offers similar sup port. Having someone who has had cancer, by one's side, during this ordeal, can be a tremendous ben efit. Unfortunately, we feel many people don't know about these Cancer Society programs. We are here for you. Call us at 845-5231. We can help. Upon watching Jean Chretien's arrogant performance at the Liberal convention, the above description o f his demeanour came to life. There is no doubt in his mind that he, himself, has the divine right to win the next election-after all, he is Jean Chretien and everyone loves him! Never mind that among other things, the taxpayers' money has been spent in dubious ways. Now that our taxes are at an all-tim e high, w e have the rig h t to dem and that the money be spent wisely. However, taking into consideration all the stonew alling and arrogant excuses we hear from him and his members, it is obvi ous that nothing is going to change. I remember the 1960s and I am afraid that this is th era in which this government is stuck-after all, most of the leaders are from that time. Thus, I hope the tran sg re sso r's doom m entioned above, means that we will dispense with Jean Chretien and his slippery way and, perhaps, elect a more respon sive government, one that will not predicate its whole existence on winning the next election. There m ust be agreem ent on the contrast between Preston M anning and Jean Chretien. Preston Manning has put his career on the line with the formation of The Canadian Alliance. He, I am sure, thought of Canada and the damage the split votes were causing, knowing that a virtual dictatorship could be the result. He may not have TV charisma but, by God, he is an honourable man. Betty A. Hansford `Green'look should be permanent My congratulations on the green banner adorning your St. Patrick's Day edition. Not only did it recognize the enor mous contribution to world culture made by the Irish, partic ularly in the arts, but it was also quite striking. Over the years, I have had the privilege and pleasure of knowing many people of Irish descent. Some have become dear friends. To a woman and man, they are the salt of the earth. Indeed, the Emerald Isle has produced writers and poets of unparalleled sensitivity, insight and talent, including Oscar Wilde and James Joyce, two of the best. Canada's greatness is attributed to the various peoples from every com er of the world who have chosen to settle here-Ireland being no exception. May I suggest using the green Oakville Beaver banner permanently. As well as more pleasing to the eye than red, green symbolizes an environmentally-aware community on the go. Ann Pallant Convenor, Patient Support Services, Canadian Cancer Society, Oakville Don Vrooman Pud 50 THE STORE WHEREI WORK FARTT/ME OFFEREP ME FULL-TIM E, AND I'V E DECIDED ID TAKE IT-/, (T MEANSX'LL GET HOME by S te v e N e a s e Peter Pellier The tradition continues Re: St. Patrick' s Day walk Firstly, I wish to compliment both Ed Williams and Don Ford for completing and continuing this annual trek. In your March 19th publication, you correctly stated that Charlie Priestman was the first solo walker. But then you incorrectly stated that "the annual St. Patrick's Day walk began in 1992. I did the the walk with Charlie Priestman on March 17, 1937 and I don't recall how many years before that, that he did his first walk. Bill Davis