www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, December 8, 2016 | 2 8 Nature's EMPORIUM Your Neighbourhood Health Food Market Online petition gathering signatures continued from p.27 The board' s recommended action is a premature decision to scrap an important program with a complete disregard to the program' s value, outcomes and benefits to Catholic children in Halton, commented Burlington EFI parent Marcio Campos. "We should be striving to make this a top notch program, an inclusive and effective option to grow bilingual students who can achieve their God-given full potential. Scrapping the program works against that," said Campos. W hen the program was presented to parents four years ago as a pilot program, it was not presented as one that might be phased out but as a pilot program with the potential to be expanded to new sites, said Ramsahoye. Although the study states that those students currently enrolled in EFI will be allowed to continue, there is no guarantee that will be the case, added Ramsahoye. "There is no guarantee in this study that the current cohort will be ushered through their remaining elementary years with an intact EFI program. Will the program be moved from the current designated schools? If the numbers of remaining students in the program drop, will they be absorbed into extended French at which point will they have to change schools? Because of the way this has been handled thus far, it' s sad to say, I do not trust what they're telling us." An online petition to save EFI has gathered more than 250 names as parents try to connect and spread the word: http://bit.ly/2gFK6sF There is also a Facebook page for parents to share information: http://bit.ly/2fldWuu. "I truly understand the concerns they have about how to make it viable going forward, obviously it is an issue across the province, but pulling the rug out from under the kids in the program now as well as the parents, it' s just not the way to go," said Ramsahoye. "l believe the school board will lose a lot of kids over this." Catholic elementary students should have the right to begin learning a second language in the early years, in a Catholic environment, said Yvette Alonso, a parent with two children in the Oakville EFl program. "Studies have shown over and over that language learning is better when started early. We need our children' s voices to be heard." Because of the significant impact this decision will have on many families and in the interest of transparency, Oakville trustee Paul Marai said it was necessary for the board to collect community feedback before making a decision. Halton Hills trustee John Mark Rowe said the pilot program had no end date when first approved, otherwise parents would have known that the review was coming and would have had the opportunity to express their opinions. "This is just sprung on the parent community, so l agree that we should give them at least the chance to make their case or to understand the facts better," said Rowe at the Nov. 15 board meeting. Take the opportunity to start a n exciting n e w c a re e r as a part of the te a m in our fast-growing, family-run health fo o d markets. W e 're n o w hiring for all positions! Burlington Location Apply Today! NaturesEmporium.com/Jobs STARTI NG N O V E M B E R 3, 2 0 1 6 Now Hiring for our Nature's Emporium Burlington I 2180ltabashi Way, Burlington O pening Winter 2017 · Learn More & A pply Online Today By Visiting: W I T H A H O L I D A Y G I F T SET presented in a P A N D O R A gift box INSPIRE JOY PANDORA TH E PANDORA STO RE AT B R A M A LE A C IT Y C EN TR E 905 . 792.8820 S Q U A R E O N E S H O P P IN G C EN TR E 905 . 232.0661 M A P L E V IE W C EN TR E 905 . 632.5400 E R IN M IL L S T O W N C EN TR E 905 . 828.5902 Vintage A llure Je w e lle ry G ift Set2 fo r $ 1 7 5 (Retail Value $200) Elegance B ra c e le t G ift Set3 fo r $ 2 2 5 (Retail Value $280) 1W hile supplies last. Valid only at participating retailers. Void where prohibited. No substitutions.2Jewellery featured in gift set is unavailable for individual purchase until 01/01/17. 3Charm featured in gift set is unavailable for individual purchase until 01/01/17. © 2 0 1 6 Pandora Jewelry, LLC * A ll rights reserved