PAGE 6, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 1986, WIITBY FREE PRESS Sennett students explore communication With the help of Toronto poet Ted Plantos, students in grades four through six at R.A. Sennett Public School have been par- ticipating in an exciting exercise, an exercise, as Mr. Plantos describes it, of imagery and sound. It's al part of an Ontario Arts Council program to bring artists such. as Mr. Plantos into the sehools to work with the students and provide a fresh and exhilarating approach to learning. StiR at an age when their imaginations have free reign, Mr. Plantos said the students have a natural gift for the musical rhythms and imagery that bring poetry to life and it's his job to teach them how to channel those gifts through the exercise of creative writing., What the students are learning, according to Mr. Plantos, is not just the art of poetry writing but the fundamentals of effective communication. "We're not trying to make little poets or artists of the children, although there are always a few who are quite outstanding. If you think about it, communication principles began with poetry ... and the creative use of language has ail kinds of applications," said the poet., Writing poetry helps the students to order their thoughts,. single out priorities and cut out the excess baggage that can weigh a sentence down and obscure its intent. -When Mr. Plantos was going. over the students' poems last week, the first thing to go were all the "verys" and "beautifuls" that tend to clutter up a poem without adding anything of value. The second time around the students worked hardeb to pare down their poems to the essentials and an im- portant lesson was learned - economy. In another exercise, the children drew up a list of characteristies they associated with rabbits and, in a second list, iden- tified traits which best described themselves. Mr. Plantos then asked the students to write a poem using their own charac- teristics to describe a rab- bit and suddenly, without realizing it, they were using metaphor. Mr. Plantos has 'found that his journey of discovery is a two way street and in his travels as a poet-teacher he has often been as startled by the act of childish creation as the children themselves. In fact, working with the children has launched Mr. Plantos, originally a writer of aduit poetry in- cluding the Collections Passchendaele, narrative poems from the perspec- tive of an infantryman in the trenches during the First World War and The' children, Heather Hits Her Universe Ends at Sher- First Home Run, is boumne and Queen, into the published by Black Moss world of children's Press. writing. His latest book for Students at R.A. Sennett have been having fun expressing themselves under the tutelage of Toronto poet Ted Plantos this week. Seen here run- ning over some of their work with the poet are grade four students Sean Johnston and Krysta Short. Mr. Plantos was brought into the school for the special sessions with the assistance of an Ontario Arts program grant. Free Press Staff Photo FROM PG.4 Lts see Z, PRO DOD)GE Your Local Chrysler-Dod]ge Sales and Service Ltnm4"w"Dealer Parts& Serice*Thursdays tili 9 p.m. 209 Dundas St. W., WhitbY 666-3000 OS FROM THEPRINT IOP«ETO THE BINDERV , TOB TTHED, PASTEO BOUND, fiST WRPPED. and other hazardous wastes will be created, and that such wastes must be disposed -of in an envronmentally ac- ceptable manner. It is also possible that there may be superior and alternative solutions to the Gatineau Quebec in- cinerator process. However, one nmust surely take strong issue with the statement by Patrick Dooley, vice- president of the Local Ratepayers Association during the Envirornen- tai Assessment Hearing, .that "pathological waste is slxnply too dangerous to be handled by a private company". Such drivel is simply not to be believed in view. of the recent disasterous track record of de-railments by the government operated Canadian National Railways. In- deed, the privately run CPR does a nuch better job of moving both people and goods te and fro. In the event the tran- sfer station or some simlar facility were to be established ln future, let Mr. Dooley hope that the transferring be done by responsible private companies, rather than by the CNR, post office or other such gover- SPECILS GAO.E Th Famn os. 'e Just 60<". is ail your Free Press carrier will be asking you for ..60' for a whole month of home delivery of your t local newspaper. This voluntary payment is the best bargain in town. No other newspaper costs so little and of- fers so much to local residents. And even if you don't want to contribute we'll deliver your newspaper anyway:, Your 60' payment may flot seem like very muc.h money, but it means a lot to your carrier and to us. Your carrier ear- rmore money and as a result is more prpryrewarded for a job well done. Your local newspaper benefits through h efrayed circulation costs and happier carriers. And you benefit by supporting ruly local newspaper. P.S. You can win money is going to be well spent. r WHITBY FREE PRESS 131 Brock Street North, Whltby ment agency. Roif H. Posma Oshawa. Rum ruinnmg in WhitbyJ To The ditor: I arn researching a book on rum running on Lake Ontario during. American Prohibition (1920-1933). As part of this resear- ch, 1 arn trying to con- .ru- WUl-f .ma- uy ui name of "Slim" Hum- phreys lived in the Whitby-Oshawa area at1 that time. He apparen. tly worked as a boat builder for Harry Hayden. He was a veteran of W.W.I and later rnoved to the United States. If any of your readers have heard anything at aIl of this man, I would appreciate hearing fromf them. They can write: Bill Hunt, 64 Plaza Square, Belleville, Ont. K8N 4J3,- or phone me collect at 613-966-809. Yours truly, C.W. (Bill) Hunt. Correction A story in the Whitby Free Press two weeks ago, reversed the namnes' of two women who were involved in an ac- cident, near White Oaks' Crt. Mrs. Betty Chartrand, was driving west when a car driven east by i Lorraine McMullan, veered into the west- boundlane. The Free Press apologizes for any in- convience the story may have caused. Letters to the editor:, Decom i