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Page 18, Whitby Free Press, Wedfresday, Januai 10, 199 - I ~ i 11 :~ Teachers' rescheduling an inconvenience To the editors On Friday, Dec. 22, my children arrivedi home with the regular monthly newsletter from their school. Inserted in the mniddle of the newsletter was a letter dated Jan. 2, 1996, addressed ta, "Dear Parents and Guardians," from the Durham Catholic school board. The purpose of the letter was ta advise us of a change ini the school calendar year. We were informed of the new schedule of FA days and unpaid days and advised ta, Opimist hold annual oratorical contest Youth aged 'eight ta 15 are invited to comrpete for a $1,500 scholarship in Optimist Internatiotial's annual oratorical contest. The contest is sponsored locally by the Optimist Club of Whitby. Contestants should prepare and deliver a four- to five-minute speech on the topic 'Now is the time'* durng an Optimist Club meeting to be held in the latter part of March. The boy and girl wnners of the Whitby contest will go on to compete in the zone competition and, if successful, ta the regional level. Winners from the regional level will be finalists in the Optimist International Central Ontario district contest ta be held in Brampton on May 5., Winners of the district final. will each receive a $ 1,500 college scholarship from the Optimist International ';Foundation --of Canada. Entrants need not be accomplished speakers - the competition provides young people an opportunity ta build their speaking ability and gain confidence in expressing their thoughts before a group of people. For further -information, contact Patricia Airey at 668-2167. "please note and mark on (our) calendar." The letter did not indicate the irationale for the change in the echool calendar year other than to state that "in order ta fulfihi socal contract obligations, teaching staff will take unpaid leave days." This explains why five PA days were converted ta unpaid leave days but it does not explain why teachers could not have taken their unpaid leave days on the originally scheduled PA days. The letter also did not express any regret- for inconvenience caused by this rescheduling. And for those of us who must sehedule our (limited) vacation days almost a year in advance in order ta accommodate school closings, the inconvenience is not insignificant. I can certainly understand teachers wanting to mainize the utility of their unpaid days by extending the March break. As a civil servant, 1, tao, arn familiar with the notion of unpaid days. lI fact, I arn considerably more familiar with them (L.e., 60 per cent more in 1995196 alone). However, when I want ta, book one of my unpaid days, I first consider my work schedule and how my absence might affect those for whom 1 provide service. However, on the basis of the letter informing us of the 'school year calendar change, I can orily assume that the board and teachers feel no similar obligation. Admittedly, the rescheduling of PA/unpaid leave days is a relatively minor issue in the overal cheme of our children's education. However, the manner iii wluch the decision to change the school calendar year was both made and communicated, reflecta an attitude which says that school boards and sehools know what's best for our childrenand do flot see a need for consultation or partnership with parents or the broader community.. [t is precisely this lack of regard for the public who are "served" by echools and school boards which lies at the root of the general lack of confidence in the system. It is unfortunate ta note that our educators have yet ta recognize tbis failure, let alone begin ta correct it. Tir 're Wbltby Crying TRICIA THOMPSON cradles her baby while friends at a party ignore her in» a soene from Whitby Courthouse Theatre youth group's production of Crying. The short drama, written by Scott Griffin, was recentîy performed by the graup for Henry Street High Sohool students. Photo by Mark Reesor, Whitby Fre. Press ~1 We used ta have a clase-kait famlly. We would gather together ln ans room.Share conversations, even eat meals togethor. But thon I gat this clever Idea. A computerl We cauid get a computer. Sa as you know, 1 researched. 1 read everythlng 1 could get my hands an about the proper way ta purchase a computer.And thon havlng. spent almost as much lime as Rt taak me ta get my BA, 1 made a decisian. We baught a Pentium 75, elght- megabylte RAM, one-gigabyte hard driv hard drive wlth a quad speed CD ROM drive. And ln a twinkle of an oye, twa years of sauings disappeared faster thon a file Iast in Wndows. The llrst warnlng.-came a few, days afler hit anded 1 n the basement. Tom had camne over ta help me test drive'it and we were sitting with the unit perched an a freezer, eating pretzels and drinking coke (official, user snacks) when Wendy- came dawn ta, take a took. She cast a sweeping glance at us and then asked Tom one question: wDo 1 name you or the computer as a correspondent in the divorce?M The second showed up Christmas mornlng. Sarah camne downstairs, saw the box tucked decarousiy aI the back of the tree, bypassedthe stockings (for the lirst tUme ln living memnory). while shauting, ma comomter, we got a computer!" Another triumph of parenting secrecy. Within an hour, two littie girls had their faces pressed ta the screen whlle playing. a-Shari, Lewis and Madeline CD ROM. ln fact, we ail di. Christmas passed us. by in a ki nd of digital haze as we discovered the joys of chasing Madeline and Lambchop ail- over the screen. As ta the great Mac ve îrsus IBM debate, as you can 500 IBM won. Why? Three reasons. .First there are not now nor w!!! there ever be Macs in classrooms in the Durham board. So we took the advice of ail the computer books and articles and baught the type af computer that aur children actualiy wilI be using. Secondly, ease of use. Without daubt, Macs are easier ta use, but therein lies part of the prablem. Now, please, Mac users, don't cal! or send me nasty E mail, I know that you are as loyal as Saturn owners. But here is the point that bath my sister and her computer friend/business partner made to us as we were heading, into the home stretch. Macs are toa easy ta use. h is, they said, similar ta Iearnlng addition with a calculatar. Yau can punch the buttons but if the energizer bunny wears out yau are sunk. They bath strangly feit that IBMs give ý ou a better understanding of owa computer actually warks, Church. His first book, *Naked oLn"a aSnowbank, Isnow avallable et CeMW. Hày and Cotes book stores ln Oshawa