5 | This Week | Thursday, March 10, 2022 durhamregion.com What happensWhen your brain doesn't get enough sound? Your ears collect sound, but it's your brain that actually understands it. With hearing loss, there isn't enough sound information coming to your brain from your ears, or the quality of that information is too low. This makes it much harder for the brain to orient itself in your surroundings, and focus on what's important. That's why good hearing helps your brain stay fit throughout your life. Call today to book your no charge hearing assessment to learn about your hearing ability. *receive an in-office demo of oticon's BrainhearingtM technology. *Clinician to determine candidacy. We offer oticon's BrainhearingtM technology, which helps you to: Orient better in the full sound scene Focus more clearly on what you choose Improve your understanding of speech Reduce the effort it takes you to listen Improve your memory 1031 simcoe street north, oshawa, on. L1g 4W3 Funding Ministry of Health Assistive Devices Program, GM Green Shield, VAC,WSIB, ODSP, and MCSS funding available. receive up to $2500 off a pair of oticon's BrainhearingtM technology for a limited time. Call clinic today for details. 905-240-5055 www.deeganhearingclinic.com Proudly Family owned, local mattersPROUDLY FAMILY OWNED.LOCAL MATTERS Durham's school boards are making plans for virtual learning for 2022-23, and families have a short window of time to make decisions. The province announced in February that school boards in Ontario are required to offer a virtual learning option for one more school year. Across the province, "a small minority" -- about 150,000 students out of two million -- are enrolled in virtual learning programs, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said at a Feb. 17 news conference. "What I've heard from their parents and from some educators who are involved in virtual learning is that that is a strength for that small minority of children, so we're going to continue to offer it," he said. The Durham District School Board (DDSB) will offer DDSB@Home at separate virtual elementary and secondary schools for 2022-23. Families will have a window of time from March 18 to 27 to choose virtual learning for next year. "Like previous selection opportunities, this is a permanent decision for the upcoming school year and we are not planning on providing opportunities to transition to/from DDSB@Home in order to ensure stability in classrooms as the transfer process can be disruptive for staff, students and on learning," the DDSB said in a statement. The DDSB currently has about 6,155 elementary students learning virtually, up from 5,717 in the first semester. It's a big drop from 2020-21, when the board had about 15,000 elementary students learning virtually. Families with the Durham Catholic District School Board (DCDSB) will be required to choose a learning mode for 2022-23 by the end of March -- and that board is also saying families must commit to virtual or in-person learning for the entire school year. The DCDSB currently has about 990 elementary students and 420 high school students learning virtually. For Clarington students, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board has given families until March 29 to register for virtual learning and says elementary students "will be able to enter or exit full-time virtual learning at three designated times in the school year" -- September, November and February -- while high school students can make a switch at the start of each semester. At the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board, registration for virtual learning closes on March 21. The board says "enrolment in the virtual school will be for the entire school year with limited exceptions. But for extraordinary circumstances, there will not be an opportunity to transition from virtual school to in-person learning or in-person learning to virtual school during the 2022-2023 school year." - With files from Torstar News Service SHORT WINDOW FOR FAMILIES TO DECIDE ON VIRTUAL LEARNING JILLIAN FOLLERT jfoller t@durhamregion.com NEWS School boards in Durham are making plans for virtual learning options for 2022-23. Metroland file photo Furry Friends Pet Resort is holding a raffle fundraiser with all proceeds going to the Clarington Animal Shelter. "We want this raffle to be as successful as possible to give back to our local shelter," states a press release. "We love giving back to help other furry friends. In December we did a toy drive for the Oshawa Animal Shelter and had a lot of support from the community. We love giving back to the community at Furry Friends." Furry Friends, in Hampton, offers doggy daycare, puppy social, cat/ dog boarding, cat/dog grooming/nail trims and training and education. It also has an agility field available for rental and is growing its services. Raffle tickets are on sale until March 20, and the draw is on March 21. Prizes worth around $400 have been donated. Tickets are 1 for $5, 2 for $8 and 3 for $15. Tickets are available through e-transfer payment to info@furryfriendspetresort.com (include "raffle" in message with your contact information). FURRY FRIENDS HOLDS RAFFLE FOR CLARINGTON ANIMAL SHELTER COMMUNITY Sherri Canjar, co-owner of Furry Friends Pet Resort in Hampton, with co-owner Shauna Canjar-Dainton and marketing co-ordinator Brittney Ewasyn. Furry Friends is holding a March 21 raffle with proceeds going to the Clarington Animal Shelter. Furry Friends Pet Resort photo