Class Act

Class is out

Due to staffing cuts at the Mercury, some blogs will not be updated for an indefinite period.
Thanks for reading Class Act. Questions or comments can be sent to editor@guelphmercury.com.
Roger LeBlanc.
Mercury news editor

Magnet schools a magnet for discussion

The Upper Grand District School Board has no magnet secondary schools - those that attract students to a school, not necessarily the one they would normally go to - because they offer a certain type of programming.

In Waterloo Region, there are a few magnet programs, including a high school that specializes in visual and performing arts, one with an international baccalaureate program, and another that offers courses specifically for those who want a career in medical sciences.

In this month's issue of Professionally Speaking, the magazine for the Ontario College of Teachers, there's an article about a relatively new type of magnet school - one with a focus on student athletics.

Bill Crothers Secondary School in Unionville is Ontario's first public school built specifically to cater to student athletes. Proponents of these sports-oriented schools say they can benefit the student athletes by offering additional supports and flexibility.

I've talked to Upper Grand school board chair Bob Borden about the lack of magnet programs here. Borden said he can see their advantages, but with a board that stretches from Guelph to Orangeville, it would be almost impossible.  Population-wise, it would make sense to put any magnet school in Guelph. But would that be fair to students in Wellington and Dufferin counties who would face a long trek at their own expense?

Alternatively, could the school board reasonably afford transportation for those students?

The Waterloo school board does not provide transportation for magnet school students who are travelling outside their own boundaries. Many of them drive themselves, carpool with other families, or take public transit. It's a system that can lock lower-income families out of the program of their choice - if they only have one car, work long hours, or can't afford the public transit, it can create a roadblock to sending their children across town to school every day.

What do you think about magnet schools? Are we coddling kids and streaming them to early, or are they a smart way to serve kids with certain interests and aptitudes?

Central Guelph accommodation review - Let us know what you think!

For those of you embroiled in this complex, difficult process, you know it will be coming to an end soon. A first draft of the recommendations from the Accommodation Review Committee will be made available sometime around April 1st, and the public meeting to discuss that first draft is scheduled for April 8.

Parents and students from each of the seven schools involved in the review have concerns about the outcome.

Many concerned parents who would like to see John Macrae stay as a French immersion centre are banding together. The Upper Grand chapter of the Canadian Parents for French is hosting a conversation cafe tonight to learn about the accommodation review process and timelines, and discuss French immersion issues.

Tonight, March 3rd - 7 p.m. - CAW hall at 611 Silvercreek Parkway North.

I know there are a lot of concerned people out there - those who want to keep their dual track schools, those who want to keep French immersion centres. There are parents concerned about their children being bussed out of their walkable neighbourhoods, and parents concerned about the quality of education for Grade 7 and 8 students.

Please leave us a comment, or send an email to me at cprongparkhill@guelphmercury.com.

Check out a library book - I mean, person

    What's your prejudice?

The University of Guelph is holding the country's first Living Library this week, March 5 and 6.

Spearheaded by Julia Chapman, editor-in-chief of campus newspaper The Ontarion, the purpose of the Living Library is to break down barriers between different groups of people.

Instead of checking out a book, visit the McLaughlin Library and check out a person for 20 minutes. On the shelves at U of G this week: topics such as living with a physical disability or terminal illness, being a soldier, a gay man, an adopted child or a victim of crime.

You can sign out as many "books" as you want - for 20 minutes at a time, that living book is all yours. One of those is Cyndy McLean, an elite athlete and paraplegic.

No overdues please! The event is free. For information on reserving a "book" email livinglibrary@uoguelph.ca

       

Ted Laxton tops in Canada

Ted Laxton, principal of Sacred Heart Catholic School, has been selected as one of Canada's outstanding principals for 2009.

Laxton was one of just 30 principals selected from schools across the country. It's a rigourous selection process, and nominators have to demonstrate the leadership their nominee brings to the school.

Winners attend a four-day leadership conference at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, topped off by a gala dinner given in their honour.

Congratulations to Mr. Laxton, Sacred Heart school, and the Wellington Catholic District School Board.

Floor plans for new St. Joseph Catholic School

 

Here's a look at the floor plans for the new two-storey school that will be built on the Guelph Street site where St. Joseph sits now. The current school, built in 1950, is being torn down this summer, and the students will be sent to two other schools for the year and a bit that it will take to rebuild.

Catholic board director Don Drone told me they had initially hoped to keep the kids in the current school, while building the new one on the site. But that plan proved too costly, and there were also safety concerns with having a fully functioning school on the same lot as a major construction project.

Summertime Blues a hot-button topic

There's a summer storm brewing - over the fact that students may be back in class before Labour Day.

We reported last week that the two local school boards were considering starting school around Sept. 1 or Sept. 2.

Now it's (almost) official.

The Upper Grand District School Board sent out a letter this week saying school WILL start in that first week of September, and outlined the reasons why it should be so.

The Catholic school board will follow the same calendar, with the same start date, to avoid confusion and because they share bussing.

But the calendar hasn't been chiselled in stone yet, and won't be for a few more weeks. A committee that includes members from both school boards has yet to finalize the dates.

At this point, it appears the only thing that is still uncertain is the exact date of the first day of school.

It's a decision that will impact family vacations, summer jobs and camps.

What are your thoughts? Leave us a comment.

Lawrence Hill celebrating Black History Month in Guelph

Lawrence Hill will be at University of Guelph next week to read from his novel The Book of Negroes. He'll also answer questions and sign books.

If you haven't read it yet, you should. Hill based the book on a lot of historical research, and it shows in the writing.  It's story of a young woman from the time she is captured as a young girl in Africa and sold into slavery until she's . . .  well, I don't want to give away the ending.

The Book of Negroes won the 2008 Commonwealth Writer's Prize, the 2007 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, and was long-listed for a Giller.

The event, on Tuesday at  6:30 p.m. in the McLaughlin Library, is free, but you have to pre-register.

By the way, Lawrence Hill is the brother of Dan "Sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much" Hill.

Is your school celebrating Black History Month? What are you doing?

Spring Break - hitting the streets instead of the beaches

Four teams of University of Guelph students are heading off to do volunteer work during Reading Week - and these generous souls are paying their own way.

One team will be going to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. It's a neighbourhood long-known for its prostitution and drug problems, but it also boasts some of the countries most creative non-profit initiatives.

Another team will be at the Nawash Unceded First Nation in the Georgian Bay area, looking at the educational and economic challenges facing the community, including women's rights, child care, fisheries and band administration.

In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a third team will conduct interviews for an University of Southern Mississippi oral history project on the civil rights movement. It's a fitting project for February, Black History Month. They'll also spend some time, three years after Katrina slammed into the region, on hurricane relief projects.

One team is even helping out here at home - they'll be working with the AIDS Committee of Guelph and Wellington County, developing AIDS/HIV workshops for teenagers.

Kudos to these students for choosing volunteerism instead of all-you-can-drink jugs of margaritas during their week off.

 

Big award for Lourdes student

Peter Guo, a student at Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic High School, has been selected as a 2009 Weston Loran scholar.

Worth up to $75,000 over four years, and comprising a summer program, mentorship and participation in a community of past and present Loran scholars, a Weston Loran Award is the largest undergraduate merit scholarship in Canada.

Peter was one of only 71 students from an initial pool of 3,200 applicants who were invited for two days of national interviews in Toronto on Feb. 13 & 14.

Pinky Langat received a 2008 BMO Capital Markets Loran Award last year. She is in her first year of studies at McGill University.

Peter is a leader of his school’s robotics team, which competed at the 2008 Robotics World Championships in Atlanta. He runs triathlons, is captain of the cross-country team and is on the track and field and badminton teams. Peter is a social justice league member and spearheaded a Thanksgiving food drive in his community.