Last Thursday, Doug Gerow came to work as usual at SHS’s Community Education Centre. He’s been volunteering there three hours every weekday for the past 15 years, ever since he retired from his job at the Ministry of Transport.

Doug Gerow is the kind of volunteer who steps in to help wherever he sees something’s needed. He doesn’t talk about what he’s done, and doesn’t expect praise for his work. That’s why last Thursday’s events took him so by surprise.

He walked into a celebration recognizing him not only for his many years of service, but also for the ten new computers he has donated to the Centre. The computer lab, furnished completely by Doug, has been named in his honour. Director David Herrington said Doug is “Loyal, constant, compassionate and dedicated,” adding: “He makes great popcorn, too!”

When I asked Doug how he came to set up a whole computer lab by himself, he told me it all started before he retired, when he came to the adult education part of the program for computer upgrading.

“The few computers they had were in bad shape! So after I retired, I just kept watching the ads, and looking for deals: one store in particular had good prices,” he said.

And he sums up his entire experience at the Computer Education Centre by saying “It’s been a great life to be here!”

Perhaps most important of all, Doug Gerow has closed the gap that often exists between young people and seniors: as one student commented; “He’s great to talk cars with – his first car was a ’38 Dodge – my dream car!”

The new plaque outside the computer lab has a picture of Doug, above a quote from Ghandi: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Riley Kay, Grade 2 student at NAEC, represented her school at the annual Royal Canadian Legion Public Speaking competitions in the Grades 1--3 category.  Riley first traveled to Northbrook then on to Sharbot Lake, Eganville and Brighton placing first at three of these four competitions.  The final competition would have qualified Riley for the provincial competition held in Kirkland Lake.  Although Riley made a strong presentation, she did not move on to this level.  This is an amazing accomplishment for Riley and everyone at NAEC is very proud of her.  Riley is looking forward to participating in next year's speeches.  Congratulations Riley!!

NAEC Elects a New Students’ Council By Victoria Peeling

NAEC’s 2010/11 Students’ Council. Back row:  Social Convener Nick Smart, Vice President Connor Gaylord, Treasurer Tanner Hinchey, front row:  Cave Manager Gordie Grewal, Secretary Mike Deshane and President J.R. Lee.  Photo: Morgan Wilson

As the 2009/10 school year comes to an end, next year’s Students’ Council at North Addington Education Center has been elected. On Monday morning, students from grade 8 to 12, as well as staff, were called down to hear candidate speeches and voting followed at lunch. 

Phys. Ed. students at Sydenham High School carry the torch for the Ontario Special Olympics Torch Run on May 28 in Sydenham

Ninety students at Sydenham High School joined forces with members of the Frontenac and other area OPP detachments for their 24th annual Ontario Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Ontario (SOO).

The run is an annual community-based, province-wide event to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics movement in Ontario, the charity of choice for the Ontario Chiefs of Police Association. Funds are raised through donations, pledges for the runners, the sale of t-shirts and other merchandise, corporate donations and other special fundraising events.

The run began at the school and took participants along a 2.5km loop around downtown Sydenham. Vice-Principal Bryan Lambert participated in the run. He spoke about the important opportunity it offers students at the school. “It’s great to have our Phys. Ed. students fully engaged in this event. It’s a wonderful cause and since we have a number of students at the school with special needs, the event goes a long way in pulling people together in the community and bridging the gap for those students who have special needs."

Trousdale’s Foodland donated food and beverages for the runners and OPP Constable Natalie McDowell of the Frontenac detachment, who organized the event, was thrilled with the turnout that included 17 officers, most from Frontenac detachment. She was equally pleased with the funds raised, which more than doubled last year's total.

This year the 2010 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games will be in London, Ontario, from July 13 to 17. Athletes from across the country will be taking part for the chance to represent Canada at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Greece.

Anyone who missed the run and would like to donate to the SOO can visit their website at www.specialolympicsontario.com or www.torchrunontario.com

When Jamie Mcullough took over the school the 21 student school to community class at Sharbot Lake High School in February, he decided to put some effort towards refurbishing the community garden that the class had created two years ago using a grant from the Limestone Learning Foundation.

A number of students took a keen interest in the project, and materials were scavenged or purchased at a discount from local businesses.

“I had trouble finding the garden when I looked for it because a lot of it had grown over,” Mcullough said, “so we decided to build some raised beds which are easier for the students to weed and water.

The new garden features two semi circle shaped raised beds, marked out by brick blocks, and a perennial bed bordering an outside wall. With the addition of two benches that Mcullough found at the back of the school and the auto shop students decorated, a garden and a pleasant sitting space has been created for use by he school to community students and other members of the school community.

One of the students from the class, Chris Schnieder, has taken a keen interest in the gardens and he has been hired to water and weed them during the summer months.

A BBQ was held on Monday at lunch time to celebrate the accomlpishment of Jamie Mcullough and his class.

Hinchinbrooke Public School students nearly rocked the roof off the IOOF Hall in Parham on May 29 at the fourth annual School of Rock concert.

First up on stage was School of Rock founder and grade 7/8 teacher at Hinchinbrooke, Ms. Julia Schall, who initiated the program at the school four years ago and with the help of grants from the Limestone Learning Foundation acquired all the instruments and gear necessary to teach students the ins and outs of good old-fashioned rock and roll.

Saturday night’s show opened with Ms. Schall accompanying special guest performer and fellow teacher Kelly Graham who sang two original songs from her soon-to-be released first album.

Next up were 13 members of the School of Rock who opened with Wild Thing and cruised through a number of rock classics including Smoke on the Water, I Love Rock and Roll and ACDC’s TNT.

Band member Jackson Crain performed an original called Silver Saddles towards the end of their set.

Next up was HPS student band HD Supply, who got their start in the School of Rock but who practise independently at the school. Made up of Jordan Lowery on lead vocals and guitar, David Hole on drums, Collin Hamilton on rhythm guitar and Daniel Stanton on bass, their tight, hard rock sound had the crowd cheering and screaming for more. They performed a couple of originals, Night Train and Prison Break and saved their best cover for last, Paranoid by Black Sabbath, during which Lowery sprang off the stage into the audience to much applause.

Ms. Schall highlighted how the students benefit from the School of Rock program. She said, “It offers the students a chance to interact and learn in ways not usual in the regular school setting. They have to problem solve for themselves, interact, listen and learn from each other.”

Music is obviously a great love of Ms Schall’s and she admits how much joy it brings her. “I want the students here at the school to have that same opportunity.”

Thanks to Ms. Schall and the generous support of the LLF, the HPS School of Rock offers students at HPS a musical opportunity they might not otherwise have and Saturday night’s concert proved that they are wholly grateful for it.

Photographer Melissa Randle.

The 38th Annual Cloyne Showcase was held last weekend at North Addington Education Centre, highlighting many local and regional talented artisans. The show covers many artistic mediums including chainsaw carving, stained glass, fabric, jewellery, photography, painting, spa products and more.  Photographer Melissa Randle, who teaches science at North Addington, has been participating in the show for the last 3 years. “This is a great opportunity to display art, interact with the community and support our school. It’s also nice to have so many of the local Ambient Woods Creative Collective [Artisans from Plevna and Area] exhibiting at this show.”

Ten percent of artist sales are collected by the North Addington Guild, from which a donation is made to the Arts Programs at North Addington. Also participating at Showcase was the Mazinaw Swim Program, who ran the bake table and canteen. This year’s Showcase was organised by Ted and Nancy Sparling with a core group of volunteers.  Events like Showcase are invaluable to the youth programs in our community, thank you to everyone who attended.

For more information about the Ambient Woods Creative Collective visit www.ambientwoods.webs.com

Loughborough, Sharbot Lake and Clarendon Central Public Schools, and Sydenham High School have been recognised with HEAL awards for the first time by the Limestone District School Board at their September 8 meeting.

The HEAL Award recognizes schools that are working to create learning environments that promote health and wellness alongside academic excellence.

Healthy Education and Active Learning (HEAL) is a 3-year-old program of the Limestone District School Board that recognises efforts made by local schools in a number of areas, including: healthy eating, physical education, mental health, bullying prevention, prevention of substance abuse, and more.

There are now 28 schools in the board that qualify for the award.

Lara Paterson is a teacher with the Limestone Board who has been seconded to Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health to oversee the healthy schools initiative.

She said that the HEAL Awards are a “local initiative that was set up to recognise people in the schools for their efforts in promoting a healthy learning environment. The schools also receive a small monetary award to help with new initiatives to do with healthy living,” she said.

Schools cannot rest on their laurels once they receive the HEAL designation. “They must re-apply each year and they are expected to continually improve,” Paterson said.

The HEAL Awards are based on a set of standards that are provincially based. The province has established a new physical education curriculum, and new nutrition rules for all food sold in schools are on the way next year. The HEAL awards help schools work towards compliance with the new standards.

“There is a lot of momentum towards healthy education in the HEAL schools,” said Lara Paterson, “it’s become an attitude within the schools that a healthier place is a happier place.”

Hinchinbrooke and Land O’Lakes Public Schools have both received the award for their second consecutive year. 

Photo: The founding meeting of the first ever community ukulele orchestra at Land O' Lakes Public School

The founding meeting for the first ever community ukulele orchestra was well underway on September 22 in the gym at Land O' Lakes public school. Norman Guntensperger, long time primary teacher, avid guitar player, and all round music lover, initiated the formation of the orchestra after two visits to the school (the first two years ago), by ukulele aficionado James Hill.

Hill's first visit was a concert visit, sponsored by the Blue Skies in the Community program. Hill piqued the interest of staff and students at the school in pursuing his classroom teaching program. A year later Hill returned to give a hands-on workshop to students, which according to Norm the students “just ate up”. Norm has since felt that a community ukulele orchestra would be a great way to get not just students but the entire community involved and so this year he decided to “extend an invitation to all members of the community to come out and get involved.”

Guntensperger spoke of James Hill's inspiration. “Right now there's a real rebirth in the ukulele movement that James Hill is a big part of and his visits to the school really laid the groundwork for all of this to happen.”

James' teaching program is an inexpensive, easy to understand, hands-on program that teaches kids how to read music and play a wide variety of musical styles through a teaching method that progresses very quickly. The instrument itself is key since it is relatively easy to play, accessible, inexpensive and easy to transport.

To date a $1300 grant from Blues Skies in the Community plus $1500 in additional funding from the Limestone District School Board has enabled the school to purchase 30 ukuleles and a wooden storage cabinet designed and built by Geoffrey Murray, who teaches at Sharbot Lake High School.

Currently the school is pursuing a grant from the Limestone Learning Foundation that will cover the cost of music stands, Hill’s instructional books and tuners and also permit Jeffrey Hanlon, a professor at the Queen's University School of Music, to teach the students.

Hill’s program has now become a regular part of the school's music curriculum for grade 7 and 8 students who will begin the program after Christmas. For grade 7 student Claire Willis who attended the first meeting of the new orchestra it is a dream come true. ”I love learning through music and have always wanted to learn how to play an instrument and to be part of something musical. I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to play really well and the ukulele is such a cool instrument,” she said.

Grade 8 student Kyle Riley agreed. ”It's the first instrument I have ever played and I would love to become an expert at it.”

Guntensperger is planning to model the orchestra after the Blue Skies Community Fiddle orchestra and is hoping that participants of all ages will get involved. There is no fee to become a member, just a small deposit required for rental of the instruments and the books.

“The plan is to use this program as a take-off point and I really hope to get other talented people’s input and their help in facilitating the program. I would like it to be a real cooperative endeavor“. Norm is also adamant that kids and adults are given an opportunity to become “music producers, not just music consumers”.

“Luckily there is still a tradition of folk music out here in these communities and I envision a group of adults and children working together to put on live community shows using lots of different styles of music.”

Anyone interested in joining the ukulele community orchestra can contact Norm Guntensperger at Land O' Lakes PS at 613-335-5254. The orchestra meets every Wednesday in the school gym from 3-4:30PM.

Photos - 21977 & 21975

Photo: Josh Goodfellow and Tammy Steele at the new Snoezelen room at Sharbot Lake High schoolAfter two years of fundraising efforts an official ribbon cutting ceremony opened the new Anoezelen Room at Sharbot Lake high school on Oct. 12.

The 7x15 foot room offers a controlled multi-sensory environment designed specially for students with developmental disabilities, autism and attention deficit disorders.

It will be used by the students in the school-to-community class, providing them with a safe and controlled environment that offers them visual, tactile, audio and aromatic stimulation.

The goal to acquire the room was the brainchild of Josh Goodfellow, an educational assistant in the school-to-community class who has been working at the school for three years. In February 2009 he put forth a proposal that was accepted by the Community Foundation of Kingston who funded the initial $2000 of the $15,000 project.

After that Josh, with the help of many volunteers, spearheaded a number of fundraising events in the school and the community, which enabled the school to purchase all of the equipment before school ended last year.

The room was constructed courtesy of the Limestone District School Board during the summer break and Josh himself installed all of the equipment housed in the room. The room was just completed and has already been used by students at the school.

Inside the room are various pieces of equipment through which the students can freely interact and receive various types of sensory stimulation. These include a vibro-acoustic chair which moves to music, an interactive spiral sensory panel that students can freely manipulate, an interactive maxi-bubble tube (in the photo), an aroma diffuser, a fibre optic light spray, and two projectors that project different visual environments on the walls.

Josh is thrilled with the new room and sees his students benefiting greatly. “For some students the environment provides the stimulation that they need and cannot get from a regular environment, and for others it provides redirection and a chance to calm down and become more focused. It enables them to concentrate and do better work.”

In years past, students at Sharbot Lake traveled to North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne to use the Snoezelen room there, which logistically was difficult and only allowed for infrequent visits. Josh continued, “With our own facility right here all of the students who can benefit will have ongoing access to the room.”

Tammy Steele, one of two teachers in the school-to-community class, added that the room will also be offered free of charge to others in need in and around the community.

“For those in the community with special needs this room can fulfill an important need that is often unavailable in a rural communities. It offers users a safe and self-directed environment from which they can greatly benefit.”

Josh Goodfellow lit up the maxi bubble and activated the film projector, which spread glowing stars all over the four walls and added, “I have had the benefit of seeing first-hand how much this room can really help students.”

Photo: Jody Lemke made the valedictory address at Sharbot Lake's 2010 commencement ceremony on Oct. 8

Jody Lemke was chosen as the class of 2010 valedictorian and made her speech at the end of the commencement ceremony held in the school’s cafeteria on Oct.8.

Lemke at first jested with the school’s mascot Panther and presented him with a number of special mementos but later got down to basics, highlighting her career as a student at the school. She recalled her most memorable experiences at the school through which she and her fellow graduates made life long friendships. Some of those memories included grade 9 orientation at Sharbot Lake Provincial Park, winter carnivals, numerous school dances and coffee houses, school trips and leadership camps, inter-murals, sports teams, student council, school band and the proms. Lemke spoke with conviction and humour adding, “All these years of torturous essays, fetal pig dissections, science projects and exams have finally paid off.”

She thanked the ongoing support of the teachers and all support staff at the school, plus family and friends stating, “Without your help we wouldn’t be who we are today.”

“Our high school graduation is a big accomplishment but is in no way the end,” she continued, pointing out that many graduates will be setting out on new and diverse paths that include continuing studies at various universities and colleges, entering the work force and attending one last “victory lap” at the school. After wishing her fellow graduates luck she looked beyond. “Our future is not something that just happens to us but is something that we have to create.” Lastly she addressed her fellow graduates directly, stating with confidence, “We have the power to do anything, to achieve everything and to soar beyond all expectations.”