While most teachers are enjoying their summer vacations, Sarah Sproule and Darren Sissons from North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne have been making the rounds of local councils, Lions clubs and sports groups, looking for money to support an initiative they would like to get underway this coming fall at their school.

“North Addington is unique in the Limestone Board because not only does it have an outdoor classroom, it has 88 acres of land as well,” Sarah Sproule told Addington Highlands Council this week.

Sproule and Sissons are Physical Education teachers at NAEC. While they have brought their students to the Outdoor Learning Centre that the Limestone Board has in place at Gould Lake near Hartington, they find transporting the students to be expensive and access to the Gould Lake Centre to be an issue as well because it is shared with the entire board.

“We would like to establish something for our students and for other students in the north,” Sproule told Council.

The two teachers are preparing an application to the Limestone Learning Foundation for multiple-year funding of their project, which they are planning to submit in the fall.

“The foundation would like to see us have community partnerships in place first, so we are doing that this summer,” she added.

There is something in it for the local townships, Darrel Sissons pointed out.

“Like most northern schools in our board, we are seeing declining enrolment at NAEC. We need to establish something that is unique in order to keep the students engaged, keep the school going, and keep the student base there. If we keep the students we keep the parents, and the township will have a healthier tax base,” he said.

In addition to seeking funds for upgrading trails on the NAEC lands, and developing the land for educational purposes such as pond and eco-system studies, the two are hoping to raise money to purchase equipment, such as snow shoes, canoes, camping gear, etc., which are items that the school board will not fund.

“There is a lot of potential here for something that can make use of our greatest asset, the unique environment. Kids of all ages, from elementary to secondary, will benefit from learning science in the world instead of from a book, and from learning how to interact with the outdoors. This is a long-term project that we are totally committed to, and we want to get it started this coming year,” Sarah Sproule said.

Sissons and Sproule are seeking at least $2,000 from community partners, including both Addington Highlands and North Frontenac townships (they attended a North Frontenac Council meeting on June 27).

“I think that's really encouraging to have someone out there working on something on this,” said Addington Highlands councilor, Tony Fritsch. “I'd like to support it if we could.”

“We did do our budget earlier this spring, so we need to see if there is any money available,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. “Perhaps we should defer this to our next meeting on August 2, and give you an answer then. How much was it that you wanted?”

“We'll take as much as we can get,” said Sproule.

North Frontenac Council also said they will consider the funding request at their next meeting, which is slated for June 18.

After meeting with representatives from the Independent School Bus Operators of Ontario (ISBOA), Ontario’s Minister of Education, Leona Dombrowsky, has placed a six-month moratorium on a new 'Request For Proposal' bidding process for school bussing contracts.

The existing system is based on ongoing contracts, with fees being set annually by the local school boards.

ISBOA was formed in order to advocate against the Request for Proposal process, which the independent operators worry will force most of the small independent companies out of business as large multinational bussing companies lowball their bids for the routes.

According to ISBOA, once the local companies are out of business, the multinationals will be able to recoup their losses by putting up the price when the contracts come up for renewal, because the competition will be gone. ISBOA says that in the end, a local industry will be gone and transportation costs will end up higher than they would have been otherwise.

According to ISBOA executive member, Mary Stinson, this is exactly what happened in the Sudbury district, which has been using the Request for Proposal system since 2001.

“The first time the process was used in Sudbury, just about all of the local companies lost out and they ended up going out of business. So, now that they are negotiating the third five-year contract, the multinationals have no competition and transportation costs are going up by 13%,” she said.

In their meeting last month with Minister Dombrowsky, ISBOA executive members presented exactly this scenario, and urged her to reconsider instituting the system throughout the entire province as had been planned.

In the media release announcing the six-month moratorium on further implementation, Dombrowsky wrote: “In recognition of the concerns and issues expressed by both school boards and operators, I believe that taking an opportunity to review competitive procurement processes for student transportation would be beneficial for all parties.”

Dombrowsky also wrote that she would be appointing a task force “that will review the competitiveness of processes used to procure student home-to-school transportation, paying specific attention to their fairness, transparency, accountability and value for money.”

The task force will report to the Minister of Education on December 1.

Sean Payne, of Martin Bus Lines, is the president of the ISBOA. He described Dombrowsky's letter as “truly encouraging,” noting that Dombrowsky also referred to working with a “vibrant, multi-operator student transportation community.”

The moratorium and task force have implications for the upcoming provincial election as well. ISBOA had been planning activities around the campaign, which will now be cancelled as they participate in the task force.

As well, the task force will be reporting after the election takes place and the outcome of that election could effect the reception the report receives. On December 1, the task force report could be arriving on the desk of a new Minister of Education, perhaps one from a party other than the Liberals.

Photo: Scott Cannatta (centre) with students at NAEC. Photo: Katie Ohlke.

Some of us get exhausted just thinking of a marathon, let alone running one. But Scott Cannata, a physical anthropology student at Trent University in Peterborough, intends to run one marathon, or 42.2 kilometres, every day for approximately seven months in a run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. That translates to 209 marathons.

Cannata’s journey, named The Run To Live, will start on May 1, 2011 at St. John’s, NL and end at Port Renfrew, BC around mid-December if all goes as planned.

Scott Cannata has many local family connections and on March 26, a fundraiser was held for him at the Flinton hall. Many bands, groups and individuals donated their time and talents to make the event a success.

One of the organizers, Beverly James, is a cousin of Scott’s, and she says she was overwhelmed by the response. “We didn’t have that much time to organize it,” she said, “but everyone pitched in – all the musicians - and people just showed up with plates of sandwiches and food for the buffet dinner.” Beverley said that the musicians really helped each other – one group had forgotten their keyboard so John Fradenburg of Log Cabin Music drove all the way back to his store to bring one.

The organizers are planning another fundraiser, to be held when Scott passes through Kaladar on his run, and James says that all the musicians have already indicated their willingness to play again on that day.

“The run will be really tough for him, both physically and psychologically – perhaps the psychological part will be the hardest,” James said, “but he’s a tremendous young man. He can do it.”

Unlike his hero, Terry Fox, Scott Cannata has never had cancer, but when he was 12 his mother Deborah battled cervical cancer, which affected him deeply. Later, he lost his paternal grandfather to cancer. On a video that was made about the Run to Live, he says that that showed him that not everybody survives the way his mother has.

In September 2009 he decided to undertake the run and has been training ever since for it. He runs about 150 to 200 kilometres a week, in addition to cross-training.

In addition to his mother and grandfather, he has dedicated the run to several people, one of whom is his six-year-old cousin, Isabelle Lemke, of Belleville. Isabelle is almost finished her treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukemia after than two years of chemotherapy and in spite of being very sick from the treatments last week, she was able to be present at the fundraiser on Saturday night.

Scott is also planning to dedicate part of each run to someone he reads about in the letters he will be receiving.

The day before the Flinton event, Scott visited North Addington Education Centre (NAEC). He told the students, "Running a marathon a day is hard and will hurt, but it is nothing compared to the pain of dealing with cancer on a daily basis." Many NAEC students came out to Flinton to support Scott - they performed, volunteered and spoke.

In the coming months students and adults will be writing to Scott and they will track his journey via a large map of Canada at the school. For every toonie donation that comes in, students will put a sticker on the map.

Beverley James said that a group of runners from the school intends to meet Scott on Highway 7 and run with him. Of course, he will pass by Sharbot Lake first and she hopes that NAEC’s efforts will inspire other schools in the area to undertake fundraisers. “Perhaps runners from one school could escort Scott to meet runners from the other,” she said.

The fundraisers that are taking place right now are to raise funds for the expenses of the trip. The Flinton event brought in $3,000, and Beverly James wishes to thank all the musicians and the many people who helped on Saturday night.

The fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society will start when the run starts on May 1. The goal of The Run To Live is to raise $2 for every Canadian, or approximately $70 million. Because of his local connections, many from this area will probably be watching the run with special interest. To follow Scott’s progress, to donate, or post messages of support, visit www.theruntolive.com. 

Photo: Hinchinbrooke Grade 6/7 students lead the Fun Days.

Students at Hinchinbrooke Public School are coming to understand the daily hardships that youngsters in Kenya face thanks to the efforts of HPS teacher Debbie Jones and her grade 6/7 class. For five years now Ms. Jones and her students have been holding Fun Days for Kenya, monthly school-wide fundraisers designed as a fun way for students at the school to raise money for people in Kenya. Hope2 Kenya is a not-for-profit organization begun by Sandy Foster, a long time educator from North Bay who in the past has visited HPS personally to thank them for their ongoing support. The organization raises funds to implement a number of different projects in Kenya, all of which aim at helping Kenyans to become self-sufficient. In Sandy's words the projects are meant to provide “ a hand up” rather than “a hand out”.

In July 2010 Sandy was joined by an eight member team and traveled to Kenya to complete a number of different projects they had started there, including Veronica Home, an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS and Kolongolo School. The team also set up a food distribution centre for widows in need.

HPS students in Ms. Jones’ class explained in particular what they are learning by putting on these regular fundraisers to support Foster and the organizations ongoing efforts in Kenya.

“We are fund raising to help give the kids in Kenya a chance to do what we always get to do,” said Hanna Smail. Megen Hole added, “We tend to take for granted everything that we have here at home so this is a chance for us to see that we can make a difference and help others who are in need.”

The Fun Days take place in the gym and every class in the school is invited to participate in a number of different games and activities. Debbie Jones' students are in charge of designing, setting up, and organizing the entire event. They also sell the tickets, run all of the booths and afterward do an in-depth analysis of which activities were successful, which were not and assess all the numbers.” Not only are the students becoming aware of others in the world who are in need and learning that they can help make a difference, but the event also provides the students with an opportunity to practice a number of educational skills that they are learning- math, geography and a number of other related skills.

Ms. Jones feels it is important to give her students a chance to do something to help others in need in the world and likes to share Foster's motto, a motto Foster borrowed from Helen Keller that states, “I am only one, but still I am one. I can not do everything but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

In Sandy Foster’s words, this means, “No child should be dying of malnutrition, water borne diseases, malaria, TB or AIDS. No child should be left an orphan without having basic needs fulfilled. The little I can do might help the child who may one day lead Kenya into democracy and peace.”

So far this year Ms. Jones’ class has helped the school to raise $700 for the Hope2Kenya team, which for its size is no small feat.

For more information visit www.hope2kenya.org

Toddlers in Harrowsmith and Parham will be eligible for all day kindergarten when they reach school age in the fall of 2012. The Limestone District School Board announced last week that the early learning program would be extended to the local schools for the 2012-2013 school year.

The two schools will join Sharbot Lake Public School, Prince Charles (Verona), North Addington Education Centre (Cloyne) and Perth Road Public School, who already have the program in place. Other local schools, including Loughborough PS (Sydenham), Clarendon Central (Plevna) and Land O’Lakes PS (Mountain Grove) are not on the list, but the program is designed to roll out throughout the province in the coming years. In the Limestone Board, the roll out has been accelerated in the rural schools, leaving a number of schools in Kingston with the current system, which provides kindergarten two days each week and every second Friday, or half-days, Monday to Friday.

Hinchinbrooke school was chosen as a site for all day kindergarten in 2012 even though it is slated to close at the end of the 2012-2013 school year.

Jane Douglas, Communications Director for the Limestone Board, said that since the students from Hinchinbrooke will be going to a new school in Sharbot Lake in 2013 and the current Sharbot Lake Public School students have the program, it made sense for early learning to be in place one year before all the students are brought together in a new school.

All schools in Ontario are slated for early learning by the 2015-2016 school year.

When the program was initially announced early in 2010, the following criteria were identified for selecting schools for accelerated adoption of early learning: availability of space, community need, existing child care programs, availability of reasonably priced childcare and after school care programming, and student achievement.

Photo: SLHS students were given the opportunity to safely demonstrate proper techniques for rappelling trees.

On March 4, students in the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) – Forestry program at Sharbot Lake High School experienced this old adage first hand. Two representatives from Hydro One, Marty Little and Bob Burke, volunteered their time to speak with the students and to demonstrate proper techniques for rappelling trees. After the Hydro One demonstration, each student was then given the opportunity to safely demonstrate that he/she did indeed “learn the ropes”.

Students in the Northern Forester program, the only Forestry SHSM in the Limestone District School Board, work closely with one another and with lead teacher, Lyle Young as they take the classroom outdoors. At the present time, students have earned their first of seven certifications, chainsaw safety, and enjoy the weekly outings to the woodlot to perfect their skills. Plans are in progress for students to earn other certifications this semester, including First Aid, WHMIS, GPS navigation and Project Wild.

The SHSM Forestry Program is available to students beginning in grade 11 and provides unique opportunities for students. By completing a Specialist High Skills Major, a student earns a red seal on his/her diploma which recognizes that a student has achieved the necessary credits, skills, knowledge and sector certifications associated with a specific industry. More information is available in Student Services.

Special thanks to teacher candidate Eric Weese who organized the experience for the students.

The Sharbot Lake High School Panthers Senior Girls Volleyball team lost out to Regiopolis High School 3 sets to 1 in the final match of the Kingston Area Secondary School Athletic Association (KASSAA) on Sunday, Feb. 20.

Considering the size difference in the two schools - Regiopolis is a Class AAA school with well over 1,000 students while Sharbot Lake High School has a population that is five times smaller - there was no shame in losing out in the finale of the KASSAA season and bringing home the silver.

“It's been quite a ride,” said team coach Mark Elliot. “The girls have done well. I'm really proud of them. They felt they played their best against Regi, which is all they really expect.”

This week, the team is playing against teams from smaller “A” size schools at the Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Association Tournament in Carleton Place. The Panthers are seeded second in the six team tournament, with the school from the town of Embrun (located East of Ottawa near Russell) being the top seed. The Embrun team won the tournament last year.

“That puts the pressure on Embrun, really,” Elliott said. The Panther team is a veteran squad, with a number of girls in their fifth year at the school. “The core of the team is the same as last year’s, but the girls tell me they play a lot better as a unit than they did last year. I know they will give it their all at EOSSAA.”

The winning team at the EOSSAA tournament will go on to the provincial finals at the OFSAA tournament in the Quinte region, which starts on March 8.

Photo: Winners of the public speaking contest from left to right: Kaden Snider, Riley Kay, Madi Lemke, Lance Wagner and Ben Mieske, photo by Dave Deacon.

Students participated at the Lions Hall, Northbrook, on Friday Feb. 11/11 in front of family and friends. It was encouraging to see the strong support these kids had!! Thanks to Carol Lessard, Cheryl Freeburn and Dave Deacon for volunteering as judges – they had no easy task!! Thanks to Sheila Hawley and Trudy Deacon who volunteered as time-keepers; Sonja Alcock for her fine calligraphy on the posters; to Robert Bryden for being score-runner; Cathy Ballar, scrutineer; President Cecil Hawley for setting up the hall; and to any others who helped out. The First Place winners will now move on to the next level of competition to be held later this month. Good luck!!! And thanks for participating!!!

Photo: Mr. Schneider's grade 2/3 class at PCPS

Students at Prince Charles PS in Verona had a chance to win a cake and eat it too as they and their families got creative in the kitchen, baking cakes for the school’s annual Valentine’s Day cake raffle.

The cakes came in all shapes, colours and sizes and every student had a chance to bid on their favorites. The event is a fundraiser for the Parent Council at PCPS and helps them put on regular events like the Grade 8 graduation, the school-wide free skate at the Frontenac Community Arena, the pancake breakfast and also to purchase gym equipment.

Nicki Gowdy, who chairs the Parent Council said, “The kids absolutely love it and it is a chance for them to be creative in the kitchen.”

Photo: IT technician Darren Asselstine

Many may not know him but they should. Darren Asselstine works hard to keep students and staff at area schools connected - to their school computers, that is. Darren works full-time as an Information Technology Services technician for the Limestone District School Board and spreads out his working hours between Land O'Lakes PS in Mountain Grove, Clarendon Central PS in Plevna, Arden Court in Arden, and NAEC in Cloyne.

Darren graduated from a two-year program in Computer Networking and Technical Support at St. Lawrence College in 2001 and was hired by the LDSB in February 2009.

His job entails maintaining and updating all the computers and technology devices at those sites as well as ensuring that everything on each of their networks is working properly. “I also assist teachers who want to connect their laptops to the school networks so that they can do the work they have to do on their own computers.”

Darren looks after close to 250 computers and by far the largest network he maintains are the 100 computers at NAEC.

Darren makes regular routine visits to the area schools, which he finds is the best way to a manage things. “That way if students or staff at a certain school are having specific issues- they know where to reach me and can contact me in advance.”

In the not so distant future at Land O’ Lakes Public School, Darren will be configuring five brand new Netbooks that will function as mobile mini labs for students. Darren also configures smartboards, an interactive type of chalkboard for different area schools.

Every job has its challenges and Darren says that keeping up with the problems that need attention can be difficult. To make things easier each school has one staff member who is in charge of reporting and placing orders for work that needs doing at each site. “That way I can keep track of what needs doing where and when, which can save me a lot of time.”

Each school has its own individual labs and each lab has at least 30 systems in it. “I have one lab at a site which tends to have a little bit more intensive work going on and there is always something there that needs tending to.”

Asked about available jobs in his field Darren said, “There are not a lot of permanent positions out there right now, which is really just a result of the nature of the market. People are usually hired for a fixed period of time and there's not a lot of turnover.” He's grateful to have a full-time job with benefits and says that the only drawback is traveling from Kingston in the winter months - he is thankful to his parents who gave him a brand new set of winter tires, which he says “help him to get his job done.”