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Wednesday, 02 August 2017 13:59

Getting Ready For School

Emma’s mom looked at the calendar. It was still summertime. August stretched before them promising beach days and popsicles. But August would also be the last chance to prepare Emma for the thing that would change her three-year-old’s life forever – school. Would Emma be ready? Would Emma know what her teachers expect her to know? Would Emma be happy in a new building with people she’s never met? Would the bus ride be too much?
For Emma’s mom, and parents of children registered for full day kindergarten everywhere, it’s reassuring to know that educators and child development experts ask us to re-focus our adult lens; to shift from children’s ‘school readiness’ to children’s ‘readiness to learn’. Only then can we recognize that responsibility for children’s comfort and success in the school environment is shared. Long before that first day of school, childcare providers and family members nurture strong readiness to learn skills every time they help children share, take turns, listen to others, and express their feelings and ideas.


The Learning Partnership’s Welcome to KindergartenTM program, offered to families with pre-school children in seven provinces across Canada, suggests ways parents can nurture children’s readiness to learn. They highlight:

Talking and listening: The ability to learn hinges on children’s ability to understand and express themselves. Children need to know what words mean and how to comment and ask questions.

Research shows that conversations motivate children to talk, and are associated with children’s later academic success. (Rodriquez, Tamis-LeMonda, Spellman, Pan, Raikes, Lugo-Gil & Luze, 2009-Journal of Applied Technology; Dickinson, Darrow & Tinubu, 2008; Neuman & Dwyer, 2009-Early Education and Development) Other studies show that the number of words children know at the beginning of Grade 1 is a good predictor of their reading level at the end of Grade 1 and at the end of Grade 3. (Senechal & LeFevre, 1998; Senechal, LeFevre, Thomas & Daley, 1998).

Getting ready for school idea #1: Help your child learn new words every day! If your child knows the word “red” for example, introduce the word “crimson” or “ruby red”. Then use that new word often throughout the day so your child sees how that new word applies to their world in a variety of ways. Action words like race, trudge, and snooze; and emotion words like embarrassed, frustrated, and dazzled are fun words to learn too!
Sharing stories and books in the preschool years predicts kindergarten vocabulary and reading for pleasure by Grade 4! (Monique Senechal, 2006)


Getting ready for school idea #2: Read books together that capture your child’s interest every day. If your child wants the same story read over and over again, it means there is still something about the ideas, pictures, or emotions in the book that your child needs. Books such as “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn, “Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten” by Joseph Slate, “The Night Before Kindergarten” by Natasha Wing, “Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes” by Eric Litwin or “How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?” by Jane Yolen may be helpful in sparking conversations about what to expect during those first few days at school.


Playing with the sounds in words is a first step in discovering how oral sounds and printed letters are connected. Mem Fox, in her book Reading Magic, says that “Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they’re four years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re eight.” (p. 85) Rhymes help children hear when word endings sound the same. It helps them hear beats and syllables in words too.


Getting ready for school idea #3: Say or sing nursery rhymes. Read rhyming books. Once your child is familiar with the rhyme, song or book, pause at the end of the rhyming phrase for your child to chime in with the missing word.
School readiness will inspire Emma’s kindergarten teachers to prepare the classroom environment and program well for Emma’s first days at school. Readiness to learn has already inspired Emma’s parents to chat, read, and sing with Emma - at the beach and at home all summer long.

Published in Early Literacy
Wednesday, 28 June 2017 10:55

Children’s Books for Canada’s 150th

I’d seen it before in the dentist’s office - a mural-sized scene, mounted and hung on the wall to amuse young patients awaiting their checkups.  The cartoon picture has a “Where’s Waldo” quality about it with multitudinous sheep, bears and vehicles filling the canvas to all edges of the picture. I noticed the sheep first, then a dragon on the side of transport truck. I saw trucks, cars, bicycles, trains and traffic jams. Eventually I noticed that the central traffic jam had been caused by a family of ducks crossing an intersection. It was only much later that I noted the facial expressions of all those bears snarled in the traffic jam. They looked happy or surprised.  Where were the feelings of impatience, frustration or anger? As I studied the picture I wondered what else might be part of this story that was simply left out.

My early morning musing at the dentist’s triggered thinking about the image Canadians hold in their minds and hearts about Canada. From coast to coast to coast we are celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary as a nation, yet our image of Canada is dependent on our experiences of life in Canada. Can any picture of Canada be complete?

To commemorate Canada’s 150th, well-known Canadian illustrators of children’s books were asked to express their feelings about Canada through art.  Each illustrator interpreted one page of a new picture book called “I Am Canada: A Celebration” written by Heather Patterson.  In addition to the fascinating images children see as they read the story, the illustrators’ written views of Canada are highlighted in the end pages. The illustrators’ unique perspectives about Canada shine through in the details of their art as well as in their words.

Another new board book called “A Northern Alphabet” shows images of Canada through the artwork of Group of Seven painter Ted Harrison. This alphabet book shows the significance of place and of Inuit life and culture in the far north.
“C is for Canada: Celebrating our Nation” by Mike Ulmer is also newly published. This beautifully illustrated book for preschool and primary school-aged children offers children an opportunity to think, talk about, and make connections between its pictures and text with their knowledge and experiences as young Canadians from various regions in Canada.

And yet, as I held these beautiful, celebratory books for children in my hands, I found myself wondering, what am I not seeing about Canada in these books? Just like the picture in the dental office, I realized that I could easily choose to see only what I looked for.  And then my eyes fell upon a picture book for young children called “Shi-shi-etko” by Nicola I. Campbell. This exquisitely illustrated and gently told story is about a young child at the end of summer preparing to go to school for the first time. Shi-shi-etko, whose name means “she loves to play in the water”, doesn’t know what school will be like. What she knows is her life at home. She loves playing and exploring, listening to the stories and teachings of her parents and grandparents. The days before school shorten and Shi-shi-etko uses her fingers to count the number of sleeps left before she must leave all that is familiar. Shi-shi-etko is Indigenous and going to school for her means leaving her family and community for most of a year to attend a residential school.  The story focuses on the strength and love of Shi-shi-etko’s family, and is told with sensitivity and authenticity.

The story of Canada is complex and filled to each edge of the picture frame with truths that are hard to reconcile. Where should I focus my gaze on Canada Day in 2017? What part of the story will I choose to see? The depth and meaning of Canada’s story with Indigenous Peoples, I think, will never be static for me. As Indigenous stories of both past and present gain greater visibility, I feel the shame and sorrow of colonialism. But I also feel joy, privilege, and respect in knowing those whose ancestors were here long before my ancestors arrived on Turtle Island/North America. On Canada Day I will be celebrating friendship and hope for Canada’s future - a future that looks carefully at what has been missing in our collective story so that we can truly embrace justice, understanding and opportunity for all Peoples who call Canada home.

Published in Early Literacy
Wednesday, 28 June 2017 10:44

History of the Buck Lake Boatilla

The Buck Lake Boatilla sends physically disabled children to Camp Merrywood, a spe-cially equipped summer camp on the Big Rideau operated by Easter Seals.

Ironically, the Buck Lake Boatilla traces its origins back to an outbreak of petty crime in the 1990s. In response to a rash of break-ins,  some ‘take charge’ members of the community formed a Neighbourhood Watch and recruited others to conduct regular pa-trols and keep their eyes open for trouble. The crimes stopped when the culprit was found and arrested. It was not long before the  watch organizers decided the watch was no longer necessary. Rather than disbanding, they cast around for another useful pur-pose for the organization. They decided on supporting Easter Seals’ Camp Merrywood and created the slogan “Send a Kid to Camp”. That was in 2005, the start of the Buck Lake Boatilla.

That first year was both hilarious and a bit scary. Randy Ruttan and his campers agreed to have the participating boaters and others assemble for a barbecue at the Hidden Valley campground at the end of the parade of boats. The plan on that first day was for the boats to assemble at the culvert, parade around Pulpit and Buck Islands, and re-assemble in a sort of ‘floatilla’ in Christmas Bay. There was no advance canvas for funds; instead the suggestion was that people would donate $5.00 for every person on their boat, the collection being done by Ross Trudel. It was a great plan but it didn’t allow for the strong wind and high waves that day that made the ‘floatilla’ part impossible and produced any number of near dunkings as Roscoe precariously attempted to do his collections without ramming anybody.

It was quite a show, but a successful one that raised $3,750, enough  to send nearly two kids to Camp Merrywood; the goal had been funding enough for one. In those days it cost $2,000 per child; more recently the cost has increased to $2,500. The high cost is due to the need for a very high staff to camper ratio combined with the Camp’s having comprehensive health care services on site to keep the children safe and also with the specialized equipment needed for them to overcome the limits of their physical disabilities.

Each year since 2005 the Boatilla has grown both as a charitable and a community event. Thanks to Randy Ruttan and the campers, many of whom participate actively, that first frustrated ‘flotilla’ in Christmas Bay was replaced shortly thereafter by a com-munity barbecue at the Hidden Valley campground. The campers, largely from the Unit-ed States, are  generous contributors to Camp Merrywood and participants in he Boatil-la and BBQ.

Another great innovation adopted early on was to invite past and potential campers to the barbecue and, more recently, for Buck Lakers with big pontoon boats to provide them with rides in the Boatilla itself. Sometimes it has been quite a challenge to get those big battery-powered wheelchairs safely maneuvered onto the decks of pontoon boats but the resulting delighted smiles on the faces of the children and their parents have been well worth the effort.

Another more recent innovation has been live music at the wind-up BBQ. This has been provided by Caz’ band, a father associated with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra and his two daughters. A feature number in the last two years has been an original song written and sung by Kiera, a Merrywood camper, who has come with her parents sever-al times to the Boatilla. Another speaks well for the future. About four years ago, some children from Hidden Valley spontaneously showed up with a little plastic cash register and put on a bake sale, all proceeds (over $300) going to the Boatilla. It was a surprise to everyone except, of course, their parents who no doubt furnished encouragement, cooking skills, and the baked goods’ ingredients. In the same spirit of giving, other chil-dren on Buck Lake have put on a book sale and offered lemonade from a dock in the narrows with the proceeds earmarked for various causes, including cancer research.

The Boatilla’s contributes substantially to our community’s pride, its identity, and to the pleasure its seasonal and full-time members derive from their participation in it. Its con-tribution to Easter Seals is relatively easily measured in terms of the money raised for Camp Merrywood. Its contribution to physically challenged children is partially counted by the number of kids sent to camp. Getting measures of what going to camp means to those children, their enjoyment, development, self-assurance, and the respite provided to their parents is significant but not easily measured.

The first principle of the Boatilla has been that all donations matter and are welcome, small and large; it’s the spirit that counts. The second principle is that 100% of the donations go to Easter Seals and Camp Merriwood; the Boatilla incurs no administrative costs.

The 2017 Boatilla will be the 13th annual. Cumulatively (including the anticipated dona-tions this year) our community, through the Buck Lake Boatilla, will have raised over $200,000 over its 13 years, enough money to send to camp around 100 kids who would not otherwise have been able to have this great experience.

That’s something of which to be really proud!

The Buck Lake Boatilla is set for Sunday, July 2 this year.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

It’s taken about a year and a half, 40 pages of applications and a lot of research and learning, but this fall, the Granite Ridge Education Centre will be offering a unique class to its Grade 11 students — an introduction to GIS, which includes certification in the operation and use of drones.

“We believe we’re the first school in Ontario with this kind of program,” said Wade Leonard, who’s been the driving force behind it and will be the teacher. “There may be another somewhere but we’re the only ones signed up for the software.”

The ‘drone’ in this case is a Phantom 4, which is about the size of a large snare drum, complete with a state-of-the-art camera and software. It has four propellers and it’s no toy — especially not to the federal government.

“The permitting process has taken about 11 months to get this thing off the ground,” Leonard said. “We’re in the final stage now and we’ll be able to fly Class G, which is anywhere outside of restricted airspace (primarily around airports).”

Leonard got the idea after watching some Queen’s personnel flying one around his farm in Hartington. Little did he know what was involved.

“It has taken some time, but we’re taking the Mike Holmes approach,” he said. “Do it right.”

They got a Limestone Learning Foundation grant to get a subscription to software that will aid in GIS mapping, 3D modelling and several other applications including overlays and panoramas.

“We’ll be able to do some very highly detailed maps,” he said. “But there are many applications.

“Real estate, land surveying, construction — you can even count trees, which will be useful to many groups for species identification.”

They’ve already approached a variety of groups and local governments for possible partnerships and literally, the sky’s the limit.

But for Leonard, it seems the biggest attraction is the opportunity to give his students a useful and unique learning opportunity.

“I think it will be highly enjoyable and interesting for students,” he said. “And they’ll be certified going out the door.”

The GREC student body assembled on the soccer pitch for this 150th shot from the school’s drone. The 7 ½ ft. X 12’ Canadian Flag in the background came courtesy of student Claudia Thompson’s grandfather Stephen McCullough. “It’s from the Peace Tower,” she said. “He ordered it 12 years ago and he just got it.” Photo/courtesy of the GREC drone photography program.
Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Thursday, 22 June 2017 14:04

Granite Ridge: Special Olympic Recap

Most sports season here at GREC run Fall, Winter or Spring, not the Special Olympics! We started preparing for competition way back in October, which just shows the commitment these athletes have to their sport - and boy did it pay off!

Recently, a group of School to Community athletes traveled all the way to Brock University where they competed at the Special Olympic Provincial Championship.

There were over 800 athletes at the event competing in Basketball, Soccer, Bocce Ball and Track and Field. GREC competed in the soccer competition against 11 other teams from across Ontario and Canada.

During Day 1 of competition GREC tied two games and lost 1 game placing them into the B Division for the following day of competition. Day 2 the team really came together and played like superstars! Despite some jitters and a loss early in the day, our athletes overcame this and posted two 5-0 wins that involved incredible ball handling, constant passing, great communication and many shots on net. This put GREC in first place and on their way to the semi-final game where they beat NDSS 3-0, which secured their place in the gold medal game. In the end, GREC won the GOLD with a 1-0 win over Dennis Morris, a local favourite from St. Catherine's, Ontario.

I hope the memories you made this week will last a lifetime and encourage you to try your best in every situation that life may throw at you!

A special thank you to all the athletes, Ms. Steele and Mr. McCullough for the tremendous efforts over the last three days! We are so very proud of all you have accomplished.

The Gryphons look forward to next years Special Olympic competition, which will be held in Peterborough, Ontario from May 29th - May 31st, 2018.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

“It’s a fun day for the community — and showing community spirit,” said Heather Hasler, registrar for Frontenac Minor Hockey Association, which includes the organization’s ball hockey component. “Everything is free, except for the barbecue.”

This was FMHA’s second Ball Hockey Day, held last Saturday at the Frontenac Arena. They’ve been holding similar events for many years but with the inclusion of the summer ball hockey leagues, it just made sense to feature the relatively new leagues.

The ball hockey program has grown since its inaugural year, to 20 teams in five divisions and four adult teams (“I’m playing myself,” said Hasler).

She said ball hockey is part of the Canadian Landscape and “It’s nice to see the arena in use during the off-season.”

Hasler said she’s “been coming to this place since it’s opened.”

One of the aspects of ball hockey she likes is that they’ve been getting “quite a few kids who don’t play hockey.”

Of course the ball hockey season is winding down (this Sunday is the final day) and Hasler is already thinking about the upcoming ice hockey season. The registration deadline is Aug. 31. After that, a $100 late fee applies.

The FMHA offers Learn-to-Skate, Initiation and Tyke programs as well as First Shift program for those who’ve never tried hockey before. Of course they also offer a full-range of house league and rep teams.

“And our novice rep team won the OMHA East CC championship last year, which was a first for us,” she said.

While Sunday’s get-together wasn’t a fundraiser, the FMHA does have financial needs just like any other sporting organization. To that end, they’ve scheduled the FMHA Rinks to Links Golf Tournament at the Rivendell Golf Club for Sept. 9. The Entry fee of $100 includes green fees, cart and a pork roast dinner as well as prizes.

They’re also looking for sponsors at the $500 and $100 level which includes an ad that will be on display at the Arena for events during the 2017-2018 season.

More information about registration and the golf tournament is available on their website www.frontenachockey.ca.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

Last fall, Marcel Giroux of W.A. Robinson Asset Management got the idea to promote healthy food and stretch food budgets by introducing students to slow cookers.

“We raised four boys and they can all cook,” he said. “In our house, if you cooked, you didn’t have to wash dishes.”

So, after talking his W.A. Robinson cohorts into sponsoring it, he arranged with the local Home Hardware in Sharbot Lake to give him a deal (“they gave us a good deal”) on some slow cookers and Mike Dean’s to provide some food and the next thing you know, 38 Grade 7 students from GREC, Land O’Lakes Public School, Clarendon Central and St. James Major were learning how to use a slow cooker and taking one home with them when the class was over.

Giroux said he got the idea for using slow cookers from a similar program in Kingston which he thought was a good idea because he’s used slow cookers himself and is an advocate.

“It teaches kids to clean, cook, cut up vegetables and if you can afford meat, you throw that in there and you’ve got a stew,” he said. “When I was there, the kids were baking bread in them and you can also bake a cake in one.”

And at the end of the day, the kids got to take a slow cooker home with them.

“We got the St. Lawrence College food preparation course people to help with the instruction,” he said.

GREC principal James McDonald echoed Giroux’s sentiments.

“It’s a fabulous partnership, not only for the schools here in the north but it’s also a real community partnership,” McDonald said. “It involves Marcel’s group, the hardware store, St. Lawrence College and the schools.

“It takes a lot of organization to coordinate that many groups.”

But, the effort is worth it, McDonald said.

“It speaks to me about providing healthy solutions for students here in the north,” he said. “And they all got to take home a slow cooker.”

Giroux said they’d like to do the program on an annual basis for the next five years as long as the schools are prepared to organize the class.

“The kids were enthusiastic about it, even the boys,” he said. “I’d like to encourage other businesses if they’d like to participate.

“Just let me know.”

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 07 June 2017 13:02

Granite Ridge Heart Heroes

Students who organized the annual Jump Rope for Heart at Granite Ridge Education Centre, an event that now includes 7 different athletic events including shooting hoops and more, posed for a photo at the end of the frantic 90 minutes of activity among the elementary panel at Granite Ridge on Monday June 5th.  Catherine Reynolds, who has been running the fund raising event for the Heart and Stroke Foundation for four years at the new school at a nuber before that at the former Hinchinbrooke school in Parham, said she has learned that it is a lot easier to turn the organising over to a team of heroes than to do all the work herself. This year the event has raised $1400 for Heart and Stroke thus far, and money is still trickling in.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Mikeal Teal had just turned 16. He was starting a summer job at Sunset's campground. He was in the midst of his first relationship and had just received his driver's license. He was thinking about buying a car. He was a devoted son and brother.
Those were the positive aspects of his life, but he also had many pressures, which all culminated in a final suicide attempt in the early hours of the morning on May 15th. He died five days later at Roger Nielson House, next to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa.

His mother Leslee, step-father Al Whan and sisters Alley and Sidney are devastated, but they are also angry and determined that the mental health system that they say failed Mike gets fixed, and soon.

They sat in the kitchen of their home, which is tucked in next to the edge of a narrow bay off Sharbot Lake and the Trans-Canada Trail, as the trees were still leafing out around them last Friday morning (May 27). It made for a peaceful backdrop to the agony in their voices as they went over, for the hundredth time, the string of events from the last few days oftheir son’s life. They also reflected on the previous weeks, months and even years of their son's troubled life. They were raw with exhaustion and emotion, sometimes grasping for details as they told their story.

But they are determined to do something about the fact that, in their view and experience, children and adults in serious trouble are just patted on the back and sent home when they attempt to harm themselves, and it is a matter of urgency for them because Mike's girlfriend in Kingston has been facing her own difficulties since his death.

“This is a nightmare that no family should have to endure,” said Al Whan.

According to his mother Leslee, Mike faced pressures in school and elsewhere for many years.

“He was very protective of his sisters, and me. He worried about me,” she said.

And suicide had already touched him, as his father hung himself when Mike was only 7.

Mike’s fragile circumstances took a real turn in March of 2016, when his maternal grandfather, with whom he was very close, died suddenly.

A couple of months later a social worker Mike was seeing from Pathways for Children and Youth demanded that he seek treatment in hospital for his mental health issues, a process that was ultimately ineffective.

In the late fall things took a further turn for the worse, when in an effort to protect the reputation of his younger sister, he got into a violent fight with a boy at Granite Ridge High School. The fight started at the park near the school and ended up within school property. It led to Mike being expelled from school, further cutting him off socially. He began a relationship shortly after that, with a girl from Kingston, but his circumstances kept deteriorating and suicidal thoughts haunted him over and over again.

In January he told a doctor at the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team, where he went weekly to monitor his medication, that he had attemped suicide. That time he was brought to CHEO for 5 days, and was sent home with adjusted medication.

In February, after ice fishing with Al, “he took off ahead of me on his bike across the lake and  at full speed and he ran off the road. He wouldn't say what he was doing or trying to do or anything. Mike told his doctors about that event as well,” Al recalled.

In March he downed two bottles, 50 pills in all, of his anti-depressant medication and was rushed to Perth hospital and then to CHEO, where he remained overnight and was released the next morning.

Then, in late April, he drove his ATV down the trail to a secluded spot where he slashed his wrists and then drove at break-neck speed back towards home, helmetless.  A police search party found him just off the trail and he was taken to Kingston General Hospital by ambulance.

“He told the doctor 'I don't want to be alive – help me,’ and the doctor said the cuts on his arms were not that deep and we should adjust his medication and watch him carefully,” said Al Whan, “The doctor told us that Mike 'doesn't have a plan', and his suicide attempts were not enough of a reason for them to keep him and get him some help. ‘He doesn’t have a plan,’ I can’t forget those words.”

“I asked the doctor if that meant I was on suicide watch again, and he didn’t say anything, just said we should keep an eye on him,” said Leslee.

“We kept asking for help, we kept trying to watch him, to make sure he was ok, to look for the signs, but he needed real help, not just a change in dosage, said Whan.

Ten days later, Mike spent Mother’s Day helping Leslee strip the floor in the family kitchen, preparing to put a new floor in. At one in the morning, his girlfriend called Leslee and said Mike’s messages had gone from wifi to text and she knew he wasn’t in the house and was worried about him. Al ran down stairs to his bedroom in the basement of the house and found the room was full of blood but Mike wasn’t there. He found him a short time later. He had cut himself in his room and was hanging in a tree by the lake. Al cut him down and called 911. He still had a pulse but he had been without oxygen for too long.

Both of Mikes parents are now very worried about his girlfriend.

“And the hospital is doing the same thing, refusing to take her in for long term treatment, just sending her home with new medication,” said Al Whan.

“This is what needs to stop. Doctors, the system needs to start taking people seriously and treating them. Telling people not to worry because their children or cousins or brothers “don't have a plan” did not work for Mike and won't work for anyone else.”

Mikeal Teal's parents are committed to bringing change about in the system and are planning to bring as much attention as possible to his plight in order to make that happen. They have contacted politicians and media outlets and are considering a fund raising campaign to keep a public focus on mental health and suicide.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

The metal shop at Sydenham High School is a pretty busy place throughout the school year, but last week it was more frantic than normal. TV cameras and politicians on hand for a media day mark the final stretch of a project that partners the school, the township, and local business in the production of 60 pairs of bike racks to go up throughout the township. For the shop students, there was more pressing business on their minds than posing for the cameras. They had just received 60 sets of decorative circular metal plates from Martin’s Welding and Fabricating of Inverary to go on the stands and they were busy working out the most efficient way to get them all built in the time remaining before the end of school, keeping in mind they can’t spend all day working to fill the order.

Five of the students who took the lead in both the design of the racks and working out the necessary tooling and processes for making them are ICE (Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship) students who are taking the Fabrication and Manufacturing Specialty at SHS for a specialised certificate when they graduate. They are: Ryan Hyndman, Daniel Van Heyst, Ian Udall, Jason Campbell and Brandon Long. They were using all their training and skills to bend metal tubing into place, cut cross pieces to size, weld them in place, weld the plates on and the tubes onto feet so they can turn them over to South Frontenac Rides.

South Frontenac Rides is a citizen led group that sprung up less than two years ago, and with council support has become a major force in the township, promoting cycling on trails and roads, working with public works on cycle friendly infrastructure and promoting a summer festival. At least some of the stands will be in place for the inaugural Lakes and Trails Festival on July 15th.

Ross Sutherland, council liaison to the committee, and an avid cyclist who rode from house to house when campaigning in 2014, said that this project might be “the best thing that South Frontenac Cycles has been involved in so far because it will leave a permanent mark on the township. They will be in place for a long time, a testament to the students who made them and to the commitment the township has made to being a cycling friendly place.”

Glen McCallum is the shop teacher who oversaw the project.

He can’t say enough about the students, and the partnership that brought the project about.

“As you can see from the way they are working here, there is a lot of problem solving that goes on all the time as they work out how to work together at every stage of this project, and now they are dealing with coming up with a production schedule to get them all finished. It’s just like what they will face on job sites if they continue on in this field,” he said.

The partnership with Martin’s Welding is one that has been ongoing for years.

“We approached them to help because they are local and they offered to produce the designs for free, and they really came through for us. We worked on the rest of the pieces and when the plates came, we were set to do the final assembly.  The students are now under pressure to finish the project off in time, but they’ll make it. They even come in at lunch to work on it. It’s not only the ICE kids who are working on the project, but they are the ones who are really driving it.”

Fabrication and Manufacturing is one of two Specialised High Skills Majors offered at SHS, the other is Performance Power Technology in the automotive department. Of the 25 offered in the board, 5 are offered in Frontenac County High Schools. The other three are Forestry (Granite Ridge), Health and Wellness (Granite Ridge) and Construction (North Addington Education Centre) These programs take place during the final two years of High School and involve extra levels of commitment on the part of the students.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
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