There is probably no better guide to lead a tour of the universe than celebrated Canadian astronomer, Terence Dickinson.

Dickinson, who resides in Yarker, was invited to Prince Charles PS in Verona by Laurie Swinton, former chair of the parent council, to give an evening talk about the universe on October 2 to listeners of all ages with curious minds.

Dickinson, who became fascinated by the stars at age five, has made an admirable career as a renowned astronomer and has authored 15 books on the subject including “Nightwatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe”, “The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide” and “Exploring the Night Sky”. For years he edited the magazine Astronomy and in 1995 he founded and is still editor of the Canadian astronomy magazine SkyNews.

Over his career he has held numerous posts as staff astronomer at such places as the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto and was assistant director at the Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, New York. He has won numerous honors and awards including a honorary PhD from the University of Trenton. He was also awarded the Order of Canada and has had an asteroid named after him. However, it is his passion for his subject and his ability to deliver information in understandable terms for all ages that made his appearance at PCPS such a treat.

Dickinson used models to demonstrate the magnitude of the universe, inviting one youngster to hold a yellow golf ball representing our sun and inviting another to hold a second white ball representing the next nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. He informed the second youngster that he would have to take his white golf ball all the way to Winnipeg to give a true scale representation of its distance from our sun. Understanding the scope and size of the universe is a daunting task even for the most nimble minded. It is estimated that there are roughly 100 billion galaxies in the universe with each on average having 100 billion stars, which brings the estimated total numbers of stars in the universe to 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars (or 10 to the power of 22).

While listeners were awed by what they heard, Dickinson also accompanied his talk with a slide show of equally awe-inspiring photos. One, a view of the earth as seen from the moon was particularly breathtaking.

Following his talk he invited guests to view the moon on what thankfully was a perfectly clear night. He explained that with the strength of present-day telescopes, viewers that night in Verona could actually see the moon as close up as the astronauts who orbited it in space had seen it.

He spoke of what a shame it is that in Toronto one cannot view the sky as he was able to as a boy in suburban Toronto so he is glad that in the more northern towns like Verona and those even further north, people are still able to enjoy dark skies and are doing their best to preserve and promote them.

Dickinson hopes that his passion might ignite a flame in the young minds of local students and he will be returning to Prince Charles later in October to speak to the students about the subject he loves and knows best.

By the way, those who have played the board game Trivial Pursuit have Terrence Dickinson to thank for most of the astronomy questions and answers found there.

Photos-

2038-famed Canadian astronomer Terence Dickinson awed listeners at his talk “A Tour of the Universe” at Prince Charles PS in Verona on October 2

2042-a slide in his presentation shows earth as seen from the moon  

Grade nine students at Sydenham High School participated in a special school orientation event at the Gould Lake Outdoor Centre on September 25, which geared them up for the school year. Organized by the school’s grade 11 recreational leadership class under the direction of SHS teacher Mark Richards, the event had students don their school colours and participate in a number of games and activities at eight different stations. The activities included potato sack races, tug-of-war and a number of other games.

According to Mark Richards the annual event has two key aims. “It provides an opportunity for the grade nine students to get acquainted with their peers while having some fun and also gives the grade 11 students a chance to demonstrate their leadership skills.”

The new students learned the SHS school song "Bobaloo", which no doubt will be heard at the annual Bubba Bowl tonight, Thursday, October 9 where Sydenham’s junior and senior Golden Eagles will be taking on the LaSalle Knights. The junior game kicks off at 6pm with the senior game to follow. Admission to the game is $2 and the canteen will be open. Proceeds from admission will be used to cover the cost of the event and to support SHS athletics.

The most interesting aspect of the 2014 municipal election in Frontenac County and Addington Highlands thus far has been the races for Limestone School Board Trustee.

In the Township of South Frontenac, the election has become bitter and personal thanks to the arrival of Kingstonian Lindsay Davidson onto the campaign scene, where she is doing battle with incumbent Suzanne Ruttan.

(see candidate profiles and video at http://www.frontenacnews.ca/south-frontenac-municipal-election-2014)

Essentially, Davidson is calling Ruttan a puppet of the school board's senior administration. Ruttan voted to close two schools in Kingston and build a new school at an as yet undetermined location.

Davidson, whose son attends one of those schools, Kingston Collegiate (KCVI), sat on the committee that was set up to look at the future of secondary schools in downtown Kingston, and is now one of five people who are requesting a judicial review of the decision to close KCVI and Queen Elizabeth (QECVI) schools.

Suzanne Ruttan has struck back. On two occasions, Ruttan has asked why Davidson is seeking to become a trustee of an institution that she is suing.

Davidson's response that she is not suing the board, that she is merely seeking a judicial review of the process, doesn't seem to get much traction.

At an all-candidates meeting at the Sydenham Legion on Monday night, Oct. 6, all of the questioners during the school board segment of the meeting took dead aim at Davidson, asking why she was not running in North Kingston, where she lives.

Although she said she is running in South Frontenac because she is basically a rural gal at heart, and chose to live in rural Kingston, on Glenburnie Road, for that reason, some of the very public assertions that Davidson has made in recent months reveal a tendency to blame the rural schools for the troubles facing the urban Kingston high schools.

In an op-ed published in the Globe and Mail, Davidson compared the closing of PDCI in Peterborough with the plan to close KCVI In Kingston, and said this: “It was noted by observers in Peterborough’s school debate that rural trustees representing districts outside the city limits drove the final closure vote. The vote in Kingston exhibited the same rural-urban divide seen in Peterborough. Four of the five votes supporting KCVI closure came from trustees representing municipalities outside of Kingston.”

All things considered, voters in South Frontenac have grounds to be suspicious of Lindsay Davidson's commitment to their municipality, but the trustee election has given her a forum to launch a full on critique of the way the Limestone Board operates, and some of those criticisms are pretty effective.

That critique, coupled with lingering controversies about Granite Ridge Education Centre, has set the stage for the trustee election in North and Central Frontenac and Addington Highlands.

All three candidates in that election, (Dave Kendall, Steve Magee, and Karen McGregor) who are profiled on page 12 of this edition, are critical of the board in various ways.

The cumulative effect of what has been written and is now being voiced at all-candidates meetings, is to question just about everything about the way the board's administration operates. It is being called unresponsive, opaque, anti-rural (and perhaps anti-urban in Lindsay Davidson's case) among other things - and this is by the people who want to become its trustees.

The Limestone Board, like all institutions of its size and constraints, likes to present a carefully constructed, wholesome image for itself. Problems are downplayed as sunshine sketches are released for public consumption almost daily. Disgruntled staff, and there are many, voice their critiques quietly, in whispers, way off the record.

It is hard to say where all these critiques of the board's operations will go once the ballots are cast and everything gets back to normal.

But, at least for now, all the fissures and cracks have been revealed underneath that polished limestone.

Maybe the board should have been made of harsher, stronger rock - say pink granite.

Grade 7 and 8 students at Land O' Lakes Public School had a chance to break the ice while also learning how to trust one another during their first few weeks back at school.

In a special art project, students made plaster casts of their faces, which involved putting themselves into a vulnerable position. The students chose groups and each student in the group had the others make a negative mold of their face. This meant that each participant had to lie down and breathe out of straws while their peers covered their faces with plaster bandages. Once the molds were dried each student then made a positive cast from the original negative molds. The end result is 26 white plaster faces that now hang in the school’s main pod area and will be on display until Christmas.

Their teacher, Mr. Hull, said that the project, which is part of the casting curriculum for the students, is also a great trust exercise. “It's a great opportunity for the students to learn about the positive and negative elements of casting, the chemical reactions that take place, concepts of volume, as well as learning to trust the partners in their group.”

In addition to the mold making, students were asked to write biographies of themselves, which hang under their nameless faces. For many, the project was their first encounter with mold making, and it was also enjoyable for them because they had a chance to bond with their fellow students.

Hull said it was the first time he did this particular mold making project with students and he felt it was a huge success. “I am always amazed at how well the students respond to these hands-on cooperative, creative projects. Not only did they do all of the work themselves but they also did a great job.” Hull said the project works particularly well with older students who have the maturity to deal with being able to stay still for an extended length of time while breathing through straws.

Grade 8 student Leah-Anne said she “enjoyed the project and though having the plaster bandages on your face at first was a bit weird and at first scary, it was fun and interesting.” Grade 7 student Mariah said she also enjoyed the project and said it was her first time making a plaster face mask.

The project is attracting the attention of other students in the school, who often try to guess which face belongs to whom.

At a special school-wide assembly on September 25 at Granite Ridge Education Centre in Sharbot Lake, students learned about the Canadian hero Terry Fox and his epic run across the country to raise funds for cancer research. Students watched a film about Fox, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in March 1977. He underwent surgery that left him with a prosthetic leg. On April 12, 1980 in St. John's, Newfoundland and after months of training, Fox set out on his Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research. He ran for 143 days though six Canadian provinces, averaging 42 kilometres a day for a total of 5373 kilometres, before finding out upon reaching Thunder Bay that the cancer had spread to his lungs. Terry then returned to British Colombia for treatment and sadly passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age of 22. His goal of every Canadian donating one loonie to the cause was not in vain and his Marathon of Hope inspired and rallied the nation to initiate and take part in annual runs and other events, which, as of May 2014, have raised over $650M for cancer research through the Terry Fox Foundation. Terry was the youngest recipient to receive the Companion of the Order of Canada and today, almost 35 years after his marathon began, he continues to inspire people from all over the world.

GREC students Sam Kempe, Josh Keith, Bailey Merrigan, Tyee Davis, Emily Baillargeon, Leah Neumann, and Wyatt McVeigh spoke at the assembly, which was organized by educational assistant Cathy Reynolds, and each student read an excerpt from the journal Terry kept during his marathon. Prior to the event each student was asked to donate a loonie or toonie to the Terry Fox Foundation and after the coins were counted the school had raised close to $400. Following the assembly the students and staff ran or walked the outdoor track at the school and on the following Monday Ms. Schall's grade eight class was awarded a prize for raising the most money for the event.

Award-winning and much sought after groups are confirmed to perform at the Classy Country Evening, in honour of The Tristin Osborne Memorial Fund and the Limestone Learning Foundation. The evening features superb music, casual dining, and dancing Saturday, September 27, at Dreamcatcher Farms, 3185 McGarvey Road, Inverary. The Abrams Brothers will headline this year's “country” gala, September 27, from 5 p.m. to midnight, along with Grammy nominee Valerie Smith, and dancing with music by RUDY and Saddle Up! Guests will enjoy a “Taste of Tennessee” dinner along with entertainment from student musicians Emma & Sam McNichols and Brielle LeBlanc, as well as a live auction. Tickets are $125 per person and are available by contacting the Limestone Learning Foundation at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 613-544-6925, ext. 210. Last year's event was sold out. Safe ride home program generously sponsored by Robert Hogan Bus Lines.

Over 60 members of the community filled the gym at Clarendon Central Public School in Plevna at a special meeting on September 15 that was called over a recent decision of the Limestone District School Board (LDSB).

Michelle Ross, co-chair of the parent council at CCPS, said the group called the meeting to voice their concerns about the LDSB’s decision to decrease the number of teachers at the school, effectively changing it from a three-classroom school to two classrooms.

Barb Fraser-Stiff and Andrie Labrie, both superintendents of education with the LDSB, were in attendance at the meeting and made efforts to explain the board’s decision.

Former principal at the school, Brenda Martin, began the meeting with a presentation citing her concerns that the decision will negatively impact the teachers’ ability to deliver the curriculum and said to the attendees, “You realize that this is the only school in North Frontenac Township, a school that has been here for 52 years and that your education dollars should remain in the township.” She argued for the viability of small local schools and commended the parents whose efforts kept Clarendon Central open after the LDSB’s Program and Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) proposed several years ago that the school be closed.

In a nut shell Martin requested that the primary teacher position be increased to full time to meet the needs of the students, and regarding the junior/intermediate students she said that their needs cannot be met by just one teacher alone. “For older students it is impossible for one teacher to cover the required topics in the curriculum even in a two-year cycle.”

Barbara Fraser-Stiff assured her that it is manageable for a single teacher to integrate the math and English curriculum, but Martin replied that her biggest concern is the science curriculum. “Yes you can integrate language and math but when it comes to science, it is impossible for one teacher to cover all of the necessary components required,” she said.

Parents had a chance to raise their many concerns, which included the added stress and challenges to teachers who will have to teach more curriculum with less classroom support to a wider age group. They said that there will be less one on one instruction time and more interruptions for all students. Many said they fear that their children will not receive a satisfactory education that will prepare them properly for high school. They also cited less time for support staff to do the regular supervising that is needed for such a wide age group.

Fraser-Stiff said that she understands that it sounds impossible but that the new changes can be done. “It's been done before.” Both she and Labrie gave as examples two schools in the LDSB, one on Wolfe Island and the other on Amherst Island that have two classrooms serving JK–grade eight students. The Amherst Island school has been operating for over a decade and Fraser-Stiff said that its graduates are thriving.

When questioned about the lack of discussion that came with the recent announcement, Labrie was apologetic but explained that the decisions typically happen in September once the finalized numbers of students are known. He said that similar changes have taken place at one third of the schools in the LDSB.

One concerned parent quoted the Spring 2014 Technical Paper put out every year by the Ministry of Education outlining the Supported Schools Allocation, which provides additional funding for teaching and ECE staff to improve the viability of supported schools. She said that by definition Clarendon Central is one such school and she wondered why staff are being cut when in the paper, it states that combined schools with 50 or more elementary students generate funding for a minimum of 7.5 elementary teachers. “Surely if you do the math, with 39 students here we should be able to support four teachers.”

North Frontenac Councilor Lonnie Watkins asked why the $1.6 million in education taxes collected in North Frontenac could not keep three teachers at the school. He also wondered why the $350,000 allocated to special rural schools could not afford to keep the current number of staff in place.

Labrie replied that 80% of the money pays the salaries for staff and the rest goes towards maintenance of the building, and busing. “You can see when you break it down how those funds can get used up pretty quickly.”

When pressed further, Labrie said he would check with other members of staff who know more about the particular financial numbers being questioned. Another parent wondered why local students in the area should be allowed to be bused to other schools if decreasing enrollment is the reason for the cuts in the first place.

Steve Magee, who is running as a candidate for school trustee in North and Central Frontenac and in Addington Highlands, suggested waiting one year to make the changes, thereby giving both parents staff and students time to adjust to the new situation.

By the end of the meeting, though Fraser-Stiff and Labrie could not make any concrete promises to parents and staff, they did promise to raise all of their concerns to their senior team and said they would get back to the group as soon as possible with any updates or changes. “We recognize that this community here is asking for some help and support in this matter and we will bring everything that we heard here today back to our staff.”

One parent said that the announcement of the changes has caused stress to staff, parents and students alike, with many parents feeling their children have already lost out during their first month back at school.

Parents and staff are obviously hoping that the situation is resolved quickly.

CCPS Principal Emily Yanch said she “appreciated the parent community organizing the meeting, and hearing their concerns being addressed by members of the board.”

On September 5, Granite Ridge Education Centre students and staff enjoyed an afternoon in the sun participating in colour house challenges and a BBQ. Points for their colour houses are earned through participation in theme days and special activities organized throughout the year. The events featured for the afternoon were: puzzle games to get to know some of our new staff, parachute games, obstacle courses and the very popular water sponge game. The clap challenge led by Ms Robinson was a great way to involve all students in a rousing cheer to end the day. What a great ending to the first week of school.

(Attention readers. After the following article was published on Thursday and posted online , the date of the public meeting was changed . The meeting about changes in staffing at Clarendon Central Public School will now take place on Monday Night, September 15^th, at 7:00 pm at Clarendon Central. The meeting date change was done at the behest of the Limestone District School Board in order to have representatives in attendance. This version of the article includes the altereed information)

Parents of children attending Clarendon Central School in Plevna have called a meeting on Monday Night (Septemebr 15) at the school to talk about staffing changes.

The meeting, which is set for 7 pm, is a reaction to finding out that as of next Monday the teaching complement at the school will be reduced by one.

There are four teachers at the school currently. Three of them teach multi-grade classes, and the fourth is what is called a head teacher. The school has a part-time principal, Emily Yanch, who is also the principal of the larger Land O' Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove, which commands much of her attention. She is on site in Plevna one half day each week.

According to a parent who contacted the News, a rumour that the change was coming circulated among the community, and was confirmed by Ms. Yanch.

We were unable to contact Principal Yanch at Land O' Lakes school on Tuesday, and the supervising principal for Clarendon Central, Barbara Fraser-Stiff, was not available at the Limestone Board office.

However written notification of the changes was sent home to parents on Tuesday.

Currently, there are three classes in the school: a Junior Kindergarten to grade 2 class, a grade 3 to grade 5 class and a grade 6 to grade 8 class. As of next Monday, the school will be split into two classes, a Junior Kindergarten to grade 3 class, and a grade 4 to grade 8 class. The position of head teacher will remain, and that person is responsible for discipline, acts as a resource teacher for children in need of one-to-one instruction from time to time, and covers for the other teachers during their planning time.

Further complicating the new scenario is the fact that the JK-3 teacher in the school is only a 3/4 time position, and the head teacher will have to cover that class each afternoon.

There are currently two educational assistants (EA) at Clarendon Central, one full-time and one half-time position, and as of next week the half-time EA will become full time, to help cover the extra work-load. However, according to parents and staff, there are some significant special needs in the school.

In the letter to parents the board said that the changes have come about because of an enrolment decrease at Clarendon Central, and the letter also pointed out that these kinds of changes happen in schools throughout the board each September.

The concern expressed by parents who contacted the News is that cutting one teacher from such a small complement of teachers represents a decrease of almost 27% in the teaching complement, which is a greater impact than would be felt in a school with a complement of 20 teachers. There, losing one teacher would only represent a 5% decrease in teachers.

Clarendon Central is a designated rural remote school, which means the Limestone Board receives extra funding beyond the normal per student funding formula to cover for some of the extra costs associated with providing programming in a rural-remote environment. It is the most remote school in the Limestone Board.

During the planning process that led to the construction of Granite Ridge Education Centre, an initial proposal to close Clarendon Central was quickly rebuffed, both by the community members on the planning committee and by the parents and community members in the Plevna area, who packed the school when a public meeting was held to talk about proposals for the new school.

The public is invited to attend the meeting at Clarendon CEntral on Monday Night.. Board and school administrative officials will be in attendance.

On June 26 the 59 students of the first graduating class of Granite Ridge Education Centre sat gowned and capped and looking ahead to their futures at the new school's first official commencement ceremony. The celebrations in the school's spacious new gym/cafeteria were well attended, with hundreds of friends and families taking pictures of their loved ones, many of whom will either be heading to post-secondary institutions, returning to the school to complete a final fifth year, or looking to enter the work force. The ceremony was emceed by Elizabeth Steele-Drew and included addresses by Principal Heather Highet, Vice-principal James McDonald, and Brenda Hunter of the Limestone District School Board, with musical interludes performed by the GREC school band.

Numerous awards and bursaries were handed out to the graduating students. Long-time music teacher Claudio Valentini, who retires this year, received the Earl Memorial Trophy in recognition of his outstanding achievement and contributions to the school over his career there.

One emotional highlight of the evening was the address by GREC's first official valedictorian for 2013/2014, grade 12 student Hillary Howes, who was chosen by her peers as the student who “best represents the graduating class.” Hillary, who has been accepted into Fleming College's paramedics program in Peterborough, was introduced by Ms. Steele-Drew as a student who is “determined and reaches her goals”, and “an incredible athlete and team player, an enthusiastic leader and a confident lady with an extremely bright future ahead of her.” Hillary received a standing ovation and in her speech she started by congratulating her fellow graduates. She then recalled many of her favorite memories from her four years as a student at the school, the many teachers who guided her over the years, and this year’s grad trip to New York City. She ended her speech stating “I know that all of you in 20 years will look back at your years in high school and remember what we experienced here and how that helped to shape us.” Following the ceremony the grads posed for a picture and then joined friends and family for a festive reception.

On the previous evening, June 25, the grade eight graduates from the school held their own special graduation ceremony, when each student crossed the stage to receive recognition from their teacher Miss Julia Schall. Numerous students received special awards for their accomplishments. Grade eight student Sam Kempe was chosen as the grade eight valedictorian, and following her address, the students, their friends and families also enjoyed a special celebratory reception at the school.

Congratulations to all of this year’s graduating students at GREC.