Photo: Sierra's dad, Sean Baldacchin assists in her Locks for Love donation at NAEC

At the NAEC's final Pride Assembly for 2011, which took place on December 16, four young students were invited by the school's vice principal Mr. John Mooney to present a cheque to Carolyn Hasler, Chair of the Flinton Relay for Life. The cheque for $1734 will benefit cancer research, and represents the total amount that the 219 elementary students at the school raised at this year’s Terry Fox run, which took place in October. Cheque presenters included: from grade two, Emma Mc Fadden; from grade three Sasha Berndt, and Jakob Acosta-Vlasic; and from grade four Sierra Baldachin. The four students were chosen to make the presentation, since together they have raised close to $3,000 by cutting and donating their hair to either Locks for Love or Angel Hair for Children, two organizations that make wigs for patients who have lost their hair while undergoing cancer treatment.

The four students’ efforts, along with the cheque, brings the school’s total to just under $5,000, something the school can definitely be proud of. Following the presentation, student Sierra Baldachin invited her dad Sean to the stage to assist her in cutting off her 86 cm waist-length locks, which she has been growing since birth. Sierra’s grandmother died from cancer, and Sierra recalled the self-consciousness her grandmother experienced due to hair loss while undergoing her treatments. So for Sierra, cutting off her own locks made perfect sense. “I'll miss having long hair and I won't be able to do as much with what is left but I know that getting it cut will definitively change some people’s lives and that makes it all worth while.”

NAEC Vice Principal Mr. Mooney had nothing but praise for the efforts of the students at the school. “Part of the education we teach today is character education, which is all about helping students to see how they can make a difference and be a positive force in society. So by publicly recognizing and celebrating both the students’ group and individual efforts, I feel that we are showing them that they can indeed make a positive difference in the world.”

The school held their annual Christmas concert on Dec. 21, and guests were encouraged to bring non-perishable food items that will be donated to the local food bank.

Photo: Architects drawing of the new school.

Trustee Ann Goodfellow, along with Limestone Board Manager of Facility Services David Fowler, and Manager of Planning Wayne Toms, brought the preliminary drawings for the new Sharbot Lake Kindergarten to Grade 12 school to Central Frontenac Council’s Dec. 13 meeting. The school will be built in the parking lot of the current high school over the next 20 months.

The L shaped, three-storey design is very similar to the one that was presented in July and has been further refined by the project’s architect.

The school will be a 69,000 square foot building, including a full gym and an adjacent cafeteria/auditorium, all located on the second floor of the building.

“Our plans are to build a school that will accommodate 220 secondary and 239 elementary students, which will open its doors in September of 2013,” said David Fowler. “We are awaiting approvals in the winter and are hoping to go to tender and then break ground in the spring. It will be exciting to put this facility in the community.”

Among the features of the current plan are the ability of the wall between the cafeteria/auditorium and the gym to be removed to open up a large space for community use.

“If it were all opened up, there would be space for up to 1,000 people,” said Ann Goodfellow.

In line with provincial policy, all levels, and all the rooms in the building will be fully accessible. Care has also been taken to ensure that younger students are kept in a separate space from the older students. It will also have classrooms for special needs students on all three levels.

Mayor Janet Gutowski said, “I can tell you that the whole community is really looking forward to this. I’m very proud that we will have the first school in the Limestone Board that has been specifically designed as a Kindergarten to grade 12 building, and that it is a true partnership between the school board and the township.” 

Central Frontenac Council – Dec. 13,

By Jeff Green

In their final meeting of 2011, Central Frontenac Council received a lot of information about planning matters, roads and waste management issues, and learned that they will be deep into budget deliberations in early January of 2012.

Kennebec Lake subdivision – In a first for the township, planning consultant Glenn Tunnock outlined how McIntosh Perry, the developer that is planning to build a 24-lot subdivision with 16 waterfront lots as well as 8 back lots on Kennebec Lake, has been working collaboratively not only with the township and conservation authority, but with the Kennebec Lake Association as well.

Greg Newman from McIntosh Perry outlined the proposal, which is wending its way through the plan of subdivision, zoning bylaw amendment, and severance processes in Central Frontenac and Frontenac County.

The current plan calls for the new subdivision to be accessed off Henderson Road just south of the Kennebec Lake bridge. The access road will be built to township standards and will become a township road,

One unusual departure of the project is that McIntosh Perry is planning to give most of the land that is not being used for building lots to the township for use as parkland. The land that will be offered totals over 60% of the Baker Valley property that McIntosh Perry is developing.

In the earlier planning stages, a common waterfront area was going to be set aside for use by the 8 non-waterfront lot owners, but that idea has been shelved.

Garrison Shores – Township Planning Co-ordinator Cathy MacMunn said that the long, long, awaited Garrison Shores condominium agreement is on the agenda for approval at Frontenac County Council this week.

(Note – the Frontenac County meeting took place on Wednesday morning, December 14, after this edition of the Frontenac News had gone to press. By the time you are reading this, residents of Garrison Shores should have deeds to their properties after waiting almost 30 years.)

Public Works – For those who think that township snow plows have been a rare sight on gravel roads, Public Works Manager Mike Richardson explained why. “The gravel roads are still not frozen,” Richardson said, “which causes us some difficulty in clearing the roads without unintentionally scraping some gravel off. We try not to plow the gravel roads at this time of year if the snow is not very deep.”

Hinchinbrooke garage repairs – the Ministry of Labour has taken an interest in the state of the Hinchinbrooke garage, which has forced the township to take action. Work has been done to repair a leaking roof and window. Also, holes have been made in the back wall by some of the township’s larger plows. Richardson reported that rather than just repairing the walls, a wood frame extension is being built at minimal cost and the walls will be repaired after that so that no more holes will be punched through.

“Why are the drivers allowed to drive through the end of the garage?” asked Councilor Bill Snyder.

“It’s not that drivers are allowed to drive through the garage,” said Richardson, who then paused, and said, “I don’t have an answer for that.

Mayor Gutowski intervened.

“Those holes have come about over time, some of it several years ago, before Mike Richardson came to the township. Basically the garage hasn’t gotten bigger, but our vehicles have,” she said.

Mike Richardson said he is trying to spend as little money as possible on the garage while still complying with Ministry of Labour orders because he will be making a proposal to Council during the budget debate for a plan that will involve mothballing the Hinchinbrooke garage and moving all the equipment to another location.

Bridge plan – Richardson presented a 5-year capital bridge plan that calls for a $350,000 bridge repair budget each year. Included in 2012 is the replacement of the Johnston Road bridge, and a new culvert on the Fall River Road.

Waste not want not – Waste Management Supervisor Kyle Labbett brought several proposals to council from the waste management committee

In the first, the committee requested that brush and lumber for burning be accepted only at the Hinchinbooke transfer station.

The committee also wants to limit the time frame during which residents can take advantage of their annual free load. The free dump will be available for two weeks (and 3 weekends) in the spring and fall. The spring dates are between the weekend before the May 24th weekend, until the weekend after the May 24th weekend, and the fall dates are from the weekend before Labour Day until the weekend after Labour Day.

The waste management committee also looked once again at the possibility of a transfer station at the former Chippego Lake dump site in the far southwest of the township, far from any other waste site, in response to a petition from area residents.

Once again they found the costs were too high and they denied the request.

Finally, Kyle Labbett reported that new materials will be able to be recycled. Tetrapacks, juice boxes and milk cartons can all be recycled with other paper products. Paper coffee cups can also be recycled in the paper stream, while the lids must go in the bin for plastic and tin.

Central Frontenac is also partnering with North Frontenac in the purchase of Blue Boxes, which will be sold to residents for a nominal fee. Dry cell batteries will also be recycled in the township, in bins that will be located at commercial outlets in various locations.

Construction details – Permits for a shade under $8 million in construction have been taken out this year, about half a million more than 2010. In all, 17 new residential units are under construction, as compared to 21 at this time last year (the 2010 total included the five-unit not-for-profit seniors’ housing project, which counted as five new units.)

Photo: Nick Babcock singing an original at SYD's Cafe at SHS

Numerous musically talented students at Sydenham High School took to the stage on December 2 for the school’s annual SYD's Cafe talent show, a fundraiser for the school’s music program. A total of 13 acts entertained a large audience in the school gym and showed that the school boasts a number of incredibly talented young individuals. I caught the first half of the show, which included a spectacular solo mash-up dance by Amy Walton.

Nick Babcock accompanied himself on guitar and for his second number treated the fans to a first - one of his own original tunes, a soulful, sexy dedication to Jenny. Other highlights included two very accomplished covers by Shelby Plumridge, who accompanied herself on guitar and Maddy Creasor who sang a moving version of the tune “Beautiful” while Eddy the rapper performed his latest rhymes.

Emcees for the evening Jessie Bell and Jordan Dawson did a fine job interspersing comedic banter between the numbers. The popular event continues to be the perfect opportunity for students to show off their musical chops while raising money for the music program at the school.

Students of all ages at Sydenham High School will be showcasing their musical talent on Friday, December, 2 at the annual SYD's Cafe that will take place in the school gym. The cafe has been an annual event at the school for over two decades. Listeners will be entertained by 16 musical acts by students who will be performing a wide array of musical styles. Tickets are available at the door the night of the show and the doors will open at 6:30PM. All proceeds raised at the event will go towards the schools music program and will allow the department to purchase instruments, supplies and sheet music. Music teacher and Arts Department head Mike Verner is looking forward to the event and said, “It's a great way for musically talented students at the school to showcase their abilities in front of a live, appreciative audience.”

Photo: Principal Jim Horan (retired), Chantal Lafrance, Virginia Mayhew, Principal Val Arsenault, Janice Miles and Jim Boyce.

The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) the body that administers standardised student testing in Ontario, has granted a Dr. Bette Stephenson Recognition of Achievement honour to Harrowmsith Public School in recognition of the high level of grade 3 and 6 test scores achieved by the students at the school.

The honour was bestowed at a ceremony on November 7 at the school.

Harrowsmith PS was also singled out as a case study on the journey of learning in an article publicized on the EQAO website. The article talked about some of the measures taken at Harrowsmith “to set very high goals and make them public” in the words of now retired principal, Jim Horan. An outline of some of the early literacy initiatives is reprinted below:

“Five years ago, in response to a review of in-school and EQAO data, Harrowsmith launched a well-publicized community literacy campaign for pre-kindergarten and primary students, which spilled out into the community. The Limestone Learning Foundation, for example, funded a Book-in-a-Bag home reading program for primary students and supplied an abundance of reading materials and “Blast Off ” boxes, allowing Harrowsmith to reach out to parents before their children even entered school … In addition, primary staff and the school council co-hosted literacy evenings during which teachers modelled shared reading strategies to be used at home. Again parental response was overwhelming.”

These initiatives have been coupled with a “focussed, logical progression of school improvement strategies based on systematic longitudinal tracking of individual data through multiple assessment instruments” according to the EQAO article.

The result has been scores that are well above the average for the Limestone Board and the province as a whole

Photo: Johnny Vinkle hitting, (check out the height) with Skyler Howes and Callum McGregor covering the hit. Photo courtesy of Diana Billingsley

The Senior Boys Panthers headed to Mackenzie High school in Deep River on November 17 after winning two in eight of their KASSAA season. The team was seeded sixth at the EOSSA tournament and played Renfrew High School in their first game. Both games were extremely close, though the Panthers lost the first two sets to Renfrew, and in the second game played Rideau HS with Rideau coming out on top in the end, taking the first two set 25-20 and 25-30. Sharbot Lake coach Mark Elliot, who has been coaching volleyball at Sharbot Lake since 1985, was pleased with how the team played. “Our guys played exceptionally well. They picked up most of the other teams’ hits, blocked well and were really powerful at the net.” Elliot said even the opposing team coaches felt the Panthers might have stood a better chance if the circumstances had been a bit different and if our team had been seeded differently. Following the Renfrew game, the opposing coach told Elliott that the Panthers likely could have been third or fourth in the other pool and that if that had been the case, they likely would have made it into the semi final round.

Panthers middle hitter John Vinkle had “a mammoth tournament”, Elliot said. “I have never seen him play that well and everyone had their eyes on him… Setter Skyler Howes also had a great tournament and was consistent throughout.” Hats off to the Panthers who had a great season this year and for making it to EOSSA for their first time since 2003. Coach Elliot is already fired up for next year. “We have a number of juniors coming up so we might just be that much deeper and stronger next year and in fact might just be looking at giving OFSSA a go” Things are looking bright for Senior Boys Volleyball at SLHS.

Special Education is a serious business for the Limestone District Board of Education.

Alison McDonnell, Supervising Principal (Special Education), heads up the program for the board, and dozens of people work in her department at the board office, travelling from school to school, and working in specific schools.

I had occasion to call the board about Special Education after receiving a call last week from a concerned parent whose special needs child had just enrolled in an LDSB school. The child has been diagnosed with a global developmental delay and the parent was concerned that the educational assistant who had worked with his child was being removed just a few weeks into the school year.

When I called the school the next day it turned out that a meeting had already taken place and a plan for the child was in place. The school would not speak about the specific case, as is their policy, but referred me to the board for information

With their own issue resolved, the family also did not want to be identified at this time, but the question that struck me from talking to the family remained: How does a school, a board, determine what the needs are of all of the special needs children that they have the responsibility to educate and care for?

In most cases work is done in advance to identify students coming into school for the first time or moving from school to school and to develop an educational plan for the student.

“It starts in the spring time,” said Marg Akey. “We ask the school to put together a template of needs for the students who are going to require some level of support. We have an excellent transition sharing process with community partners, outside agencies such as Children’s Aid, Community Living, day cares - anyone who provides a service prior to entry to school. Everyone involved participates in a number of meetings, including, the parents.”

Inevitably, however, cases like the one that led me to call the board do come about. Those cases have a name at Limestone – they are ‘lift off lemons’ – lemon being the colour of the ‘Lift off’ form that is filled out when a request for short term supports must be made when a special needs child arrives unexpectedly at a school.

The supports are as varied as the needs, since ‘special needs’ range from the physical, such as hearing or visual impairment or mobility issues, to developmental issues ranging from autism to developmental delays of other kinds.

“Our ultimate goal is to provide the least intrusive supports we can. We must always consider inclusivity, safety and medical needs, and how well we can share supports between children. It is an involved process,” said Akey.

Included in the special needs umbrella are behavioural needs and School to Community classes. School to Community classes are in place at all of the Limestone Board’s high schools and in primary schools where the numbers warrant them.

“We make plans to design our services each year and then we make changes, because we know that needs change,” she said.

“We have no problem spending the $37 million that is allocated by the province,” said Akey. “We have to do our best with finite resources and make sure that each child receives their share of the supports we are able to provide.”

Photo: Sydenham's Golden Eagles soar out of the Panthers reach

Sydenham’s and Sharbot Lake’s junior girls basketball teams squared off in Sharbot Lake on Oct. 20, with the Golden Eagles giving the Panthers a run for their money. Sydenham took an early lead and maintained it throughout, never once giving the Panthers an in, though there was lots of action at both ends of the court. The Panthers played a great passing game but failed to get the ball in deep when it counted and by the end of the first quarter Sydenham was up 10-0. In the second the Golden Eagles’ leading scorers Emily Bennett and Katie McNicols shone bright and scored multiple points, increasing their team’s lead by 19 points. Sharbot Lake’s Anna Baker put the Panthers on the scoreboard late in the quarter for the first time and the quarter ended 23-2. In the third, Sydenham scored another 13 points, widening their lead, and the Panthers scored 4 more, ending the third 34-6. In the final quarter the Panthers turned it on, penetrating the net and scoring six more points, their best in any one quarter but it was too little too late. The Eagles took the game with a final score of 38-12. Panthers’ coach Ben Moser has struggled in the past to get players out for the junior girls’ team, and said he was thrilled to have 13 young and enthusiastic players this year. “We have a very enthusiastic team who are very excited to play. Right now we are working on our offense and while winning is not our focus, the main goal of the year is to improve at every game.” The Panthers, who have yet to win a game this year, are definitely improving and Thursday’s game was in their coach’s estimation “by far their best defensive game to date”.

Sydenham’s co-coach Mark Richards said his team is having a great season so far. Mid-way through the season the Golden Eagles have won 6 and lost just 2. Richard said the team’s strength is their speed and defense and he is currently having the players focus on their fast breaks. High scorers for Sydenham on Thursday were Emily Bennett, who scored 12 and Katie McNichols who scored 8. Richards says he hopes the team improves every game and is working hard to get the Golden Eagles ready for the playoffs.

Photo: Mr. Hulls grade 7/8 class and their gargoyle creations at LOLPS

No one was more surprised by the enthusiasm students had for a recent art project than their teacher, Mr. Lee Hull, who introduced a 3D gargoyle project to students in his grade 7/8 class at Land O' Lakes PS in Mountain Grove. “Two-dimensional art projects are common but I wanted to challenge students with a 3D project that focused more on sculpture than flat 2D design,” he said.

The gargoyle project had students researching these ancient architectural ornaments that first appeared in ancient Greece and Rome and later were common in Gothic architecture all over Europe. Who knew that these grotesque creatures, often hybrids of mythical, god-like and phantasmagorical creatures, also served a functional purpose; for example, as spouts to drain water away from rooftops?

Students spent two and half weeks on the project, first researching the topic, then designing on paper their own gargoyles, which they then set about modeling of clay around a Styrofoam insert mounted on a wooden dowel. “One of their goals was to make sure that their gargoyle was visually interesting from every angle, and to do so, they were encouraged to explore a number of clay techniques including bas relief and other textural surface applications,” Hull said. Like all great art projects, the resulting gargoyles are as individual as the students who created them. There were hybrids of pigs, elephants, birds, dragons, fish, foxes with intricate defining features that included tusks, horns, fins, wings, woven beards, buck teeth, antennae, tentacles, chains, plus a huge variety of horrid noses, mouths, ears and eyes, each caught in various expressions of ghoulish grotesqueness.

The students loved the project and not only learned how to create a three-dimensional work of art from modeling clay, but also about the history of these fascinating architectural ornaments. “While the project is an art project, we were also able to tie language and history into the mix,” Mr. Hull said. He has plans to further the project and will invite each student to write a fable about their creature later in the term. The 26 completed works have been mounted and are currently on display in the school library, just in time for Halloween for students, staff and visitors to the school to marvel at.

For Mr. Hull the project was hugely successful and one that he is sure that his students will remember and learn from. “For a teacher the fun happens in the classroom when students outdo your expectations. Instead of falling back on existing fads and trends, the students came up with their own original ideas and, in doing so, gained confidence in their own abilities. And when this kind of thing happens in the classroom, that is the best part of teaching.”

Photo: Students on the high ropes course

“Leadership camp is a place where preconceived ideas about leadership and other barriers are broken down”, said Sydenham High School teacher and leadership camp staff supervisor, Kim Kippen.

Along with co-staff supervisor, Don Lalonde, Kippen oversaw a two-day camp for 70 Sydenham High School students on Oct. 18 and 19 at Camp IAWAH, located off the Westport Road, east of Godfrey.

The leadership camp, which has been running for years at Sydenham HS, aims to impart leadership skills to students from all areas of the school by offering concrete examples of leadership through a series of hands-on activities and discussions. Groups of students from grades 9 through 11 were invited by teachers to attend the camp.

The camp is led by four teacher-nominated grade 12 students. The four leaders were Calista Vogelzang, Cia Myles-Gonzalez, David Amos and Shayna Joron, and they were supported by additional grade 12 students who supervised the various activities.

This year’s camp theme, initiated by the four camp leaders, was titled “The Next Step” and it was designed for the students to explore and experience the defining qualities of leadership: initiative, perspective, setting goals, teamwork, overcoming obstacles, setting examples, and self-improvement. The ideas were discussed and also demonstrated through a series of activities that each student had a chance to participate in.

For the segment on perseverance and overcoming obstacles, students completed a relay obstacle course where a pair of students was tied together by one hand, and had no choice but to use their communication skills in order to successfully complete the course. Following the obstacle course students discussed what kind of communications worked well and what did not.

On the high ropes course, students faced a number of daunting aerial challenges that had them working in teams suspended on ropes high above the tree tops. Student organizer, David Amos, said he felt that the participating students benefited greatly from the camp. “One important idea they learn is that they are able to set goals for themselves and they also take what they have learned here back into the community.”

Shayna Joron agreed. “These skills can really help them to prepare to face challenges in their own lives.” “And they come to realize that anyone has the ability to become a good leader, even the quiet students,” Calista Vogelzang added.

Sydenham High School teacher, Beth Barz, who coaches with the Queen’s University women’s rugby team, the national rugby program and also at Sydenham High, was invited as the guest speaker. She shared some of the wisdom she has accumulated while attending a workshop for female coaches of national teams, particularly what coach Melody Davidson of the Canadian women’s hockey team imparted to her.

“I spoke to them about how Melody brought the team to victory, first with thorough planning and also by reviewing their performances.”

Beth Barz feels that the camp gives students something they might not otherwise get during regular school hours.

“Anytime students can get out of the school setting they are able to think a little bit differently. They are able to challenge themselves in different ways and this gives them a sense of autonomy over how and what they learn. We are recognizing more and more that students need that autonomy, which sometimes, academically they do not always get.”

Kim Kippen agreed.

“It's an incredible opportunity for students who may have never had this kind of experience before to reevaluate their own preconceived ideas of leadership and what it means. Each student tends to build on what they already know so while each student’s experience at the camp is different, it always tends to be a very positive and memorable one.”

Student organizer David Amos had the final word and mentioned that what likely makes students so eager to participate is that “the whole camp revolves around demonstrating leadership ideas in a really fun environment, which I believe is what makes the camp so successful.”