News Clippings April 30-May 7, 2013
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Disadvantaged kids are being short-changed in Toronto schools: Editorial Page 1 of 2
Opinion / Editorials Disadvantaged kids are being short-changed in Toronto schools: Editorial A new report shows the Toronto District School Board is diverting millions from a program to help poor kids. But the real villain here is Ontario’s provincial government.
COLIN MCCONNELL / TORONTO STAR A Social Planning Toronto report shows poor kids are being short-changed in Toronto public schools.
Published on Tue May 07 2013
Money for disadvantaged kids is being raided by Toronto public schools to balance their books — but that isn’t the worst scandal. Even more outrageous is that this is considered business as usual in Ontario’s education sector.
It’s been going on for years. There’s nothing illegal about it. Indeed, Ministry of Education officials help make it happen through the loose way they structure assistance for students facing “demographic” barriers, especially poverty.
A new report by Social Planning Toronto shows about two-thirds of a $128-million fund meant to help students overcome demographic hurdles is instead being channeled into general expenditures by the Toronto District School Board. By this measure, about $40 million is actually used to help kids in need. School board officials challenged that Monday, arguing that poor kids directly get most of the money, with only (only!) $40 million shifted to general expenditures.
Either way, this arrangement is a win-win situation for both the school board and Queen’s Park. Ontario’s Liberal government gets an opportunity to highlight how much it’s spending to combat poverty. Meanwhile the school board receives millions more for what it really needs — help with keeping the lights on and the doors open.
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The only losers are poor kids. But they’re easy targets. When deprived of millions in publicly promised funding they don’t complain with a very loud voice.
Of course, it could be argued that underprivileged kids aren’t really losing anything at all. Keeping school doors open helps them, too. And maybe their partial share of this particular allocation is all they deserve. Perhaps these millions were always meant by the province — with a nudge and a wink — to be available for other uses.
Balancing Toronto school board books was never easy, but it’s harder than ever now with pressure from all-day kindergarten, declining student enrollment and chronic underfunding. To cope with these demands the system needs some built-in flexibility. And the provincial allocation helping poor kids could supply a handy pool of funds for that purpose.
Officials at the education ministry don’t speak so bluntly. Instead they insist this money has been intentionally structured to give school boards “a certain level of independence.” After all, priorities vary across the province. “We want boards to be creative in the way they meet their local needs.”
The essential point here is that school boards are allowed to be “creative” with money for underprivileged students and not with funding for other, presumably more essential, services. (With unintended irony, provincial bureaucrats describe program funds that can’t be diverted as “sweatered.” So even official jargon implies that poor kids are left out in the cold.)
If Queen’s Park, in its wisdom, actually allocated $128 million to Toronto’s disadvantaged students it’s a travesty that poor kids were denied the full benefit of this funding. If they were, in fact, supposed to receive only a portion of that money then the government has misrepresented its priorities and broken faith with anti-poverty activists and taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill.
Clarity is needed. If all funding for poor kids is truly a provincial priority, then “sweater” it so local boards can’t make off with the money. On the other hand, if some of this cash is really to bail out boards, then the government should say so and quit pretending otherwise.
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Six young women receive scholarships Jason Spencer May 7, 2013
MISSISSAUGA — The Mississauga branch of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) presented scholarships to six female students during the organization's annual dinner last night at the Mississaugua Golf and Country Club. The non-profit organization that helps young women pursue their studies awarded $2,000 scholarships to four high school students and two post-secondary students. Claudia Dessanti of St. Francis Xavier Secondary School, Polina Myrox from Gordon Graydon, Daniela Monachino from Philip Pocock Scholarship recipients. From left, Daniela Monachino, Allanah and Allanah Shah from John Fraser were the Shah and Maha Munawar were honoured as scholarship recipients high school recipients while Humber College by the Mississauga branch of the Canadian Federation of University student Josephine Gitonga and Maha Munawar Women. Staff photo by Jason Spencer from the University of Toronto Mississauga were also recognized. The winners were selected based on academic achievement along with involvement in extracurricular activities and volunteer work, said Linda Bowman, chair of the CFUW Mississauga's scholarship foundation. The CFUW has been operating across Canada since 1919 and has close to 9,000 members. The Mississauga branch of the organization is now in its 60th year, Shah was thankful to receive the funds, which helped her complete her first year in the midwifery program at McMaster University in Hamilton. "The scholarship has really helped with my tuition and made the attainment of my education a lot smoother and easier," said Shah, 19. "Without (the money) it would have been a huge struggle to pay that tuition. "It's just been an incredible honour to be recognized by such an amazing group of women." The event also included a keynote address by York University Professor Peter Love entitled: "Climate Change, Conservation: Its benefits and its challenges."
This article is for personal use only courtesy of Mississauga.com - a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd.
http://www.mississauga.com/print/1614111 5/7/2013 Education minister says she will always defend Ontario's Catholic schools Page 1 of 2
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Education minister says she will always defend Ontario's Catholic Search schools
Recommend E-mail0 CO Sunday, 05 May 2013 08:11
TORONTO - If the Ontario Liberal government falls over its provincial budget, Education Minister Liz Sandals "will be back on the street knocking on doors and defending the Catholic education system again," she told an audience of about 200 Catholic school trustees.
Sandals was the guest speaker at the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association 83rd annual general meeting and conference May 3.
Sandals described her defence of the Catholic education system during the 2007 provincial election where the Green Party in her riding of Guelph was touting the merits of one education system.
"Catholic boards have committed themselves wholeheartedly to improving student achievement and have been a key partner in the success of Ontario's education system," she said, adding that achieving the government's education priorities are dependent on the "most fragile things: a relationship, a partnership, a willingness for people to co-operate."
"The spirit of collaboration is alive and well again at the ministry of education and in our government," Sandals, a former public school trustee and president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association, told the audience. Find us on Facebook "I recognize that the board involvement in the last round of the provincial discussion table was not what you wanted," she said, referring to the unilaterally imposed memorandum of understanding The Catholic Register signed last year regarding the Putting Students First Act which will require Catholic boards to operate Like by more restrictive policies than the province's public boards.
"That's why we are having a discussion about a new legislative model for collective bargaining. We need 1,472 people like The Catholic Register. a structure that includes the board as the employer, the government as the funder and unions representing the worker. We need to find a structure that is legally binding on all of us and I get that."
She said the provincial government will be having a more formal consultation later in the spring to
figure out what that new model will look like. Facebook social plugin
Marino Gazzola, president of the OCSTA, was pleased to hear these sentiments. Stay Connected "I think her commitment moving forward that we will be involved speaks volumes," he said. "It lets us FACEBOOK TWITTER E- know that things are changing and that things are going to be different. We appreciate that." NEWSLETTER RSS For Phillip Squire, chair of the London District Catholic School Board, he was seeking assurance from the minister that "respect for trustees will include the recognition of the role of trustees as elected officials and the appropriate and proper employer of teachers and our support staff." Sandals responded by affirming the need for a legislative model where it is clear what everybody's role is.
She also spoke about the groups for whom the government knows they need to do more to address their needs, including aboriginal students and crown wards.
"We're now working with every single school board in the province on self-identification of First Nations and Métis students because if you can't figure out who the First Nations and Métis students are, we can't figure out how they're doing," she said, adding that the government will soon be revealing baseline data on First Nations and Métis achievement in schools.
Sandals also mentioned that overall graduation rates have increased 15 per cent since the ministry began tracking the statistics in the 2003-04 school year.
"That means over 115,000 students graduated who would not otherwise have graduated," she said, applauding the work of Catholic schools in helping to achieve this.
(Santilli is a freelance writer in Toronto.)
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Developing entire person key to success Search
Recommend E-mail0 CO Sunday, 05 May 2013 15:13
Developing the entire person is what keeps Catholic education so successful in Ontario, Marino Gazzola believes.
Although each of the province’s 29 Catholic school boards are unique in their own respect, Gazzola said that a dedication to fully developing students beyond the academic curriculum is the common thread of success.
“We always look at educating and developing the entire person, the mind, the body and the spirit,” said the president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association.
“That’s an integral part of our system and it’s very important.”
Along with a continuous commitment to inclusiveness among students, including those with special needs, an essential component to this philosophy is the blending of lessons learned at school, home and church.
“It’s a huge part of what we do, how we do it and what we believe in,” said Gazzola. “Those three factors put together are a major reason why our schools are so successful in the end.”
The evidence of this success can be found in the research of the country’s think-tanks, such as the business-oriented C.D. Howe Institute. In 2012 the institute noted that two-thirds of Ontario’s top public schools were Catholic. Find us on Facebook But Gazzola said the real measure of success is the students’ commitment to the Catholic graduate expectations as they leave the system. These seven expectations include being a discerning believer, a The Catholic Register responsible citizen and a caring family member — values reflective of Gospel teachings. Like
Glenn Sheculski, director of education for the Northeastern District Catholic School Board, agreed with 1,472 people like The Catholic Register. Gazzola that this is where the true success of the system is found.
“It’s that faith that underpins us,” Sheculski said. “Often times people say you don’t see it in students when they are in school but you see it when they go out into the world as adults.”
Sheculski admitted that none of his board’s schools were included within the two-thirds named by C.D. Facebook social plugin Howe in 2012. Still, he feels the type of students his board and all other Catholic boards are producing is worth talking about. Stay Connected
“It’s not about academics all of the time, it’s about becoming a better person,” he said. “I don’t think FACEBOOK TWITTER E- we need to be boastful but I think we need to state the good job that we’re doing. We need to be aware NEWSLETTER RSS of our successful practices and the fact that we are turning out responsible citizens that are grounded in their faith.”
In his Easter letter this year, Sheculski made note of the contributions to society Catholic students make post-graduation.
“Our communities are enhanced by the students who graduate from your local Catholic schools demonstrating the Gospel values that are integrated into every aspect of the curriculum,” he wrote. “Ontario’s Catholic schools promote caring communities, the dignity of all persons and social justice. These schools are as well known for their tradition of academic excellence as they are for their primary focus on the care and support of the most vulnerable in our society.”
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http://www.catholicregister.org/features/catholic-education-week/item/16276-developing-en... 5/6/2013 BramptonGuardian Page 1 of 1
Students explore employment options
May 5, 2013
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board recently hosted its 9th Annual Mission Employable student conference. The one-day conference, held at Brampton’s Embassy Grand Convention Centre, is organized specifically for Grade 12 students planning to enter the world of work right after high school. The event is designed to assist students with their transition from school to the workplace by providing them with employment advice to support them during their job search. More than 350 students participated in the event. Jason Colero, Director of Education Programs and Argos Foundation with the Toronto Argonauts Football Club was the opening Employment opportunities. Yolanda Gampp, from Cakes by keynote speaker. He spoke to students about Yolanda, speaks to students about careers in the food service following their passion when choosing a career industry at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board's 9th Annual Mission Employable conference, held at the Embassy Grand path. Convention Centre on May 2. Photo by Bryon Johnson Orlando Bowen, Executive Director of One Voice, One Team, and a former Toronto Argonaut player from Brampton, was the closing speaker. Students were also able to attend two of eight workshops, where they could learn about different employment opportunities.
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http://www.bramptonguardian.com/print/1613688 5/6/2013 Mississauga Page 1 of 1
Kids to be ticketed for doing good deeds By Pam Douglas/Torstar Network May 3, 2013
BRAMPTON — Mississauga kids spotted by Peel Regional Police doing a good deed this summer will get a ticket — for a free frosted drink. Operation Freeze is a partnership between Peel Regional Police and Mac’s Convenience Stores that encourages kids to learn that doing the right thing is “cool,” police say. The tickets handed out this summer to students in Mississauga and Brampton spotted committing random acts of kindness or exhibiting “positive” behaviour are actually coupons valid for a free 710-millilitre Froster beverage at all participating Mac’s Convenience stores across Ontario. It’s called “positive ticketing” and it also encourages positive interaction between youth Freeze!. Grade 7 students from Good Shepherd Catholic School in and officers. Some police officers may use the Brampton helped launch Project Freeze yesterday afternoon. Here, coupons to recognize youth for wearing bicycle Const. Sam Santos and Const. Cameel Chambers hand out free drinks to students Alessandro Chiusano and Daniel Sioldea. Bryon helmets, doing good deeds, participating in Johnson/Torstar Network community activities, picking up garbage, deterring crime or following school crossing rules, while others may use them as “icebreakers” to start conversations with youth in their patrol areas. The program has been around since 2007, and more than 800,000 Operation Freeze and Operation Heat coupons have been issued by police officers across Ontario. With the help of area school children, the campaign was launched yesterday at a Mac’s Convenience in Brampton. “Mac’s Convenience Stores are excited to once again partner with the Peel Regional Police on an initiative that empowers our youth to make a positive difference in the community,” said Sean Sportun, ICPS manager of loss prevention and security for Mac’s in central Canada. “We have made crime prevention an integral part of our corporate responsibility, demonstrating our continued commitment to the overall safety of the community. Operation Freeze is a perfect fit with our vision.”
This article is for personal use only courtesy of Mississauga.com - a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd.
http://www.mississauga.com/print/1613044 5/7/2013 Mississauga Page 1 of 1
St. Rose of Lima students meet MP Marceleen Ehrig May 3, 2013
OTTAWA — During a recent school field trip to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, students of St. Rose of Lima Elementary School in Mississauga got the chance to meet with Mississauga-Erindale MP Bob Dechert, who’s also Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. As a part of their learning experience at St. Rose of Lima, they are required to travel to Parliament to learn about democracy and Canadian government. On the hill. Students from Mississauga's St. Rose of Lima "I was pleased to meet with the students, their Elementary School met with Mississauga-Erindale MP Bob Dechert teachers and principal,” said Dechert. "As a site during a school field trip to Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Supplied photo of architectural beauty, historical significance and federal decision-making, the visit to the Hill is certain to be a memorable experience …"
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http://www.mississauga.com/print/1613360 5/7/2013 Mississauga Page 1 of 1
Prom proposal highlights soccer double header Iain Colpitts May 3, 2013
MISSISSAUGA — Most Loyola Warriors soccer players will remember tonight's inaugural Friday Night Lights doubleheader as a good send-off before they graduate next month. There were players who will likely remember the goals they scored or the crowd support they received on home turf. Christina Caldi of the senior girls' team has a completely different reason to call the evening memorable. She was shocked to see good friend Jesse Jamieson stage an elaborate prom proposal on the field at halftime. "I couldn't stop smiling after that," Caldi said. "I'm not usually in the spotlight like that, so I She said yes. It was Friday night under the lights as Loyola hosted was really surprised, but happy. My face was Gonzaga in a ROPSSAA soccer double-header featuring boys' and red because I was just so shocked … Best prom girls' games. During halftime, one of the players, Loyola's Christina proposal for sure." Caldi, #12, is asked to the prom by Jesse Jamieson, with a little help With the Warriors running off the field tied 1-1 from his friends. Staff photo by Rob Beintema against the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Bulldogs, Jamieson ran onto the field with friends holding up bristol boards with the letters P-R-O-M. He then took off his shirt to reveal a question mark. Jamieson said the question came completely out of the blue. "She asked me if I was going to Friday Night Lights and the rest kind of came together from there," he said. "I also had some help from my little sister (with the bristol board)." Afterwards, Caldi refocused on the game to help her team to a 3-1 victory. Loyola's Anna Zadro led the way with two goals while Rebekah Kairy also scored. Stephanie Moote tallied the lone goal for Gonzaga. With the win, Loyola sits atop the Region of Peel Secondary School Athletic Association South Division standings with a 3-1-2 record. The Warriors hold a one-point lead over the Iona Dolphins. Before the match, Loyola's senior boys' team controlled the game from start to finish en route to a 5-0 win over the Bulldogs. Raheem Edwards scored three goals while Krzysztof Moskwa and Lee-Victor Massunda added singles. Edwards was thrilled to have such a strong performance in a meaningful game. "This is the first Friday Night Lights game, so I was pretty excited about it," he said. "We've had loyal fans here and thanks to them because they keep us going. The music, the fans, everything had a good feel to it." The Warriors improved to 4-1-1 and are second in the Southwest Division, two points behind the St. Joan of Arc Angels.
This article is for personal use only courtesy of Mississauga.com - a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd.
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Trustees seek to reignite debate over Catholic school funding | Your online community newspaper for Hamilton, Ontario and area http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news/trustees-seek-to-reignite-debate-over-catholic-school-funding/ May 2, 2013
By Richard Leitner, News Staff
Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board trustees are once again urging Queen’s Park to cut off public funding to the Catholic school system.
Dundas trustee Jessica Brennan, who pushed for the move, said she believes Ontario’s fiscal straits make it a good time to follow the lead of Quebec, which stopped funding Catholic and Protestant boards in 1999.
Funding there is now provided to secular French and English boards, and New Brunswick and Newfoundland have also stopped funding Catholic and other religion- based boards, she said.
Creating one publicly funded system in English and French will save “millions of dollars” in administration and building costs, she said in a resolution that will go to area MPPs and the Ontario Public School Board Association’s annual meeting in June for debate.
Trustees passed a similar resolution six years ago and voted 8-3 on Monday in favour of reaffirming their position.
“I think this is a courageous conversation that first of all that we as trustees in a publicly funded public education system must have with each other,” Brennan said, suggesting the upcoming OPSBA meeting is an ideal forum.
“We would then have the opportunity to start moving this conversation throughout the province and to our co-terminus boards.”
But Mountain trustee Laura Peddle said although she agrees with the goal of the resolution, she doubts “what might be seen as a bullish move” will accomplish it.
She said Newfoundland only changed its education system when it faced a “perfect storm” that included the collapse of the fisheries and public controversies in the Catholic Church.
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“They were forced to change, so I think things happen and they happen at the right time” said Peddle, who was joined by Lillian Orban and Ray Mulholland in voting against the resolution.
“The other side will view this as an attack. It won’t go over well and it’s not going to be the way to get to a system that, in the end, I think will probably be better.”
But Stoney Creek trustee Robert Barlow, author of a similar 2007 resolution, said without change public and Catholic boards will be unwilling to close under-capacity schools for fear of losing their “market share.”
Most Ontarians have shown they favour a single system through polls and election results, he said, citing former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory’s disastrous 2007 bid to extend funding to other religious denominations.
“It’s up to us to keep talking about it,” Barlow said, noting public systems can still accommodate religious instruction, as in Alberta. “We’re not saying that this is the end of Catholic education.”
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Halton schools doing a lot with less funding Dominik Kurek, OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF May 2, 2013
The two English-language Halton school boards receive less funding per student than the provincial average, yet local students have some of the highest test results, Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn defends.
The provincial Ministry of Education is projecting its 2013/14 school year grants for student needs (GSN) to average approximately $11,200 per student across the province. In Halton, the public board will receive approximately $9,879 per student and the Catholic board will receive approximately $10,192 per student, both well below the provincial average.
Despite this lower funding, Flynn said parents should be proud of the education available to Halton schools doing a lot with less funding. Oakville MPP Kevin their children in the community. Flynn KEN KERR PIC
“Is this a good thing or a bad thing?” he asked. “When you look at our system province-wide, it’s ranked as the best in the English-speaking world; then you look at that system itself and you realize that our two school boards here in Halton consistently rank in the top five, usually first, second or third.”
During the annual provincial Grade 3, 6 and 9 Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) testing, Halton schools have among the highest percentages of students who achieve provincial standards.
“If our boards were down near the bottom of the rankings and we were spending the same amount of money as we were in other boards, I’d be extremely concerned about that. It seems to me, what we’re doing here, both school boards are handling the funds from the province in a very responsible way and they’re making an efficient use of taxpayer dollars,” Flynn said.
According to the Ministry of Education, school boards receive GSN funding based on a number of criteria.
One criterion is per-pupil allocation, which is an amount consistent for all boards in the province. The per-pupil grant amount differs per grade level. This pays for basic education resources such as teachers, classroom supplies, textbooks, computers and more.
Another set of criteria is special purpose grants and this is where differences in GSN funding come in. This pays for such grants as special education, language, First Nations, Métis and Inuit education supplement, geographic circumstances, learning opportunities, safe schools supplement, continuing education and other programs, student transportation, cost adjustment and teacher qualifications and experience grant and much more. These are based on enrolment and other criteria, such as needs. For example, the Learning Opportunities Grant provides support to children based on demographic census information.
“Depending where a board may be with respect to some of those criteria, that may increase or decrease the amount of the Special Purpose Grant,” explained Halton District School Board superintendent of business services, Lucy Veerman.
School boards in rural and remote areas of the province have higher costs because of their increased transportation costs, as they provide education to students on a much wider land area. As an example, Northeastern Catholic receives $16,557 per student.
http://www.insidehalton.com/print/1612573 5/3/2013 InsideHalton Page 2 of 2
Then there is the other end of the spectrum, Flynn said. Places such as Toronto where the public and Catholic boards are receiving $11,339 and $11,258 respectively, there are urban issues and problems that require the schools to have special programs to deal with those problems.
As an example, he said, Toronto has low-income areas where schools run special programming to deal with certain issues, so those schools may receive more funding through the Learning Opportunities Grant.
“It’s not just about transportation. It’s not just about special programming. It’s any number of things that we engage ourselves in when we look at for funding in order to provide those specific children in those specific areas with the best possible education,” Flynn said.
“You don’t want to spend money just for the heck of it. You want to spend money where it’s needed. Tax dollars are very scarce these days and you want to make the best use of it.”
Speaking of scarce tax dollars, Veerman said the Halton board and any board could use more funding.
“There’s always a need,” she said. “If there was funding, there would always be additional resources that we would be able to provide to the students.”
Halton’s neighbouring board are expected to receive similar amounts of funding next school year to the local boards. Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic will receive $10,700 per student and Hamilton-Wentworth public will get $10,599. Peel public will get $10,220 per student and Dufferin-Peel Catholic will receive $10,487.
This article is for personal use only courtesy of InsideHalton.com - a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd.
http://www.insidehalton.com/print/1612573 5/3/2013 BramptonGuardian Page 1 of 1
Kids to be ticketed for doing good deeds By PAM DOUGLAS May 2, 2013
Brampton kids spotted by Peel Regional Police doing a good deed this summer will get a ticket— for a free frosted drink! Operation Freeze is a partnership between Peel Regional Police and Mac’s Convenience Stores that encourages kids to learn the doing the right thing is “cool”, police say. The tickets handed out this summer to students in Brampton and Mississauga spotted committing random acts of kindness or exhibiting “positive” behaviour are actually coupons valid for a free 710 ml Froster beverage at all participating Mac’s Convenience stores across Ontario. It’s called “positive ticketing” and it also encourages positive interaction between youth Freeze!. Grade 7 students from Good Shepherd Catholic School in and officers. Some police officers may use the Brampton helped launch Project Freeze at the Mac's Convenience coupons to recognize youth for wearing bicycle store on Steeplebush Avenue in Brampton this afternoon. Here, Const. Sam Santos, from the Peel Regional Police 21 Division helmets, doing good deeds, participating in Neighbourhood Policing Unit/Bike Unit, and Crime Prevention Unit community activities, picking up garbage, Const. Cameel Chambers hand out their first free drinks to students deterring crime or following school crossing Alessandro Chiusano and Daniel Sioldea. Photo by Bryon Johnson rules, while others may use them as “icebreakers” to start conversations with youth in their patrol areas. The program has been around since 2007, and more than 800,000 Operation Freeze and Operation Heat coupons have been issued by police officers across Ontario. The campaign was launched this afternoon at Mac’s Convenience on Steeplebush Avenue in Brampton, with the help of area school children. “Mac’s Convenience Stores are excited to once again partner with the Peel Regional Police on an initiative that empowers our youth to make a positive difference in the community,” said Sean Sportun, ICPS— manager, loss prevention and security for Mac’s in central Canada in a news release. “We have made crime prevention an integral part of our corporate responsibility; demonstrating our continued commitment to the overall safety of the community – Operation Freeze is a perfect fit with our vision.”
This article is for personal use only courtesy of BramptonGuardian.com - a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd.
http://www.bramptonguardian.com/print/1612850 5/3/2013 Grant helps students raise awareness about dangers of tanning beds Page 1 of 2
Life / Cancer Resource | Life | Toronto Star Grant helps students raise awareness about dangers of tanning beds
Tanning beds are widely used by teens in advance of school graduations.
By:Jaclyn TersigniSpecial to the Star, Published on Wed May 01 2013
“Orange is a snack, not a skin colour.”
That’s the slogan of a tan-free graduation campaign at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School in Mississauga. The goal of the student-run initiative is to raise awareness about the dangers of indoor tanning and encourage young people to pledge to avoid tanning salons this graduation season.
The campaign is the brainchild of the Canadian Cancer Society, part of its larger efforts to restrict indoor tanning for youth under 18.
“Indoor tanning salons actually increase the exposure of the sun by five times,” says Julia Hanley, an 18-year-old Canadian Cancer Society volunteer and tanning safety advocate. “Even though you’re only in there for two minutes or five minutes, if you do the math, it’s just as bad as going out in the sun and lying there for two or three hours with no sunscreen on.”
Hanley is a graduate of St. Aloysius Gonzaga; the tan-free campaign at the school is her legacy. She introduced the idea last year and now that she is a University of Guelph student, her friends at the high school have taken up the cause.
“I did know a lot of girls who tanned in high school … close friends of mine,” says Hanley. “My mom and I never did, we knew the risks from being so involved with the Canadian Cancer Society.”
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Those risks are serious, especially for young people. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is one of the most common cancers for young people between the ages of 15 and 29, and using indoor tanning equipment before the age of 35 increases the risk of melanoma.
The Canadian Cancer Society launched a toolkit this year to help formalize activities for high schools. Students who were interested in heading up a campaign at their high school — 21 Ontario schools participated in 2012 — had the opportunity to apply for a $300 grant to help develop and deliver activities on the topic of indoor tanning.
Hanley’s involvement with indoor tanning advocacy extends beyond the work at her former high school. In April 2012, she went to Queen’s Park with other volunteers to help present a bill that would ban children under 18 from using tanning beds in Ontario. Health minister Deb Matthews introduced the bill in March 2013; it’s currently awaiting passage.
Similar legislation has been passed in other areas of the country. Tanning bans for youth are in effect in Nova Scotia and Quebec. Hanley’s mother, Mary Jane, helped get a tanning ban passed in the region of Peel in August 2012. It became the first municipality in Ontario to approve such a bylaw.
“It’s an incredible cause,” says Mary Jane. “Skin is your largest organ. People forget that.”
Hanley is still actively involved with the Canadian Cancer Society. She was recently honoured with the Gertrude & LeRoy Rellinger Youth Volunteer Scholarship for her work. And despite being busy juggling the pressures of academia, she worked at the Canadian Cancer Society office in Guelph while attending classes. She finished her first year with straight As in April and credits her volunteer work for inspiring her study path.
“I’m taking a bachelor of applied science, which deals with health care and healthy living. It all ties in with what I do with the Canadian Cancer Society,” Hanley says.
“Volunteering definitely inspired me to go into the healthcare field in school. It’s helped me realize how important health is in the prevention of cancer.”
http://www.thestar.com/life/cancerresource/2013/05/01/grant_helps_students_raise_awaren... 5/1/2013 BramptonGuardian Page 1 of 1
Ford fundraiser offering test drives
May 1, 2013
Brampton auto deal Planet Ford and St. Marguerite d’Youville Secondary School are gearing up for a fundraising drive. Planet Ford is bringing the Ford Motor Company of Canada’s Drive 4 UR School program to the Brampton high Saturday in an effort to raise up to $6,000 for St. Marguerite d’Youville’s robotics team. For every person who test-drives a Ford vehicle at the school Saturday, Planet Ford and Ford of Canada will donate $20 to the school’s robotics team. “We’re excited to partner with St. Marguerite d’Youville to help raise funds for their robotics team to help them participate in an annual worldwide robotics program,” said Andre Marchese, General Manager at Planet Ford. Fundraising drive. Brampton auto deal Planet Ford and St. “Not only is the Drive program a chance to Marguerite d’Youville Secondary School are gearing up for a support extracurricular activities and give back fundraising drive. For every person who test-drives a Ford vehicle at to the community, but it allows us the the school Saturday, Planet Ford and Ford of Canada will donate $20 opportunity to showcase Ford of Canada’s high- to the school’s Robotic Team. quality line-up and innovative safety technologies to parents, teenagers and other drivers.” The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Marguerite d’Youville Secondary School, 10815 Dixie Road, north of Sandalwood Parkway. Cars on-site for test drive will include the 2013 Focus, Fusion, Escape and Edge. To participate, just visit the school between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Participants must be 18 or older and have a valid driver’s license. There is a limit of one test-drive per household.
This article is for personal use only courtesy of BramptonGuardian.com - a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd.
http://www.bramptonguardian.com/print/1612144 5/1/2013 Education to fill “skills gap” is risky, parents say - The Globe and Mail Page 1 of 4
GLOBE & MAIL PARENT COUNCIL Education to fill “skills gap” is risky, parents say
Staff The Globe and Mail PublishedTuesday, Apr. 30 2013, 7:00 AM EDT Last updatedTuesday, Apr. 30 2013, 7:00 AM EDT
Employers say they can’t find workers for the jobs they do have, while our unemployment rate is not returning to pre-recessionary levels. We were curious about whether parents are paying attention to the debate on the “skills gap” and advising their children to think about the skilled trades or science careers. So we asked the Globe and Mail’s Parent Council to tell us about their family’s education conversations. These are some of their comments:
Follow your passion
I have a 10-year-old who thinks about her future a lot, and it’s something we chat about as a family as she explores her interests and ponders what’s she’s going to be when she grows up.
I have a degree in English, and my husband has a degree in Philosophy. We run our own successful web development and marketing agency, and work with education and social innovation-based start-ups as mentors and advisors. I completely believe that our postsecondary “training” has been instrumental in our success – particularly in developing our faculties in critical thinking and the strong written and verbal communication skills that are absolutely critical in our line of work.
Learning digital skills (coding, programming, design) has come as we have needed to adapt to the changing workplace, but everything we “practised” in our postsecondary education comes into play every single day. Had I gone and done a technical degree in 1995, I would have had to upgrade my skills as time progressed, but I would have missed out on the opportunity to combine the study of my areas of interest and passion (literature, writing, creating).
The best example we can set for our daughter is to show her that we are happy and satisfied in our line of work. She sees that we work hard, but she sees that enthusiasm for our work infuses all of the things we do as a family as well. She knows that we chose our university majors based on interest and passion, and she also knows that we spend a lot of time learning and re-learning and working hard to stay relevant in our business. She is particularly keen on music and books and writing right now. Would I ever steer her into something more vocational if she expressed a desire to continue her studies in these areas?
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Not a chance. – Aerin Guy, Toronto
Parents set expectations
I would be interested in finding out what kinds of discussions and modelling of careers are discussed in households. This may open a can of worms, but different families will have different expectations for their kids.
I have heard parents express their key goal is for their son or daughter to graduate high school. Full stop. This is their best hope. No thought to what might come after, to the expectation that a career can be “fulfilling.” The expectation is “a job.”
Others have decided that one child will be an engineer and the other a physician ... and this is as they enter into grade 9. The children seem to have no say in this, and there seems to be little vision for other options.
I would expect that a stratification of expectations is maintained by socioeconomic and education level of parents. Parents with postsecondary will likely expect that and model that for their kids. Kids in Toronto who do not even know there is a lake nearby, are not likely to be thinking of becoming a welder and going to Alberta or down east to the ship building projects.
Do immigrant families (parents from elsewhere, children from here) see their kids moving “away” from where the family is currently settled for a career? Many students I have talked to indicate they are only allowed to go to local universities. Otherwise the family will have to move as a whole to the city where the university is located.
Our futures are only as open as the horizons that have been shown to us.
I expect that few students actually have horizons that are open to skill deficit planning. – Steve Masson, Toronto
Jobs aren’t everything
I am a mother of two and a high-school teacher (who can’t find work). What I tell my children (and my students) is that the job market is constantly changing, and whatever you do must be something you feel good about doing, and that you feel you are good at. What I feel is important is that all skill sets be recognized as essential and that every path must be walked with dignity. This may seem a bit off topic, but it isn’t.
When I was a high-school student, my guidance counselor told me to go to university because I was smart enough, and it would get me a good job. (She lied, btw. Took me three tries to get a degree that did anything other than make me more interesting.) Kids who were not perceived as “smart enough” for university could still make something of themselves if they went to college or trade school. I am now embarking on my 6th year as a licensed teacher, and the best I can do is
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to sub at the same school for a full week. I’ve had a couple of terms, but nobody has offered me a full time job because there aren’t any. Kids I went to school with who got business diplomas or journeyman’s papers all have full time jobs, that they qualified for while I was still an undergrad.
That said, I would not go back and do trade school instead of university. I won’t push my children in either direction. Academics are also dignified. There are careers that require the kind of thinking that is fostered in a university atmosphere. I imagine that an immigration officer (for example) would have better public relations with his/ her clients if that officer had studied human geography or cultural anthropology.
I think kids need to be taught the importance of balancing financial stability/ security with personal satisfaction and contentment, and then let loose. By the time my children are old enough to enter a profession, the “skills gap” may have closed or shifted. – Heather Forgie, Winnipeg, MB
Combine school, learning
There are also many initiatives in different boards to attempt to address this “skills gap” as many high schools now offer specialized programs, internships, apprenticeships and special trades-based diplomas.
There are also other initiatives that are beginning much earlier than high school such as the Essential Skills curriculum which is slowly rolling out of the TDSB. This curriculum –which is to be embedded in already existing curriculum not added on – focuses on highlighting “transferable” or essential skills which can be used in any pathway a student may take. While this is not a board-wide initiative yet, it is an example of how this idea of the “skills gap” is being tackled on the front lines. – C.D. Borges, Toronto
Wages, not skills at issue
I write this as a parent who has to worry about advising his own child, and as a teacher who has the responsibility of advising the children of others.
The recent Harper government announcement about the new $15,000 skilled trades allowance has many tongues wagging here in Nova Scotia. However, I believe a word of caution may be warranted.
I have recently heard it said locally that we don’t necessarily suffer from a shortage of skilled trades workers, but rather that we suffer from a shortage of skilled trades workers who are willing to stay in Nova Scotia and work for half the money they can make in Alberta.
The skilled trades have certainly been in the spotlight here in Nova Scotia since the announcement of the multibillion dollar government ship building contract. However, there is a
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part of me that worries that we must not be too trades heavy in our educational focus. It has been commented that we in Canada have far too many young people with bachelor’s degrees working at minimum wage jobs. I believe that it is imperative that we try to ensure that we are not, in our haste to employ our youth, saying the same thing about skilled trades workers 10 years from now. - Grant Frost, Dartmouth, N.S.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/education-to-fill-skills-gap-is-ris... 5/2/2013
Caledon Enterprise April 30, 2013
Sharkwater filmmaker brings environmental awareness to Caledon youth
Documentary filmmaker Rob Stewart visits with Caledon youth
And on April 24, he took his mission from the screen into St. Michael’s Catholic Secondary School.
“Every revolution in the past was led by the people most influenced by the atrocity,” said Stewart. “Now it's kids that have to fight for their future.”
Best known for his first international award-winning documentary, Sharkwater, the Toronto-based filmmaker stopped by the local school to help spread his message during a special Earth week presentation arranged by the school and the Town of Caledon.
More than 130 students from several local elementary and secondary schools, along with members of Caledon council and town staff filed into the cafeteria at the Bolton school to engage students in a discussion about the Earth’s future and watch snippets of Stewart’s latest film, Revolution.
“It’s going to take the genius of youth to come up with some of the solutions to get us out of this problem,” he said to the room full of wide-eyed students. “This is the biggest battle we’ve ever fought.”
Following his international award-winning documentary, Sharkwater, which chronicled the fishing of sharks, Stewart turned his lens to a bigger issue for his recent film.
Revolution, at its core, is a call to action for today’s youth. The film follows the 33-year-old filmmaker around the planet as he tries to grapple with some of today’s toughest environmental issues – climate change, ocean acidification, over-consumption, deforestation and overfishing, to name a few.
“It's their future that is in jeopardy,” said Stewart about his focus. “They have the most to lose and the most to gain.”
Blending clips from the new movie with interactive discussions, students and teachers took many lessons from the day.
“Youth are the largest proportion of the planet right now, they are going to be in power soon,” he said. “All you gotta do is educate them now and they’ll turn it around.”
Grade 11 student Priscilla Spelko was inspired by Stewart's visit.
“I gets me mad, so it makes we want to get involved more,” she said. “We need to let the students know what is going on in our world; we don’t want to go into the future not knowing.”
While some students are better versed on environmental issues than others, many students found the talk very eye opening.
“I thought it was very informational,” said Danielle Mastronardi. “All of his statistics are actually really scary when you think about it.”
When you’re not directly surrounded by the places in the world being hit the hardest, it’s difficult to understand the impact people are having on the environment, she said.
And while the severity of his message can be a little overwhelming at times, Mastronardi said that it just inspires her to take action, especially knowing that it's her future that will be affected.
“It's scary to know that life wont be the same,” she said. “It's not just one person doing something, there are a lot of people involved now.”
For St. Michael’s environmental science teacher Chris Fielder, having the filmmaker stop by the school was an “incredible opportunity” for local students.
“If we want to get [the youth] to act or to get up and do something, we’ve got to speak to them first,” he said. “We’ve got to connect with them.”
Being in the classroom everyday with the students, he acknowledges that connecting with students in a way that is meaningful to them can be quite challenging.
To him, Stewart’s presentation was a great way to do just that.
“It's just a matter of lighting that spark,” said Fielder. “The key is getting the right people behind the helm to do just that.”
DPCDSB Schools Celebrate Catholic Education Week Page 1 of 1
Tuesday Apr. 30, 2013
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» Home » Com m unity News »DPCDSB Schools Celebrate Catholic Education W eek Classifieds View Authors City/Region News Com m unity News DPCDSB Schools Celebrate Catholic Education Week Newsletter By Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School | Published Yesterday | Community News | Rating: Political News Sign up for our new sletter: Sports & Leisure Bram pton -Schools and parishes across the Dufferin- Dufferin-Peel Catholic Go Student Area Peel Catholic District School Board will host many special District School events and activities during the week of May 5-10, as To learn m ore Click Here Health & Wellness Dufferin-Peel students, staff, and the com m unity celebrate Catholic Arts & Entertainm ent District Education Week. Business & Finance School Board Home & Fam ily press “Catholic Education Week provides an excellent re leases and Real Estate opportunity for students, staff, tru stees and the wider other Autom otive com m unity to re flect on the many great contributions inform ation. Catholic schools make in our com m unities,”says Joh n Search The Mission of the Dufferin-Peel Kostoff, dire ctor of education. “O u r Catholic schools Catholic District School Board, in have, and continue to uphold, a stro n g tra d ition of Go partnership with the fam ily and excellence that is rooted in achievem ent, faith and church, is to provide, in a Search All service. We are a learning community that nurtures responsible m anner, a Catholic Advanced Search caring, inclusive and faith-filled learning enviro n m e n ts education which develops that recognize and respond to the unique needs and spiritual, intellectual, aesthetic, More Features talents of each student.” em otional, social, and physical capabilities of each individual to Today in Bram pton This year’s them e is Growing Together in Faith. Many live fully today and to m eet the Site Sponsors Emergency #'s schools will be hosting events and activities, re flective of challenges of the future, thus Local W eather this them e, including: plays, art displays, celebratory enriching the community. Main Lando Lighting Galleries Masses, fundraisers, motivational speakers, and much Lottery Results Phone Num ber: 905-890-1221. more. Transportation http://w3.dpcdsb.org/cec Advertise With Us Maps “We encourage parents and guardians to take extra bram pton.com View all articles by Dufferin-Peel Article Options notice of their child’s accom plishm ents and to fully Catholic District School participate in the events and activities planned for their school communities throughout the week,”adds Kostoff. Email to Friend Print Article Som e of the highlights of the w eek include the announcem ent of the winners of the student Add to Favorites Year of Faith Poster Contest, the prom otion of our student’s Faith in Our Future You Tube videos and the ro ll-o u t of our Distinguished Alum ni posters. Add to 'Articles to Read'
For a complete listing of Catholic Education Week events and activities at Dufferin- Popular Articles Peel Catholic schools, visit http://www.dpcdsb.org/CEC/New s+ and+ Info/Catholic+ Education+ W eek.htm 1. Bram pton Board of Trade CEO leaving 2. Bram pton Youth Forum a Success How would you rate the quality of this article? 3. Bram pton City Council Abandons the Fight to Protect 12345 Natural Areas Poor Excellent 4. Peel Board Students Tackle Tough Legal Issues at Annual Mock Trial Tournam ent 5. Forum on" Roots of Youth Violence" Verification: Enter the security code show n below :
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http://www.thebramptonnews.com/articles/5841/1/DPCDSB-Schools-Celebrate-Catholic-... 4/30/2013 No public debate on whether non-Catholics can attend Catholic elementary schools | there... Page 1 of 1
Liz Monteiro, Record staff Tue Apr 30 2013 22:44:00 0 Comments 1 Recommend No public debate on whether non-Catholics can attend Catholic elementary schools
WATERLOO REGION — There will be no public debate at the Waterloo Catholic District School Board on whether non-Catholic Related Stories students can attend elementary schools. D’Amato: School board’s secret Trustees discussed the controversial issue behind closed doors at a board meeting Monday night. meeting makes no sense Trustee Anthony Piscitelli initially suggested trustees have an open discussion about allowing non-Catholic students into local May 01, 2013 schools. If Kitchener council suddenly decided to take all of its “Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am unable to discuss this issue with the community,” Piscitelli said Monday night. discussions about the proposed Piscitelli said he wanted to open Catholic schools to students of all faiths. He said he heard from parents who wanted to send casino out of public view and their children to Catholic schools but were not allowed. behind closed doors, there would be a huge uproar. The issue was set to come to a board meeting in May.
Education director Larry Clifford said the discussion went into a closed-door meeting under section 207 of the Education Act which suggests when meetings can be closed. They are issues related to buying property, employee negotiations, litigation and discussion of intimate, personal or financial information on an employee, parent or student.
Clifford said he could not talk about what was discussed at the closed meeting.
Trustee Janek Jagiellowicz didn’t agree with moving the issue into a closed session.
“It’s frustrating because any sensitive issues are put in camera,” he said. “Now, I can’t talk about it.”
In order to attend an elementary Catholic school, at least one parent must be Catholic, or the child must be baptized in the faith. Catholic high schools are open to all students, regardless of faith.
Clifford said open access at the secondary level has enriched the system. But at the elementary level, Catholic students are younger and “formation is still happening.”
It’s also a time when the religious faith is being cemented with the sacraments of communion, reconciliation and confirmation, he said.
Clifford suggested allowing non-Catholic students into elementary schools might be discussion to have at the provincial level because it could affect other boards.
Across the province, many Catholic school boards are facing declining enrolments in their schools and some boards are desperate to increase their numbers.
But despite lower numbers, some trustees don’t support the move. Trustee Peter Reitmeier said it is his role to protect the Catholic school system and allowing non- Catholics into elementary schools would “water down” Catholic education.
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Catholic school board should put up or get the hell out of the education system!
Hey Peter Your catholic school system is funded by non catholics so either open your doors or shutter your system. skinnyrs11 May 1, 2013 1:35 PM Agree (0) Disagree (0) Report Abuse
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