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6 stoujfville suntribune thursday july 1 2004 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonymgcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial make learning fun to improve education if theres one thing we have learned about education its this making fun an integral part of learning helps children flourish socially and academically york region newspaper groups five- part series passing the test which wraps up today delved into why some schools perform better than others pinpointed problems and looked at programs used to boost student performance teaching methods and ways to make schools bet ter places to learn and teach the overall message reiterated by veteran educators who have taught in schools across the region is clear incorporating fresh innovative ideas into lessons is the best way to improve stu- dent success for the most part educators are work ing toward that goal through new literacy programs community support net works teacher workshops and support groups for teachers from the north but what the series also indicated is a fact rarely discussed by school board offi cials communities with higher incomes where parents have postsecondary edu cation have better academic results than in schools such as most in georgina where many parents have lower incomes and less education hard to swallow for some but like it or not students in schools where parents open their wallets and offer their time consistently perform better in standard ized tests while affluence is a significant factor in school success rates there are other ways in which northern or poor perform ing schools can improve teaching meth ods and academic performance parental involvement in childrens early years of learning senior kinder garten and grade 1 is paramount stud ies and our series show especially with programs such as reading recovery where students lagging behind receive intense oneonone tutoring with spe cialized teachers for their part boards need to pour more resources into reading programs for early grades statistics overwhelming ly show if students fall behind in the first few years its much harder to catch up bottom line we all have a responsibil ity to ensure students from every comer of the region have a successful education we need more parental involvement innovative literacy programs teaching workshops continued board funding and innovative fun ways of teaching letters to the editor canadians need proportional representation an open letter to new oak ridgesmarkham mp lui temelkovski congratulations on your win you conducted a clean and honourable campaign and were rewarded by voters canadians expressed a strong desire for a minority government i regard this desire as very much indicative of canadian sensibilities canadians overwhelmingly recognize the value of listening to each other and working co operatively it is this sensibility that provides one of the strongest arguments for proportion al representation it is my fervent hope our next parliament implements a system of proportional represen tation while actual seat totals for the next parliament are liberals 135 conservatives 99 bloc 54 and ndp 19 under proportional repre sentation those totals would be liberals 113 conservatives 91 ndp 48 bq 38 and greens 121 when no party achieves more than 50 per cent of the popular vote minority governments more accurately represent voters than majority governments but proportional representation is by far the superior democratic arrangement legislators must work together to develop solu tions that can be supported by a majority this requires members of government be prepared to listen to each other and work co operatively canadians are recognized interna- the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonymgcom tionally as thoughtful polite and cooperative people we have the perfect temperament to make proportional representation work as one of your new constituents may i also ask that you make strong efforts to ensure liberal promises to build affordable housing introduce national daycare and protect and reinvigorate public health care are kept i hope too you will work with bloc quebecois and ndp members to seriously address environmental concerns more than 33 per cent of canadians voted for the ndp bloc or the greens parties rec ognized by independent organizations as hav ing strong environmental platforms your constituents in oak ridgesmarkham are counting on you to listen to and support initiatives that will build an environmentally sustainable future pamela courtot ndp candidate oak ridgesmarkham editor in chief business manager distribution manager debora kelly robert lazurko barry black fstoujfmemmmm editor advertising director classified manager suntribune jim mason retail sales 81 flyers nicole fletcher ann campbell vmi flar imi mm reporters general manager a metroland community newspaper joan ransberry hanhelore volpe advertising director classified york region printing real estate events management bob dean retail sales manager gord paolucd 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 steve kane director director of production marketing partnerships phone 9056402612 fax9056408778 sales representative john futhey debraweller classified 1 8007433353 distribution 9052948244 susan berry managing director real estate shows manager websitewwwyorkregioncom email jmasonymgcom production manager mikerogerson yrng events management membenontario community newspapers association pam nichols sales manager new business stacey allen canadian community newspapers association office manager development distribution ontario press council vivian 0neil davna andrews off the top with jim mason liberal win has excandidate thinking what if wayne emmerson couldnt help but wonder what might have been while the former mayor of whitchurchstouffville did colour commentary for rogers televisions york region election coverage monday night lui temelkovski cele brated in a church hall on markhams main street rookie politician temelkovski had just been elected mp for the new rid ing of markhamoak ridges last spring the two engaged in a fight for the liberal nomination in the riding that reaches from northern king township in the northwest to southeast markham it ended at one of the most bizarre nomination meet ings in local history an overcrowded parkview village seniors centre auditorium in stouffville was emptied by fire offi cials some members went home or had their vote refused the newspa pers phone lines lit up the next morn ing with complaints about how the selection was handled the upshot mr emmerson took the high road and wished mr temelkovski well yes that could have been me mr emmerson said the morning after the election that could have been me going to ottawa but its all over now theres more surprise than bitter ness in the voice of the mayor from 1995 until last november i really didnt expect lui to have that much support he said i knew conservative candidate bob callow was known in the area through run ning before and the police board but not lui i just hope lui doesnt forget about us up here in the rural areas of stouffville and king its a big riding for now mr emmerson is back at his old day job at schell lumber on edward street im not planning on running again im just trying to settle in here again i cant see myself running at least at this time the door to the lumber store sounds at least partially open jim mason is editor of the stoujfville suntribune