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Suite 20 Waterloo, thttario Nel 3H8 The news of our columnists are the" ovm and do not necessanly represent those of the newspaper Gmup PtgtrNher (Bump Sale- Dinner! hind-u Publhher pulvlnhl'd 'wahrmvaorm min: hrs mhtwi for Implh v1 plraw hr hnrf I "pmidw In Inn-n and aihn marry-ah mhmmrvl In 1hr- Pnhlnhrr and m x 'sptrvi " Illlhlll mun wmmm wath the. mini"! hm 1hr publish" and us In '"UVN'N may [lurk vrprmlm " "mm rt Porn r'lm "outs tre mlwv Iorms r 1m wading mddms, u .""\\1~le s: \ llmr Vt wsrrevrloe, N." H' ' (animal I’uhln alum: Mad bales Prod an Ayn-nun" Number 40050478 Wed-l Fronds Mgr. tin-72m. E112"! MarsaBer. Ext. 230 Sula. Eat. zia ‘hr Watcriooq hrorut te welt "mu "vrtrtxto Illrl dunr "In should hf irxrwd vmll narm‘ auxin-v and phnnr numb" and WI" he strifiemt [m m ' "le No unugm-d lnrrn null be Huh I ('II~I hlll‘l 1hsuow 1uutterhdort 1rttetrtaurmat Maud-mi Sena] Number ulnar. Earl. 21 5 Wis mm. Fag. 229 Blair Manhf’ws “\wi w aterloochroaicleca Icm, J ii.†I I mu Banal Letters Policy 955'} EA. 221 ISSN 0812-3410 Aurirrrd urluhlmn 27 'km Special holed: 52172IB.EI(. 2m 5.5.2125: Huh ' rle.cta, hurmat “a Marr Mdler Ianne Dean Several years ago. the Conservative government, in its drive to neutralize local school boards, increased the power of school councils. "Parent Teacher Associations" were replaced by "School Councils". Out oi the most valuable resources available to parents of school age children today is the local school council. Membership includes parent. teachers, local community members and students (usually in the high schoql setting]. _ - - School councils were given the right to be involved. on an advisory basis. in most major deci» sions at the local school including. but not limited to the selection of principals. policies (school uniforms as an example). school budgets and extra-curricular activities. As councils evolved. their value to schools as well as the education system has significantly increased. Uninhibited by "political motivation" often demon- strated by boards of education. councils have quiet- ly dealt with issues affecting their students and school community in a positive and effective man- ner. Four years ago a local parent. Wendy MacMillan, along with other interested parents, had a vision of - - W = sharing the positive results [1 U ltR ll ‘ of local school councils ‘ 1 with all schools in the Ill'lllliillilliliil Waterloo Region District ' school board. The ultimate I .- T". ‘ goal was In form an urga- ‘ l nization which could act 1 as a resource and collcc- Cg' " UC') l lin voice for all schools for r the hollcrmvnl of educa, - . tion for students, ' The new organization was named the "Assembly of School Councils". The assembly. with the JOHN guidance of such individu- HENDRY als as Wendy MacMillan and current chair Ron Kalbfleisch, has been doing outstanding work on behalf of students in the region. The value of school councils One of the more notable accomplishments includes their role in the preparation of a brief which was presented to the Roranski Commission on behalf of the local board. This was significant in that the presentation was the accumulated work of many partners in education and delivered to the Commission by the chair of the assembly, Wendy MacMillan - not the school board. Assembly input on matters affecting students in fact has been more representative of the views and opinions of the community than that of the board. Board members (trustees) cannot hope to gather relative information from such a wide cross-section of the school community as is possible through the assembly and their members. Representatives of the assembly can be seen at most hoard meetings absorbing the information and debate of trustees. being ever watchful that the board's debate and decisions are in fact in the best interest of all students. The information they gather is then reported back to members of the assembly. At budget time. this group consistently provides valuable information to the trustees, Their input is always to the very heart of the issue Itis never infhr r-nrt-d by politics at parochialism, Sinu- they speak un behalf of the collective mrmhvrs of their organi- ration. their opinions and recommendations In the hoard are always insightful, Othcr lupin retviving attention hom ttw aswm My and presented In the board inrludv spi‘riai edu. ration. fundraising. Icsling, library rmmm‘os. 1mm km and maintenanrc/swhool rcrwwal, If vmlr whool council isrit an active memher in thc assembly, nw suggestion would hr to Irv to 1 hang" that for thr hiwttcfit Mall your studrnls To Cmd out mum .Ilmut srhool tnunnls and "Ir Assembly of \rhtml (mm: its. “sit the board's WI-h site' at wwwwnish nn lit 'ir)'] 1:12:01“ Washing away the water cops ell. we've had enough water lately. WMaybe il'll keep the regional water cops from going wall-eyed keeping their eyes on your lawn sprinkler and a clock at the same time. As a mailer of fact. the turf gcndarmes weren't loo active last summer. There was apparently enough rain to keep them happy. let it he the Same or better this summer. As they say. an hour of rain will do more good in five minutes than a month of it would. Glad Hand: The panhandler; have emerged anew as a plague in Kitchener- Waterloo. Pedestrians have been hit with everything fiom threats to rowdy nouns. The freeloaders really bug the most of us Why any of us should pay for their enter- tainmenl will escape most of us. Most of them deserve what the late hhn Patrick. then Kitchener police chief. used to describe as a "fast foot race out of town". Back then a panhandler walked mm to a pedestrian and said. “I haven't had a bite in three days" Sod“; man bit him. We weren't troubled by Panhandle" then, although they've probably softened the laws since that Out on a Limb: Wow! When things go kerplunk, they really do. Waterloo has run into another grim piece of business Or maybe you should call this non-business. It's because the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery isn't doing enough that its future is uncertain. No, I am not going to say I AM" mid you so. although it would I: he justirred. Back when the city ponied up sl,5 million as the fundraising [alien-d tand mam before). t forvcast a bleak future for the establishment, The motivation was excellent. hut the rmnllrres jnsl weren't here, The organizing group tried tremendously hard. but it seems In have shrunk. judging by the Sit who turned em for the meeting which unvriiod a stratrytic plan. ll includes the hiring of a Curator. Nah lishing an artist-in residence program and putting in a restaurant Gosh. rd like In think a cafe would help the $4 2 million gallcrs sugrurrcarttlv. hut I doubt " It's, a mater of competition Sun-ha the-W's I-nmlgh around nnw In Ilw restaurant SANDY or course, these anti-smoking moves have their sad sides. too. Take the fellow who tried to till himself. He doesnt smoke. He makes ashoays Say, even our rural Centres have their eat- ing spots. One's speciality is Poulel a la Chevrolet. That's a chicken that was run over by a pickup truck, The country is home lo l0000 pubs. but it's legislated a ban on nicotine in them, And that brings back memories of the Irish pubs with smoke rolling in chuds through them, I would have wagered I0-to~one that the Irish would never submit to the clean-air laws At worst. they would cite some grand and glorious tradition, dodge. Pristine Air: If you thought it was an ambitious job Io clear the air in the "Tioris restaurants and tap rooms, it was a nothing job compared to the efforq in Ireland. A Time to Howl: Maybe it's a combina- tion of things. but usually-docile Canadians i. have taken to howling about A - q their governments -- civic. J ' ' h provincial and federal. Ptosirtcialry. ovenhmiy is steamed about the Grits as our provincial leaders, To be accurate. they'd be irate about the PCs too If they had the opportunity. DY The Kitchener folks are pass- atrty miffed about the city buy m ing what seems like most of downtown. The prices have been high and the prospects set-m low. Federal Grim should have hem erstatir about their takermer. hut {rt-Min? mm the Martin victory vanished in the wake at the revelations about big money dei nut in a 'urantreasor, campaign, All in all. a lot of Canadians haw a Mom arh full of politicians That mav moan Paul Martin will delav tho election again and again Already mm? of the pnhunans arc bring calied favourite sons As far as Um run cemmi. thes finvch the wnlonrr I suppose Waterloo led the civic chorus in this area. The whoop-tee-doo over the RIM Park financing has predictably lingered on through the elec- The electorate is aroused: ity keeping its eyes on everything, and is ready to grumble. kitch, ener taxpayers are taking their cue from Waterloo.