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27 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,F ebruary 11,2021 insidehalton.com UNITED DIRECTORY If you'd like to advertise your place of worship in this feature please email Fiona frudder@starmetrolandmedia.com Worship PENTACOSTAL Oakville PentecOstal aPOstOlic centre 454 Rebecca St (St. Paul's United Church) Oakville ON sunday service 12:30- 3PMWorship service sunday evening: 7:30- 9PM (via Zoom virtual Platform) *cOviD-19 safety Protocols strictly followed.* tel: 416-892-8123 Fax: 1-866-281-5983 Bishop M. Brissett (Pastor) Email: mjbrisse@yahoo.ca Jesus is lOrD Begin Lent with ashes and prayer Safe drive-through to receive ashes on February 17 Safety information at www.gracechurchoakville.ca LUTHERAN DIRECTORYWorship 1469 Nottinghill Gate, Oakville 905-825-5292 www.glenabbeyunitedchurch.com GLEN ABBEY UNITED CHURCH REV. TED VANCE In times like these, a Church service can help provide some normalcy and hope! and search Glen Abbey United Church OR Click on www.glenabbeyunitedchurch.com To help your Church survive the pandemic, please send e-transfers to: donations@glenabbeyunitedchurch.com Thank you and God Bless you! In keeping with health recommendations, we are pausing in-person services. FOR ONLINE CHURCH SERVICE available anytime GO TOYOUTUBE.COM This Sunday, February 14th Message: CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? CORRECTION NOTICE In the circular beginning Friday, February 12, 2021, the offer description of Select Artist Easels & Tables on page 2 is incorrect. The correct offer description is Select Artist Easels. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Parents and their kids received great news in our community last week as ele- mentary and high schools in Halton Re- gion got the green light to resume in-per- son learning. We know it's better for students to learn with their friends in school, and I know that everyone is glad their kids are able to get back to the classroom. It's important to remember why this school shutdown, announced just before Christmas, was necessary and what good it has done. Our health models in Decem- ber showed that COVID-19 cases were ex- pected to rise dramatically, threatening to overwhelm our hospitals. We went into lockdown to reduce the case numbers and to stop this community spread. Some parents have asked me why schools needed to be closed, as students are at less risk from COVID-19. This is true, but we must remember that anyone can spread the disease. The people most at risk are our older citizens, many of whom have other med- ical conditions. Many of these people can isolate, but thousands of seniors live with their families and cannot isolate com- pletely. We are also ensuring that our re- opened schools are kept as safe as possi- ble for students, teachers and other staff. In total, over the last year the Govern- ment of Ontario has provided public schools with $1.6 billion in COVID-19 funding. Ontario also recently made an additional $381 million in federal funding available for schools. New safety measures for this week's return include targeted asymptomatic testing for students and staff, and manda- tory masks for Grades 1-3, with 3.5 million more high quality cloths masks for schools. To fight COVID-19 over the last year, we've hired 3,400 more teachers, 1,400 more custodians, 625 school-based public health nurses, 400 more admin staff to support virtual schooling and 650 other support staff. We've also supported fami- lies directly, with nearly $900 million in support. I am proud of what our government has done to fight COVID-19 in our schools. While this past year has been an unpre- sented one, there is hope ahead. Working together, we will keep our kids safe -- and learning. Effie Triantafilopoulos is the MPP for Oakville North--Burlington. She can be reached at effie.triantafilopou- los@pc.ola.org. A WELCOME RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM OPINION FURTHER INVESTMENTS IN SCHOOLS WILL HELP KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE, WRITES EFFIE TRIANTAFILOPOULOS EFFIE TRIANTAFILOPOULOS Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM The YMCA of Oakville has announced a new Virtual YMCA membership for any- one interested in attending live online group fitness classes. Members will have access to more than 40 Zoom fitness classes every week. Each class will be taught in real time by certified instructors and will be 45-50 min- utes in length. Classes, which are booked online through the MyWellness App, include Gentlefit, Strength Training, Chair Yoga, Pilates, Family Fitness and more. Cost of the virtual membership is $47.76 per month. To sign up, email customerser- vice@oakville.ymca.ca For more information, or to see the cur- rent virtual class schedule, go to http:// ymcaofoakville.org YMCA OFFERING NEW VIRTUAL MEMBERSHIP WHAT'S ON