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a2 tribune february 3 1988 terry gray superint region board of education stresses the import ance of heritage and history within todays plur alistic society before advancing to his present position mr grav w principal at sharon and whitchurchhighlands public schools im proud to be part of the york region board he says its where i want to bebiairie kaheko supt terry gray g by bruce stapley dicksons hill he sits at his desk in a portable just south of dicksons hill school and points to a picture of the old huntsville town hall that hangs on his office wall people ask me why its there says terry gray board of education superintendent for york regions area f i tell them visitors that it represents my roots could write three books from memories related to hat building the board of education staffer believes its essential that the individual heritage and history of each student in the region be acknowledged and encouraged- because for terry gray education is all about heritage history and people were so pluralistic says mr gray we have to respond to the diversity of philosphies in our society today in one classroom in our area i there are a total of 24 languages spoken in the t homes of the students having held the position of area superinten dent for the past yearandahalf mr gray is fully aware that being responsible for the opera tion of schools in an area which includes mar- kham stouffville aiid millikcn mills involves constant longrange planning to accommodate future needs it used to be that growth for instance was predictable mr gray says now if youre not planning longrange you can find yourself in a real dilemma while growth is certainly the area of greatest concern for mr gray he knows he must also involve himself with all other aspects of educa tion in a changing world it is essential that we address such issues as the secondary school dropout rate he says we must make secondary school education re levant by preparing students for jobs that arc out there we must convince society that there is dignity in working at something that doesnt re quire a university education important educator the father of three is not unaware of the issues out there that can involve the actual survival of the student in a world of potentially fatal sexual ly transmitted diseases and the increasing prob lem of teenage suicide im delighted with the programs the board has developed in dealing with sex education you have to get the information to the kids mr gray says there are things we just cant take for granted sure this may not be apartof educa tion but we still have to deal with it the huntsville native taught high school in his hometown before moving to york region for a 14 stint as principal for both sharon and whitchurchhighlands public schools he be came a supervisory officer with the board before moving to sault st marie where he held a super visory position with their board of education in 1986 mr gray moved his family to the toronto area and resumed his employment with york region a move he doesnt regret gj tve been with several other systems he says im proud to be a part of the york region board its where i want to be the 48yearold educator enjoys the challenge of being part of one of the fastest growing boards in north america mr gray says stouffville alone will have 700 new students over the next five years i attended a two week course recently in banff alberta dealing with education he- says everyone was facing the issue of declin ing enrolment except me the growth we havein stouffville is steady but not explosive whereas in the southern end of the area there are literally hundreds of houses going up presently mr gray says there arc no immedi ate plans for new schools as an increase in enrol ment can be handled with the use of school port ables and minor boundary changes but mr gray does admit depending on regional priori- tics there will come a day when stouffville will need new facilities yokrf invited event ft excluding new arrivals pickering town centre 8315241 markville shopping centre markham 4792198