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economist suntribune at the schools saturday may 25 2002 27 staff photomike barrett when it was constructed in 1968 whitchurch highlands public school was one of the provinces first pod concept schools people came from all over ontario to see this said principal bill reynolds leafs goalie among graduates of whitchurch highlands elementary by hannelore volpe staff writer with the help of its community whitchurch highlands public school is becoming a stepping stone to turning out successful people how many schools can claim curtis joseph as an awardwinning alumnus the toronto maple leafs goaltender was male athlete of the year at the rural whitchurchstouffville school in 1981 other notable events at the school at the corner of bloomington road and warden avenue an ongoing project is the naturaliza tion of the schools 17acre yard to make it more usable for students and teach ers this year the school is focusing on improving its students writing and reading skills these and other pro grams are designed for the whole child said principal bill reynolds after spending a few days at whps one supply teacher was heard to com ment this is the first school i have seen that stressed happiness there are 18 teachers for the schools 350 students they are aided in their efforts by an active group of parent vol unteers when volunteer coordinator shawn nisbet recently drew up a list of volun teers to post in the schools front foyer it kept growing until it reached more 100 names thats from a school that has perhaps 200 families we are looking at making the community a partner with the school the principal said the school is still surrounded by farm fields and all of its 350 students travel to school by bus a few years ago the school council of which current whitchurchstouffville councillor harry bowes was then a member was instrumental in having the speed limit reduced on bloomington road and having a traffic light installed at the corner of bloomington and warden whitchurch highlands public school was built in 1968 as one of ontarios first pod concept schools people came from all over ontario to see this said mr reynolds r the gymnasium sits in the centre of the building and the classrooms are arranged around its perimeter in the 1960s the pod concept meant that large classrooms would be used by many classes that would ideally create free form pods according to the activity of the moment when the pod concept didnt pan out the giant rooms were divided into separate classrooms when mr reynolds came to the school two years ago he was struck by the tiny size of the library shortly after he started planning to whitchurch highlands public school 13812 warden ave whitchurchstouffville phone 9058881980 fax 9058881040 email whitchurchhighlandspsyrdsbeduonca principal bill reynolds school council chair g0rd kerr have a new gym built onto the school for 750000 once that happens the cur rent gym will be turned into a more elaborate library there are currently two reading rooms for the students the school council donated about 4000 for the primary reading rooms books two years ago and contributed another 5000 last year for books for the intermediate reading room which opened in time for this academic year last year the school council spon sored a writer who came to the school for workshops with students and par ents invited the school council is working on maintaining an active reserve of volun teers and seeking input of staff said gord kerr who has been council chair for the past three years to further the schools focus on improving students writing abilities the first steps program has been imple mented with teachers required to com- plete 15 hours of training raising readers which will feature inschool workshops is designed to get 4 f 4 preschoolers reading by teaching their parents how to properly read to them the teachers have made it their pri ority to improve school community relations mr reynolds noted one way is by holding informal lunches to which parents can come and talk with the teachers teachers are also working on a pro gram that will help them to evaluate their students better students can be part of a wide variety of activities including the band which will give an outdoor concert in the school park on tuesday as well as sports and academic clubs the art club open to youngsters in grades 2 and up meets weekly under the guidance of a graphic artist the schools girls volleyball and boys bas ketball teams have won numerous titles in recent years a feeling of mutual respect and safe ty in the school is being fostered by the future aces program which rewards good behaviour through an anti-bully- ing campaign with an emphasis on character education mr reynolds has noticed that stu dents are now more confident about reporting incidents of bullying because they understand that they can be dealt with before they become a major prob lem the schoolyard has been trans formed over the past few years with the help of fundraising by the school coun cil with the addition of several outdoor classrooms and several items of play ground equipment the council decided on an innova tive use of the yard after existing play ground equipment was deemed unsafe there are the outdoor structures that are a natural meeting place for the older students and sports games for the younger students next on the playground todo list is a new slide structure the marshy area on the 1 7acre site is used for a nature study and science area the ball diamond was refurbished last year and the schools soccer fields are used for games by the whitchurch- stouffville soccer club she changed my life says former student from page 25 years beginning at maples our lady of peace catholic school she moved to st justin in 1999 because of the appeal of teaching markham students i live in markham and its wonderful to be able to teach in my home commu nity before she left our lady of peace mrs cushing dill had a big impact on melissa sudor now 16 melissa noted you have picked the right person she changed my life i was in her class in grade 7 and she taught us how to change the world mrs cushing dills slogan was think globally act locally at st justin mrs cushing dill teaches grade 8 instructing students on all subjects except history and geography her nomination for teacher of the month shows how much more her stu dents believe she gives to them she said teaching comes naturally because students are amenable to new ideas mrs cushing dill said she is honoured to be recog nized for something she believes is a necessary and reciprocating process i think we all teach she said i just do it formally i am very passionate about my profession and about student learning and partic ipation we have wonderful young people who care and want to make a contribu tion nominations for junes teacher of the month are now being accept ed with the deadline on june 13 see our address on page 6 students march against male violence by camilla cheung at the schools writer thousands of york region students congregat ed at thornhill secondary school may 16 for the ninth annual walk against male violence in spite of the steady drizzle and ankledeep puddles more than 2500 teenagers protested vio lence against women and to raise money to benefit womens organizations the long column of stu dents made its way from thornhill secondary to thornlea secondary school a fivekilometre hike sport ing handmade banners and signs protesting violence against women the group was encour aged and supported by stu dent organizers from both schools as well as local bands and speakers with plenty of enthusi asm the walk was a spirited optimistic event it feels good to be mak ing a difference thats why i do it every year said andrea spraakman an oac student at aurora high school domestic violence is one of the most serious social issues in canada people driving down the street can see that young people have this cause that they want to stop male vio lence many students are pas sionate about the cause sec after page 28 networking helps in job search from page 26 and i just followed my inter ests vanessa lam oac student at brother andre catholic high school in markham says students tend to be more successful when they net work and ask friends or rela tives for job leads often internships and volunteer ing are another option volunteer work can lead to better jobs and high er pay vanessa says although there is no money involved there are valuable experience and job skills that can be learned often the nonpaying experience will lead to a reg ular paying job regardless of age as gillian says younger teens should concentrate on their attitude and strengths they shouldnt let their age get in the way and stop them from looking for a job paula lam is a student at st augustine catholic high school in unionville 4 1