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economist suntribune education thursday july 112002 staff photomike barrett andrew nayler 16 and his mother sheila were frustrated thursday after trying for two days to sign up for summer classes at sir william mulock secondary school in newmarket theres a lot of angry people here mrs nayler said summer crush leaves students fuming summer enrolment almost double but little increase in teachers by patrick mangion staff writer demand for summer school classes has outpaced the number of teachers leaving frustrated stu dents lining up for spaces in york region high schools ross virgo spokesperson for the york region district school board said the summer registration rush begins as soon as students are warned they may not pass a course in 1998 4000 students enrolled for summer classes at the regions public high schools last year it was up to 7000 and its up significantly this year mr virgo said the number of teachers willing to work during the summer hasnt increased nearly that much graham rayner summer school principal at sir william mulock secondary school in newmarket said its a constant challenge finding teachers willing to work in the sum mer after a long school year theyre tired mr rayner said adding many teachers use the time to take mandatory professional- development courses the situation created a tense environment as dozens of parents and students waited inside the cafeteria at sir william mulock try ing to stay cool and keep their cool its a scene duplicated at many high schools throughout the region summer courses are offered at richmond hill unionville and keswick high schools along with markville vaughan andwestmount secondary schools sheila nayler was making her third trip to sir william mulock in as many days to help her son andrew register for a grade 10 math course each time they left after waiting for hours without answers and without a spot in one of the classes mrs nayler said school adniinis- trators werent prepared for the number of students this summer there seems to be a lack of communication she said its frustrating if my daughter doesnt get this summer course she doesnt graduate mrs nayler a teacher herself said the provincial government has to accept responsibility for the problem because its new curricu lum has proven too difficult for many students so many students were unable to pass their courses mrs nayler said while demand for summer classes has increased across the board mr virgo said math courses have posed the biggest challenge its mainly attributable to the fact the curriculum is changing mr virgo said there isnt any secret some students are finding the new curriculum more difficult than previous years last week the board was scram bling to find math teachers willing to forego their summer after making a lot of phone calls and enlisting the services of teach ers from neighbouring school boards mr virgo said every student who registered for a math course this summer would get in mr virgo also attributed the increase in summer enrolment to students hoping to improve their grades and those needing courses from the old curriculum which wont be offered in the fall christine a parent who did not want her last name used said she and her daughter spent all day at the school luesday trying to register for a grade 12 english course that wont be offered in the fall if my daughter doesnt get this summer course she doesnt grad uate christine said she cant take it in the fall because it doesnt exist many of the students waiting to be registered missed the june 21 deadline mr rayner pointed out the nature of summer school is theres a lot of lastminute decisions that are made mr raynersaid he said many students showed up for the first day of class tuesday hoping to register students who met the june 21 registration deadline were given first priority and school board offi cials have been doing their best to accommodate everyone mr rayner said but ultimately mr rayner admitted some students will have to wait for the next session later this summer or even the beginning of the regular school year to make up needed credits the problem is compounded by students who register for classes but dont show up media program lets teenagers express themselves by mitchell brown staff writer york regions youth will soon have a new place to express them selves the boys and girls club youth media program is looking for a few good writers photographers and other creative types for a youth- oriented newspaper that if all goes according to plan will hit doorsteps next month the asyetuntitled newspaper which is aimed at readers between ages 12 and 24 is being put togeth er to celebrate youth says facili tator matthew cloutier the one thing we always hear about in the press is no matter if weve done something good there is something wrong about it he said we want to show that there are more youth doing good things than bad things thats not to say the newspa pers sole reason for existing is to give young people a good name written by and for youth its main goal will be to show that youth have a brain says the 18yearold university of toronto student we dont have an agenda he said whatever the youth have to say thats our agenda to that end mr cloutier and editor stefania ingrosso have been in touch with young people from all over york region asking them pointblank about the issues and stories they would like to see in a newspaper aimed at them we will publish things that are edgy as long as the article is intelligent the list includes such topics as sexuality issues surrounding the upcoming world youth day the environment homelessness pop culture and media issues self- esteem and suicide its a heady mix that promises plenty of interesting if not downright provocative articles especially the kind that might not see print in other places but thats the point we will publish things that are edgy as long as the article is intel ligent mr cloutier said we are dealing with youth and therefore their means of expression is differ ent than the adult world they may say tm pissed off about instead of 1 feel strongly about and thats acceptable but we have to make sure it fits the tone indeed speaking the language of young people is one of the goals of the newspaper according to miss ingrosso who says the paper will strive to represent as many viewpoints as possible anika khanna 17 is one of the writers a richmond hill native her first article is about ethics sur rounding christian missionaries in foreign countries i like to write but ive never written for newspapers before she said adding the fact its a youth paper is important to her its published by youth for youth and thats a big thing she said its not going to be where an adult has a youth write about things and then scraps it because he doesnt like the idea its also a great way to get expe rience and explore her career options miss ingrosso a 24yearold journalism graduate agrees im drinking where was this five years ago she said you cant get experience without experi ence so this is a great opportunity for me finding common ground for 127000 readers from urban and rural communities may be diffi cult miss ingrosso and mr cloutier said but not impossible todays youth have many things in common for instance they are the first generation to grow up surrounded by computer technology so theyre far more comfortable using it than older people and thanks to the internet theyre arguably the most mediasawy generation more importantly mr cloutier and miss ingrosso believe their peers are far more accepting of dif ferences than previous genera tions it doesnt matter to us where youre from or how you were raised what matters is what you believe right now miss ingrosso said the first issue which is funded by a grant from the laidlaw foundation will appear as an insert in merroland newspapers across york region next month for information contact stefania or matthew at bgcyonregionsocialenterpriseca nter n et pro vkle r 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