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economist suntribune at the s cho ols saturday nov 23 2002 25 outdoors the focus at ballantrae school by hannelore volpe staff writer a rural whitchurchstouffville school surrounded by parkland and forest is helping students throughout york region become more familiar with nature and the environment ballantrae public schools satellite school is the vivian outdoor resource centre which provides outdoor educa tion programs for more than 35 elemen tary schools grade 2 and grade 7 students come to the centre for the day to learn about the food chain pollution conservation animals and their habitats and other aspects of the environment joyce allin is principal of both facilities all the students at ballantrae rs are bussed to the school which is sur rounded by a new subdivision a com munity centre a forested area and a playground shared by the school and the town gjg0gi the population in the ballantrae area has remained fairly homogeneous this is reflected in the fact that only two students out of the entire school population have needed the esl english as a second language program in recent years the current school was built in 1973 after the previous building burned down now students have a resource centre a computer lab and a gymnasium a portable is used as a music room for band practice ballantrae public school 5632 aurora rd stouffville ont phone 9056402232 fax 9056404235 principal joyce allin school council chair wendy armstrong vicechair kerry dominguez there are 17 fulltime teachers and one parttime educator for the 343 stu dents from junior kindergarten to grade 8 literacy is the main academic focus at ballantrae public school timetables have been designed around a twohour segment each morning for writing silent reading or reading out loud having the older children read to younger reading buddies or listening to a story donna hemming the projectleader and ellen blairmorris the literacy lead teacher are working with staff to improve students reading and writing skills mrs allin collected samples of writ ing from each student last june the work was analyzed and charted so each students future achievements could be compared to last years work writing will continue to be collected and ana lyzed twice a year there are 41 special needs students at the school who are helped by two special education resource teachers with the aid of a fulltime and a part- time educational assistant and a child and youth worker the youngsters are integrated into their classrooms wherever possible but also benefit from small group and one- onone instruction outside of class the school holds annual spelling bees and chess tournaments and has an environmental club and a grade 7 and 8 band the mayors youth fund donated 1000 for the purchase of musical instruments for the second year in a row said mrs allin athleticallyinclined students can take part in basketball the crosscoun try team which advanced to the region al level and volleyball over the past few years the schools students have collected toys clothes and other gifts to present to the childrens aid society this year the students held a runathon to raise more than 13000 for camp trillium the donation enabled 26 children with cancer to go to this summer camp the school council has tried fundraising with a magazine sales pro gram this year to pay for such items as playground equipment cd players vcrs software and to defray the costs of bus trips theatrical and muscial per formances skating fees literacy materi als and author visits the arthritis society tomorrows gift whether its a bequest a gift of life insurance or a charitable annuity you can plan to ensure continuing support for arthritis research nearly four million canadians who 1 have arthritis are counting on you for more information about our planned giving program contact the arthritis society give to give hope richmond hill 5805177 this message brought to you as a community service of the economist sun decisions decisions bookyour 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