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saturday march 22 2003 17 economist sun stoufmlletribune jokes kindness take teacher to top of student ranks by mitchell brown j y- staff writer or the record rob harpers exact age is not up for discussion me you going to put my age in there he asks the kids dont know how old i am and it has been kind of a running thing since i came here we are free however to tell you this mr harper a youthful- looking grade 78 teacher at whitchurch highlands public school in stouffville is the york region v newspaper groups march jeacher of the month mr harper is one of those teachers you will always remember even when you move on in life wrote kirsty card 13 in her nominating let ter hes kind funny but can also be very strict and demands respect by coincidence those are some of the same words mr harper uses to describe mr seibel one of his own teachers from his north bay high school days it was a history class and lie made learning fun he said he always made us laugh and we always enjoyed going to his class v a quick scan of mr harpers own classroom shows he took those lessons to heart theres a stack of joke books and calvin hobbes books on his filing cabinet and kirsty says hes a bit of a joker in class a trait shecredits with keeping her interested in her studies and consequently improving her grades of course its not all fun and games in his class sometimes its just games with a little fun added a selfprofessed jock mr harper proves it by running or sharing the coaching responsibilities for the schools hockey flag football volleyball and basketball teams photos of michael jordan kobe bryant and other sports stars share space with inspirational posters oh his classroom walls and the wall behind his desk is covered with ribbons staff photosjoerd witteveen whitchurch highlands public school teacher rob harper is the york region newspaper groups teacher of the month for april he was nominated by grade 8 student kirsty card 13 and clippings covering his teams exploits including the soys basketball teams receiit fourthplace showing at the regibnalsu v 1 lbbking back school iseems like a natural place for someone like mr harper to end up not that he proba- bly believed it back then i was sort of a procrasti- nator he admits thinking of his own school days in north -bay- y while he may have been interested more in hockey and baseball than his studies he did haye like mr seibel to inspire him and even then he was developing the skills that come with being a good teacher workr ing as a summer camp coun sellor and teaching hockey to beginners after graduating from nipissing university he spent a year or so supply teaching in his hometown his future motherinlaw a principal with the york region district school board suggested he make the move to the area and whitchurch highlands is where he ended five years later hes still having a ball and its not hard tbseewhy i just enjoy kids and being around them because im a kid at heart he said they keep you young for being aprils teacher of the month mr harper receives a pizza party for his class compliments of pizza pizza hwy 48 and 1 6th avenue in markham a flower arrangement compliments of linds floral boutique in- downtown whitchurchstouftville workshop to improve communication skills by inside out with karen armstrong spapjuds pump for the classroom compliments of jennie coutanche independent kitchen consultant for the pampered chef arid a 25 gift certificate from its elementary school supplies at newmarket plaza newmarket from owner christine guldemeester if you would like to join our group of sponsors contact editor tracy kibble at the address belowto send in a nomination for aprils teacher of the month email submissions to ms kibble at tkibbleyrngcom or fax them to 9058535379 courtney yip at the schools writer ohy how bad it is ver the past wo decades north am e r i c a n teenagers have taken a dangerous detour into the unfenced woodlands of soda city while quickly lnngfj6enmt0diil and beneficial village of dairy so quick in fact no one has even realized the harm in this surprising transition according to a new report in the latest issue of general dentistry soft drink pur chases by teens in schools increased1100 per cent oyer the past 20 years while dairy purchases have decreased by 30 per cent this massive increase in the soft drink sales has made thousands of company presi dents of pepsico and coca- cola rich at our healths expense because of the recent decrease in milk and juice intake there comes an increasing risk of poor health such as obesity tooth decay and osteoporosis major con cerns for all of todays youth since milk and juice intake are being left behind so are important essential nutrients they offer such as vitamins a d and most cru cially calcium these nutri ents seem to be going down in the diet of modern civiliza tion the high acid count in soda is damaging our teeth pepsi has an acid count near- ly three times that of battery acid according to mindy hermann rd a nutritionist based in new york soda ishigh in calories because its loaded with sugar in fact one can has about 10 teaspoons of sugar but dont think taking the sugarfree way out is going to help either diet sodas con tain chemically produced ingredients that can be harmful to your system as well the key element in a diet soda is aspartame the sugar- free sweetener that gives the cola a sugary taste along with little or no calories- according to the federal dental f and american medica1associatiqhs and the world health organization the substances in the diet drink have been related to behavioural problems in children and can affect weight gain and cause per manent brain damage apparently this is evident in large doses only but how much soda do we drink according the survey a lot more than we think ashley liu 16 of see drink page 19 12 if -4- rs a i y a m m wmmcmimi jfo sugar tonight you aint semxomrtw mimotel march 31 april 12003 at 800 pm tickets 4950 look no further than every 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