The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

f8 saturday feb 12 2000 economist sun stouffville tribune living stories ofinspi black history month celebrates contributions of those who worked hard to reach great heights bydawnliersch staff writer i he heights by great men reached vl and kept jl were not attained by sudden flight but they while their companions slept were toiling upward in the night henry wadsworth longfellow from the heights by great men reached and kept when tessa bennireland was growing up the words of henry wadsworth longfellow inspired her to greatness her parents encouraged her to work hard in school and she recalls how her father would sit with her and help her with her homework reminding her of longfellows message when she became frustrated with the effort it instilled in me that type of behaviour and attitude that you cant attain anything without working hard she said today im very thankful that they did that as kids you cant see beyond that vision today bennireland is a successful author and librarian and has made history as yorks first black school trustee representing milliken mills she stresses most black role models also had to work hard to reach great heights bennireland now dedicates her life to encouraging young people to strive to be all they can be touting the virtues of education along with her efforts as a trustee and chil drens librarian at milliken mills public library she is one of the founding parents of saturday school a series of motivational workshops promoting leadership skills at milliken mills high school i tell them to get as much education as possible she said i tell them to seek the advice of their parents because they are the first educators parents have to set the tone bennireland is pleased black role models will be showcased this month for black history month but will fight for them to be remembered every day black history month is important because we must celebrate our history or well have nothing for our kids she said history is being made every day i would like to see more emphasis on black history in the curriculum we should not always be focused on february we have a lot of black role models in all fields inventors in sci ence figures in history and writers of litera ture she points to inspirational role models such as dr avis glaze superintendent with yorks public school board whose efforts have been recognized by the ontario institute for studies in education and earned her rank ing as one of the top five distinguished educa tors in 1995 or pat howell president of the markham african caribbean association who burned the midnight oil commuting from markham to waterloo to complete her masters degree in social work bennireland stressed that kind of dedica tion is behind the success of black leadera you must be committed to what youre doing if youre not committed people will see through the charade she said and for those who have achieved you have to remember to lift as you climb you have to always look back and help those behind you she also lauds anne cools the first shihrlblb black female senator ijwbyffilipjflw in canada a social mlb wor cools has jaw w jly travelled across the country holding dr avis glaze information sessions 1 about violence and abuse lyhette roy an uxbridge writer who visits york region schools to educate students about black role models has focused on the accomplishments of cools and other black politicians in her latest book being released this month three caribbean women her third book in the canadian heroes series launched by her publishing company orchid communica tions highlights the accomplishments of senator cools formerly of barbados liberal mp jean augustine originally hailing from grenada and dr hedy fry a liberal mp and secretary of state for multiculturalism and the status of women originally from trinidad and tobago augustine on the advice of the ontario black history society pushed to have black history month commemorated across canada black history week was initially launched by carter g woodson in 1926 to 8fep mm milliken mills librarian tessa bennireland shows some books from a large collections by authors from africa the caribbean and canada build selfesteem among blacks and it was expanded to black history month in the 60s fry a doctor has contributed greatly to the medical field the book which is geared to grade 6 stu dents includes maps from the politicians areas of origin and flags of the countries underneath their photographs three caribbean women will be launched at the armadale community centre in markham on feb 20 from 2 to 5 pm as part of black history month festivities sponsored by the markham african caribbean association they are black role models in politics today and they are all educated women roy said the fact that they came from the caribbean and moved up to be part of the decisionmaking process in canada makes them great role models for all immigrants the hope of freedom seekers was not only to be free but to be involved roy herself grew up in trinidad and said her early role models were the female teach ers who encouraged her to do well in school and her mother for motivating her to write she also points to some of the early pio neers in canada such as harriet ross tubman who escaped slavery in the united states and became the leader of the underground railroad freeing more than 300 slaves who fled the southern part of the united states to canada our contest winners we asked children from across york region to tell us who their black role model is we received a number of essays and choosing the best three was a difficult task but three stood out from the rest our winnners are jesse steaman of markham four tickets to the backstreet spice britney concert courtesy of the economist sun two movie passes from amc theatres klmberley johnson of markham 50 markville shopping centre dollars courtesy of the economist sun two movie passes from amc theatres congratulations to our winners and thank you to all who participated the winning entries will be-pub- lished in an upcoming issue of the economist suntribune see blacks page 19 you may sometimes see small specks or clouds moving in your field of vision they are called floaters you can often see them when looking at a plain background like a blank wall or blue sky floaters are actually tiny clumps of gel or cells inside the vitreous the clear jellylike fluid that fills the inside of your eye they become more common with age with nearsightedness after cataract operations laser surgery and inflammation inside the eye floaters get in the way of clear vision which may be annoying especially when reading have an eye examination promptly if yoiisce floaters especially if even one new floater appears suddenly or if you see sudden flashes of light while some floaters may remain in your vision many of them will fade over time and become less bothersome even if you have had some floaters for years you should have an eye examination if you notice new ones dr hh walji hombscmscodnos optometrist 471eyes 3937 6633 highway 7 markham website wwwdrwaljicom email drwaljidrwaljicoin fcfrjeibjfc t uii i imiim u