Students hate four day plan ; By JENNIFER LANG A FOUR DAY school week is a tip off for students, despite the promise of a three-day weekend, some senior high schoolers say, “It's just a huge sacrifice for a little bit of. money,” says Christ- ina: Heslenfeld, a Grade 12 stu- dent st Caledonia Senior Second- She and other members of Cal's student council are opposed to the plan, announced early last week as one of the district’s cost- cutting measures. = Trustees say a four-day week . 2. will save an estimated $1.4 mil- ‘lion a. year. in operating expenses at School District 82. She scoffed at the suggestion that students will have it easy be- cause it-means a three-day week-. end, “It means more homework,” Heslenfeld. said; “I don't know how we are supposed to do it,” She also worries that students will have trouble focusing in the ¢lassroom during a longer day. Although final details like the “length of the school day at the elementary and high school level ‘are still being worked out, sec- ' ondary students may be spending as much as 90 more minutes a day at school. , “You can’t ask kids in Grade 8 and 9 to have a longer attention span. We grew up with Sesame Street where the program changes WE DON'T LIKE IT, say students Pam Sihota (front left), Jordan Wall, Teghan Norberg-LeBlond and Bridgitt Sloan McMullen. schedules students keep. Sihota said students are al- ready stressed al having to squeeze in activities into the cur- rent five day week. “| barely have enough time as it is to do my homework on the weekend,” Sihota said. “The. people at the school board don’t realize how much students do.” "Thank God it doesn't come in our Grade 12 year,” said. Sloan McMullen, who edits the schoo! newspaper, The Kermode, and is also a member of student council. She said shorier lunch breaks won't work. Lunch time at Cal is already a busy time as frantic stu- dents juggle club and academic meetings and the need to refuel. It’s also an important time to get extra help from teachers. “They're painting lunch hour as a lime when we all go out to Mc- Donald's and have a big party,” added Jordan Wall, a Grade 12 student who hopes to apply for law school. He thinks a four-day week will make it more difficult for students to maintain the high marks they need to enter college and univers- ity programs to graduate. Post secondary entrance re- quirements are increasingly com- larships takes precious time in a busy high school schedule. “We can barely fit it all in as it is,” Wall said, adding trustees every 15 seconds to keep us en- tertained.” Student council president Pam Sihota couldn’t believe the school board would actually go ahead happen, r with the plan. “I thought it was so preposter- ous. I thought, shocked.” ‘This will never she said. “I was Sihota and her classmates say the school board is out to lunch . when it comes to the demanding don't understand just how much more students are expected to ac- complish these days, “They should live a day in our life.” Parents wary of shorter week By JENNIFER LANG class.” SCHOOL TRUSTEES spent near- ly two hours last week listening to concerns about the four day schoo! week from parents, tea- chers and students who packed the board meeting in Terrace. Parent Clay Dunsford said he can’t believe trustees have opted for the four day week. “You puys should give your head a shake.” day week, wages,” adding he He asked the board to consider superintendent of designating Wednesday | as. the vitae ; Randy day off. meee Si alt Higde, if he Pet ihiftk ‘it, would be" ‘easier on “Would” voluntarily’ the children,” he said, “I would ave up 20 percent of like to know when these kids will have time to do their homework. School bus driver Allan Chapman also spoke against a four “To me, thal’s a 20 per cent cut in my lose benefits, too. When he asked his salary, Small- brugge replied, “No, take he said, stands to said. Allan Chapman “This plan is going to instructional time away from us and we're still going to be pressured to in- crease numeracy and literacy,” q Vera Lynn Munsen i “It has become clear hat we are not going ] to be able to offer the same education the Coast Mountains | schiol district as, ‘i! Te other areas’ of the ’ province,” added Ca- ledonia Sr. lobby the government. “I don’t feel that education is equal in the province,” Mikolayc- z2yk said. “I think our kids suffer in the north.” Hag The board has also announced a number of other money-saving measures. Those include: making French Immersion self supporting at the secondary level, cutting un- necessary bus runs, a core review, teacher in other schoo! ‘districts. '*’ * Junior ‘secondary will implement semester systems. teacher The district's two theatres will petitive. Even applying for scho-— and possibly sharing services with . a ‘“Skeenif’ “Junior and Thorihil 7 They’re busy in the evenings.” Parent Christine Crawford said an extended school day is too long for students with special needs, including her son, who has attention deficit disorder. “He needs his full hour at lunch time to go out and burn some of that energy, as do members of his- of course not.” _Chapman said later, “If they’re not willing to give up 20 per cent of their wages plus their benefit package. to help the situation, this so called deficit, why should they force me to do it?” Some teachers aren't impres- sed, either. Greer Kaiser, Hazelton trustee Jessica Miko- layezyk agreed rural school dis- tricts like this one can't offer the same level of education as those in large urban areas because of fi- nancial constraints. She said the school board needs parents to come forward to ‘remain under the status quo. The board has also approved the idea of specialized magnet schools, paving the way for @ po- tential First Nations cultural school. The First Nations Educa- tion Centre is surveying local par- ents to see if they would support a culturally responsive school here. Four day week is a hit in Grand Forks By JENNIFER LANG STUDENTS AND parents in the Coast Mountains School district may not like the idea, but the four day school week continues to get rave reviews from the one B.C. school district that’s actually trying it. All 10 schools in the Boundary school district in the Grand Forks area of the southern interior switched to the four-day week in September rather than close schools. Since then, the district has saved more money than jit expected, while student and staff absentee- ism has dropped, a Boun- ents, students, and staff has found. Coast Mountains school trustees approved moving to a four day week after an all-day session on poten- tial cost-cutting measures March 1, making this the first district in B.C. to fol- low Boundary’s lead. Assistant superintendent Rob Greenwood said pro- vincial exam results and report card marks in Boun- dary have held steady with " last year. “Marks are the same, or better,” he. said. He admits it's too early to tell what impact the four-day week has had on so-called “at risk”’ kids. ‘week is not mak- But indicators like student ab- senleeism and discipline referrals suggest a four-day ing things worse. The = survey suggests the four day week has not C had a negative curricular activi- ties, teacher morale, pre- paration lime, homework, or even daycare arrange- ments. Greenwood has spoken to a number of school prin- cipals there. They told him the key is to give each schoo] enough flexibility Rob impact on extra Greenwood to adjust to the needs of students. One school now offers recess later in the afternoon. ‘| Another found it made a big dif- ference when ‘| teachers allow students to bring snacks to class. Ninety per cent of students Houndary are bussed to school. The survey: found one community favoured the four-day week, even though the children have a two-hour bus ride each way to school. “The kids would rather do it four days a week than in- five.” Greenwood said princi- pals have also found stu- dents are able to cope with a longer day. “All the administrators said they find the students are more focused.” The Boundary district has saved more money than expected, Greenwood added, The> board estimated a 20 per cent savings in operating expenses. Since staff absenteeism is down, ihe district has had to hire far fewer substitute tea- chers this year. “They're looking at a significant savings,” Greenwood said. dary district survey of par- French immersion, band in jeopardy ‘It looks to be the death of the music program’ By JENNIFER LANG TEARS FLOWED in a French immersion class at Skeena Junior last week as news that the school district will no longer guarantee the program at the secondary level reached stu- dents. While, the district isn’t cutting French Im- mersion, trustees say they are no longer pre- pared to subsidize the high school ‘program at the expense of other courses. Skeena’s French immersion students now fear years of hard work is about to go down the drain, because they don’t know if they'll be able to take the senior level courses they need to graduate from the program. “We're all really concerned,” said Alyssa Carson, a French immersion student at Skee- na, where students are taking the news pretty. : - the bottom,” Skeena Jr. instructor Urs: Gasser said. “Turn off the valve. To cut. it at the top is absblufely unfait, he said: “J do: not. see. ge: how : hard, ° * In a moving appeal to the school board. last’ week, Carson told school trustees the decision eS is unfair lo students a, only need a few more courses to graduate from the program. “This is my tenth year. You can’t just go that far and drop it and have nothing to prove - no certificate, no nothing,” she said. “There aren't many of us, But everyone in there right now wants to be there. We want to. learn French.” Ironically, the next. day education minister Christy Clark issued a press release trumpeting B.C.’s French immersion programs. . Terrace’s program is actually one of the most successful in the province, witha higher per-capita enrolment than urban programs. “A lot of the Grade 11s were pretty P.O.'d,” said Carson's older brother, Brad, a French immersion student at Caledonia, “It’s really not a happy situation for anybody.” =. Cal’s Grade 11/12 French immersion class has 18 students this year, which isn’t enough to qualify as a lab class of 21, or a A regular class of 26 students. : “If you. want to cut the program, eut it at anybody can justify such a decision.” On March 5, board chair Peter King said the district doesn’t intend to scrap French im- mersion, “It is to pul it on the same footing as other programs.” King added the district hasn’t given upona proposal to offer a late French immersion pro- gram that would bolster numbers when the two streams join at the secondary level. ee | Local high school band students are also on high alert: Their teachers fear larger class sizes announced last week could spell the end of Terrace’s award- “winning high school music programs. “Tt looks to be the death of the music pro- gram in this district,” Terrace Teachers’ Union president Richard Eckert said last week. “He said teachers have told him they expect just 15 students plan to enrol in Grade 8 band at Thornhill Junior next year, which may be too few students to offer the course, “If the.Grade 8 program dies, that means the:Grade 9 program will die next year," Eck- ert said; “And it's a house of cards because the Caledonia program will die after that,” CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Watch that wish An open letter to; Terrace City Council,. City Planning Committee, : Terrace and District Chamber of Commerce Dear Sirs: Be careful what you wish for: I have: lived in Terrace for the past 13- years, certainly long enough for me to learn to love ‘it here and consider Terrace my home. At the moment Terrace i is. the place ] want to spend my retirement. I think the community of Terrace should ‘be a bit cautious’ by the proposed Wal-Mart store. A couple of years ago I watched a CBC Fifth Estate program about Wal-Mart and it was sure an eye opener, This mega store’s sole aim is tomake money by driving other stores out of business. They don’t want to just compete in a fair market place with other stores. They want it all for themselves. Yes, the big bad mega store is knocking at our door. The CBC program identified what their business ethic is, They target economically depressed (yes I am’ ss afraid that Terrace is economically depressed | the moment) unsuspecting.small towns, - In a rush to drive the local economy, ‘small towns see the stareas a boom — jobs during’ construction, jobs upon completion, tax dollars for the town coffers. ' at The store usually asks for and is usually given. all kinds of tax concessions, or free land because ine local people see the building of the store as an economic boom. When the store opens the prices are very low, which on the surface seems to benefit local consumers, They keep their prices lower than their competition for as long as it takes: for most other businesses in the community to go bankrupt. They have deep pockets since they are funded from the mother store in the USA. When many of the local stores have closed their doors Wal-Mart, which by now. has no competition, jacks up their prices. So be careful what you wish for since you may get-a community with far fewer jobs in - the long run since many of the current businesses will be closed and many of the. employment and monies which stayed in: the community with local business owners and staff will now be going to the United States and the shareholders of Wal-Mart. In some small towns Wal-Mart actually closes their stores after they have forced the other stores out of business. Will they do that here? Time will tell. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 12, 2003 - A5 ne Please contact CBC and watch the show on other small communities who have experience with Wal-- Mart. If Wal-Mart comes here I for one will be looking for a new community to retire in since I refuse to live in the kind of community which has been created as a resull of Wal-Mart. Greg McDonald, Terrace, B.C. Stop Wal- Mart now | iat! Ser ete wna Wal- Mart i is now the world’s biggest corporation. It cultivates an aw-shucks-we’re-just-folks-from- Arkansas image of neighbourly small town shop keepers trying to sell stuff cheaply to you and yours, “As Charlie Kernaghan of National’ .Labour . Committee reports, “In country : after. country, factories that produce for Wal-Mart are the worst,” adding that the bottom feeding labour policy of this one corporation. “is actually lowering standards in China, slashing wages and benefits, imposing long mandatory overtime shifts, while tolerating the arbitrary firing of workers. who even dare to discuss factory conditions,” NLC (www.nicnet. org/) interviewed workers. in China’s Guangdong province who toil in factories making popular action figures, dolls, and other toys sold at Wal-Mart. In “Toys Of Misery” a shocking 58- “page report ignored by the establishment media NLC describes: “13 - 16 hour days moulding assembling and spray painting toys from 8 am. to 9 p.m. or even midnight seven days a week, with 20 hour shifts in peak season.” Even though China’s minimum wage is 31 cents an hour — which doesn't begin to cover basic subsistence level needs.' these production workers are’ paid 13 cents an hour or less. ’ This corporation ruthlessly attacks communities and is a threat to this city. Cut it off at the pass. Scott A. Condie, Terrace, B.C. Wanted: seniors Dear Sir: I have an idea of how to inject an additional $40 million into the economy every month, AS a new resident to the area from the lower ‘mainland, I am able to see what this area has to offer. What dawned on me is that this area is ideal for tetired people. Retirees go to Kelowna/Okanagan for the dry climate to ease their arthritis/rheumatism. | Many people in the Lower Mainland are literally choking on the poor air qualily, now to be made worse by the construction of the new natural gas electricity generator the. Americans are to" build” in Sumas. If you can attract just 20,000 people with a net disposable income from their retirement income of $2000/month, that equates to $40 million per month. You can promote air quality, reasonable accommodation, leisure services, home care support, reasonable climate. No home invasions. Security, skilled maintenance, scenic areas, airport, shops and stores, commercial centre and low traffic. One of the best benefits for me has been the ‘air quality. For the first time in my life I am able to breathe through my nose. Paul Hudson, Terrace, B.C. About the Mail Bag The Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our address is 3210 Clinton St, Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at newsroom @terracestandard.com, No attachments, please. We need your name, address and phone number for verification. Our - deadline is noon Friday. or hoon Thuraday iu si a long | weekend, — ord