AB - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 31, 200] Got an ‘E’ for effort Dear Sir: The CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD You mention that trustees met only thing ‘funny’ about your Oct. 24 editor- ial entitled “Funny Stuff” is that, as the editor of the paper you did not think it ne- cessary to determine the facts before of- fering your opinion. You imply throughout that the tea- chers, through the school district’s educa- tion committee, are trying to usurp the authority of the school board; The propo- sal to impose a 40 per cent. requirement for literacy activities in primary grades never had the status of a “plan.” On Sept. 12 the assistant superinten- dent brought an idea before the board that she had not discussed with anyone else. At her request, the matter was referred to the education committee. All partner groups have voice and vote on this advi- sory committee. Teacher representatives pointed out that the primary program does not have discrete time requirements for parts of the curriculum because its foun- dation is an integrated and balanced liter- acy program. Literacy activities are pervasive throughout the day for primary students. In fact, it’s easier to define what does not have a strong literacy component than to describe all the activities that do. Prescribing 40 per cent of instructional time for literacy would probably result in a reduction in many, if not most class- rooms. Far from obstructing the examina- lion of the time and strategies devoted to literacy instruction in this district, the education committee recommended that present practice be examined and recom- mendations for change be based upon the resulting information. The Mail Bag with the deputy minister last week and wan- ted to know if they can include literacy in a performance contract. A sim- ple phone call would have tald you that the meeting did not take place. It was postponed by the deputy minister. If per- formance contracts are going to be en- tered into, my ex- : pectation is that they will include literacy goals in. a- central way. Your question attributed to trustees is ridiculous and serves only your agenda of | stirring the community pot. The fact that you state that your edi- lorial is not teacher bashing does not make if so. The premises of your editorial are without foundation and do a disser- vice to the educational community. Tea- chers stand willing to examine present practice and to participate with admin- istration in devising recommendations for more effective methods wherever it can be demonstrated that such methods exist. We continue to be vigilant against false accusations and criticisms. In an- swer to your questionof who's in charge, teachers acknowledge the authority of ad- ministrators, boards, and governments. However, we expect suggestions for change to be professionally credible and believe that we have a responsibility to inform decisions of other groups in light of our experiences. Frank Rowe, President, Terrace and District Teachers’ Union Frank Rowe Learning should be fun Dear Sir: Your editorial of Oct. 24 was very in- teresting. I have long maintained that learning the three R's is of paramount im- portance. When I was 7 years old I taught my five-year-old brother the alphabet, first from A to Z, and then from Z ta A; then the sounds of each letter, When | was in Grade 3 we started learning the times tables. My oldest sister was 12, I had two sisters and two brothers. We spent our evenings with a coal oil lamp. We had no toys, ‘just an old deck of cards. Our chores outside came first. We read,our few books over and over. I memorizedéPeter Rabbit. With this ‘sce-. Dear Sir: Someone once said that there is no great loss, but what there is, is some small gain, As much as most all civilized people would prefer peace to war it sometimes takes a war to jolt a nation into reality and the consequences of not being united in a time of war. ~ This is my point of argument against native law over-riding Canadian law to any degree. In order to maintain a strong country it has to be unified under on so- oma ¢ »b: ith ‘8Ce i. corrected, vo nario we siipply learned atidenjoyed the” _ The law unites us all basics of life. 1 still remember how I brag- ged about getting 100% in arithmetic in the June exam of 1932. I was also very good in spelling. I loved poetry, and | liked memory work. Today the youngsters have computers, calculators and books galore and many more opportunities to learn anything but I think the basics are still all important. ] think it should be a fun exercise for par- ents — every day. Don’t put the onus all on the teachers. ‘ Learning should be fun for all kids, If i isn’t then there is something wrong with our methods, vereign law. By creating race-based na- tions within a nation it divides the nation and weakens its power. This makes it possible to be infiltrated from within. I hope people of all races will now un- derstand the need to unite as one strong force under one sovereign nation and one Canadian flag. We’re going to go down if we don’t. Lloyd Brinson, Speaker, B.C. 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