DARRIN RUDDERHAM, left, and Kyte Cudmore, both students at houses they've created in the school's woodwork shop. They -
the new Parkside Secondary School, cradle small, wooden bird- were headed to the Clarence Michiel bazaar. AOD LINK PHOTOS

reborn

Terrace’s alternate high school programs are settling in into their new, perma-
nent homé at Parkside, a former elementary school in the Horseshoe area

HE NAME outside
may still say Parkside
Elementary but inside,
something very differ-
ent is going on.
Welcome to Parkside Sec-
. ondary School, a place where
105 teenage students are taking
_ part in three distinct programs

‘to complete their education.

'. Phe school, building became
available... late -this -past -spring
when. declining enrolments and
. budget deficits caused the school
district to.close Parkside Elemen-
-tary and shift its students else-
“where,

“Jt paved the way for the Teen
-Learning Centre and Lakelse Ju-
nior High, two alternate teen pro-
grams, to move out of rented
quarters downtown to a more suit-
able. setting.

' The third — and new — program
is called Terrace Outreach Leamn-
ing Centre where students learn
independently from a computer-
: based curriculum,

Overseeing the students and a
teaching and support staff of 14 is
‘Vice principal Doug Viguers.

.. He-says the building has im-
proved the morale of his staff and
students. :

“There’s a good-sized wood-
working shop, a room that will be-
come.a carving centre and a gym.

‘One of the advantages of ga-
-thering the three programs under
one roof is the ability ta do more
because more resources can be
shared.

“We have 30 students in the
outreach learning centre, 45 i
Lakelse and. 30 in the Teen
Learning Centre,” says Viguers of
the student population.

“There’s not a whole lot more
we could add. We're about at ca-

“pacity. We're limited’ in our num-

bers because otherwise, we be- .

come too much like a regular
school,”

WRESTING GLASS is just one of the added advantages of hav-
ing access to a gym. Until they moved into their new school this
September, Lakelse Junior High students once housed in a
downtown heritage building had to ga on field trips to take gym.

One of the real challenges this
fall since the move has been sta-
bilizing the staffing level.

Five of the six people assigned
to Lakelse are new, as are three
of the five Teen Learning Centre

‘What we want to do Is make it so good people

will want to come here.’

The layoffs district-wide be-
cause of schoo) closures and bud-
pet cuts have meant a lot of staff
movement.

staffers.

Despite that challenge, Viguers
is happy with what has been ac-
complished in a short time.

Doug Viquers

“Change is difficult, but it’s a
process we have to go through,”
he said.

The common bond between the
staff members is that they want to
be there and that they have to
play a counselling role in addition
to providing academic instruction.

Viguers also emphasizes the
community involvement of the
school in noting a community
boxing club will be using it in
January.

There are also plans to raise a
totem pole inthe spring in the
main lobby area of the school.

“What we want to do is make
it so good people will want to
come here,” says Viguers.

“The physical plant we had be-
fore sent a message but what we
have now sends another message
— we're a legitimate entity, a real
entity and now we have the facili-
ties to match the program,” he
says.

And by the way, the new sign
naming the building as Parkside
Secondary School is set to go up
anytime.

Students to join school planning
councils as voting members

By JENNIFER LANG
SENIOR HIGH school students in the Coast
Mountains School District will have a voice

on school planning councils,

The advisory bodies were made mandatory

earlier this year.

School districts were originally told they
must include the school principal, three par-
ents and one teacher on each of the councils,
which are supposed to develop school plans for
academic improvement and other goals.
School trustees added an amendment to the
district’s new policy that makes a student re-
presentative a requirement for school councils

at senior highs.

. Student councils would elect one student in
Grade 11 or 12 to sit on their school’s planning
council, joining the principal, a teacher and

three parents as voting members.

Kitimat trustee’ Barry Pankhurst said the

education ministry now expects dis-
iricts to include senior high school
siudents on the councils.

In adding students to the new po-
licy, this district is ahead of other

districts,

be included.”

This school year is considered a
transition year so the councils get

established.

each school.

“I think we have a chance here
to be a leader in the province,”
newly-elected Thornhill trustee Lor-
rie Gowen said when the motion
was debated in December.

*T think students have valuable
things to say and I think they should

- They'll be expected to prepare school plans
setting out educational and academic goals at

Lorrie Gowen

| The district circulated a draft po-

licy on school planning councils to
PACs and teachers that was based
on a template provided by the B.C,
School Trustees Association. .
Hazelton (trustee Jessica Miko-
layezyk warned it may be a chal-
lenge getling parents in the Hazel-
ton area to take part in the school
planning councils.

It’s already difficult to get enough
parents out to form a school PAC,
she said,

School plans will have to be ap-
proved by the school district.

In order to save lime, a liaison will

be meeting with individual coun- .
cils and reporting back to the school board as
a way to ensure the plans comply, district
superintendent Randy Smallbrugge said.

- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 15, 2003 - A5

Ex-Parksiders
didn’t flock to
private school

By JENNIFER LANG
THE CLOSURE of a primary school in Terrace’s Horse-
shoe area hasn’t resulted in an influx of students at near-
by Centennial Christian School.

Centennial received a lot of inquiries from interested’
parents last spring, when school district officials warned
that Parkside Elementary would be closed and turned
into an alternate high school.

Some parents had threatened to pull their children out
of the public school system -as'a way to protest the deci-
sion.

But a large scale transfer of displaced Parkside stu-
tents didn’t happen, Centennial principal Frank Voogd
sai

Centennial did welcome six x former Parkside students
this fall. But two of the new families had already made
inquiries about Centennial Christian school prior to the
schoel board’s announcement.

“I don’t think we gained a huge amount by the
unrest,” Voogd said.

Voogd said parents of some of his new students had
already expressed interest in enrolling their children at
Centennial because it offers a Christian education. .

The situation was similar at Veritas school, a private
Catholic school located in the Horseshoe neighbourhood.
A handful of former Parkside students did enrol in the
fall but overall school numbers are up for other reasons.

Centenniai’s student numbers climbed to 255 this
school year — up about 10 students from last year.

“E don’t think it was a direct result of Parkside
closing,” Voogd said.

It comes down to simpte arithmetic, Centennial’s
first-ever graduating class was small; just six students.

They were replaced by a Kindergarten class twice
that size al 12 students, —

The school welcomed 18 new students in Grades 1 to
12 this year. In addition to the six from Parkside, the
new students came from Thornhill Elementary, Thornhill
Junior, Clarence Michiel Elementary, and Skeena Junior

Secondary.

Meanwhile, some students left Centennial Christian
School in order fo return to the public school system.
“There’s been a lot of moving in and out,” Voogd

said.

The school’s population is holding steady, but is ex-
periencing some growing pains. More classroom space
for upper-level specialty courses will be needed.

“We are looking at how to make more classroom

space,” Voogd said.

That may mean portables, renting, or building extra

classrooms, he said.

THE OUTREACH learning centre, new this fall, has
room for up to 30 students who learn using compu-
ter software. Above, instructor Terry Marlaau is
seen with students Craig Laberge, Brandy Benson

and Jamilee Boake.

Outreach centre
helps students |
resume studies

THE NEW program at the
new Parkside Secondary
School has 30 students
using computer programs
allowing them to learn at
their own pace.

Those students attend-
ing the Terrace Outreach
Learning Centre either
weren't in school or strug-
pled in a classroom set-
ting, says instructor Terry
Marleau.

The program is sired
at students who are 19 and
under ‘but there are a few
older students in it as well,
he said.

Students rely heavily on
a computer program to fal-
low subject modules but
textbooks are also avail-
able,

Students are asked to
put in a minimum of 15
hours per week but are en-
couraged to put in more
hours to complete at least
one course by the end of
the school year.

“It’s self-paced but we
also establish - learning

contracts [with students],”
Marleau said. ;

Students can take any
course from Grades 8-12
and are equivalent to regu-
lar high school courses,

Students will be able to,
write Grade 12 provincial’
exams at nearby Caledo-:
nia Senior Secondary.

Students completing all
the required courses for
graduation will receive an
official dogwood certifi-
cate credited to Thornhill
Junior Secondary School,

Craige Laberge.is in
Grade 11 and enjoys the
the outreach program.

“If you're an indepen-*
dent learner, this gives you
8 better chance,” said La-
berge, ‘who attended Cale.
donia Senior Secondary
last year.

Ancther student,: Jami--
lee Boake, is finishing her~
Grade 12 after moving to.
Terrace from Edmonton.

“| heatd about the -pro- ’
gram and here I am,” she
said,