ee rE, "Be - . The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, Apri 26, 2006 ey ae ee CEENETe 261 ey ATE ee NN RRL AR EAA RS . (Ea i eA le NO OY ree me A > JUST A THOUGHT ‘EV BISHOP - Spring has. sprung. - uestion: ‘What makes’ a’ large. spatting sound and goes “Ow, ow, ow"?.>" * _Answer: Ev Bishop playing Ground, ‘ers in the rain and falling to her near oO ‘ death. (several ' times) near a weird | climbing pole thingy. Yes, April has arrived. ‘And April, at least in my * ‘household, is a synonym for Grounders—So that » ~ means Grounders time has come again! Ground- _ ers, for those who haven’t played in a playground recently, is a. game involving blindness—figura--_ tive, not literal—playground | forts and the old-. _ fashioned, now re- vamped, “tag, you're it!” The _ * person who’s “it” must keep his or her eyes closed . "at all times, while the people being pursued climb, - caper, and .cower’on the playground. equipment 7 with their eyes wide open. | - - the | pea gravel and the clever “it”. happens to call, _“Grounders!” the unlucky gravel walker becomes it However, if “it” gets cheater-ish and wimpy.” -. (fearing a fall'to its death) ‘and opens his or her “eyes: and is: spotted doing so? Well,-it’s a serious _ “Broken Glass!” (Yeah,.I don’t understand why _.it’s called that either) and “it” has to go back to the ~ * deemed. starting place, spin three times, and start ‘the chase all over again. .— Ahhhh... the good old season ‘of grounders—I mean spring! ‘ So yes, spring has officially started, heralded in with definite Terrace Style by a deluge of liq- its rain, freakish moments of sun, emerging flow- ers, and longer and longer hours of light, has me more than a little giddy (due, I’m sure, to higher levels of vitamin D). ° ; It’s not just that I have six months of Grounders _ ahead of me that’ makes me. love this season. It’s - not just that the school year is almost over and that _ . there’ll be two months of playtime with my kids. It’s not just that we can all go barefoot again and -.that I can quit wasting my time trying to match socks from the dryer. “People: here hide during . the winter months. Then, just. like crocuses, they push their heads out of the ground and . Start to appear in public at the first hint that warm n weather's: on its way.” ” . It’s that spring promises that summer is com- , ‘ing. It’s that I can read and drink coffee outside again (well, I always could, but now I can do it without freezing). It’s that the lake will be swim- « mable soon (and’no, swimmable isn't really a . word—but it should be). It’s that things are turning green again, just when I knew I couldn't stand an- other day of grey. It’s that my Clematis survived its first winter! It’s the smell of sap running in trees. It’s the soft green haze of budding leaves. It’s*so” many, many things. I’m not the only one who appears to be wildly happy that spring is here. Terrace comes to life at this: time of year. I swear I’ve seen more people I know in the last two weeks than I did during Oc- tober through March. People here hide during the. winter months. Then, just like crocuses, they push their heads out of the ground and start to. appear in ' public at the first hint. that warm weather's on its - way. Or at least that’s what I do—Come to think of it, maybe everyone else was out and about all . along and it was just-me in hibernation. Come to © think of it again... nah. I’m not the only one who’s noticed this Terrace phenomenon. Everywhere I go there are people.walking, jog- ging, full out running, biking, and playing in the - parking (Ha, just making sure you're reading care- ' fully—That’d be playing in the park. Playing in the parking would just be dangerous). Perhaps this column is a little silly—That’s what spring does. It makes you silly. Makes you smile. Makes you feel just a little bit better about | ' most things around you. Or it should. If it hasn’t, . perhaps you just need to get out in it more. Traipse down the Millennium Path, Explore Howe Creek Trail (the creek is home to a very cute duck cou- ple!). Check out the crooks and crannies of our small city. Play in a park! If chasing your kids blindly over a jungle gym doesn’t make you feel good—Well, you're either really sane or really sad. In both cases, I’d recommend coffee with a lot of sugar and a return trip to the park. Yes, spring has sprung... and hopefully every muscle I have hasn’t gone along with it! Happy spring, everyone! ~T£ one of the chased clambers off the fort onto . 9 6 By DUSTIN QUEZADA "THE PRINCIPAL of the Na Aksa_ Gila Kyew Learning Centre in ' Kitsumkalum was on the verge of closing the school last year when she . had a visitor who would prove.to be-. -an integral part of its rejuvenation: Charlotte Guno, who is also the © education administrator for the Kit- sumkalum band, says she was in a dilemma after four years of medio- cre results at the school. She needed a teacher and she needed to change the learning cen- tre’s approach. That’s when Colleen Austin paid her a visit and said she’d apply for the school’s teaching job. -Guno’'said she sensed Austin, who worked previously as a substitute in the public school system and the co-- ordinator of the Connections Room at Skeena Junior Secondary, was _ the best possible fit for the school at such a critical time. Moving forward with Austin as teacher, the principal also decided to make the school only accessible to students 19 years of age and over. Previously, adults had been mixed _ with.students who had not been able to stay in the public system in Ter- race. “The mix wasn’t very good,” Guno said. “We realized that there were a lot of potential students that History captured in hardcover By DUSTIN QUEZADA . force for them — they — and those that are f} 638-7283 would beriefit from the Adult Dog: wood (Grade 12 graduation).” The school currently has 15 full- time and 7 part-time students and Guno says besides a couple of 19- year-olds, the schools is composed -of. adults ranging in age: from 23 to. . aq Bay } “This age group wants their educa- tion,” Guno - said. “That’s the driving want it.” And Guno’ says the result had been remarkable. “We’re near a 100 per-cent turnaround. — ifsthat’s possible,” said Guno adding all the current. students are on task to pass eligible - to gradu- ate. : “It totally warms my. heart,” Austin said. “I knew [my students] could do it, they just need- ed an opportunity for a formal edu- “cation.” The task of going back to school at any level can be daunting, espe- cially: when it’s been eight to 10 . years or more. Single moms, the unemployed. A CONVERSATION Kinsman’ Andy Roth had ‘four years-ago has turned him into an author of a book commemorating the local club’s 60th anniversary. Over those four years, Roth interviewed cur- rent and former Terrace Kinsmen and Kinettes to come up with a coherent theme. - - ' - The result is A History of Kin - : Stories of Ter- race Kinsmen and Kinettes. The 115-page book comprises 10 narratives divulging the history of post-war Terrace, the club and its members. . “Tt’s a-continuous narrative of present and for- ”’ said Roth, adding the interviews mer Kinsmen, are chronological. Inthe book’ s introduction, Roth writes that he wasn’t sure if people would want to read a book about the history of the Terrace Kinsmen. “Instead of writing about events that happened to other people. I would get those people to tell . me directly and I would present that conversation _as history,” he writes. So from charter members Curley Casey and Lloyd Johnston, through to current member Louis. Bibaud. Roth carves a candid and amusing look at - the service club’s work since 1946. “[ wanted the narrative to capture the flavour of the Kinsmen,” Roth said. “Some of it is positive, some of it is negative. Colleen Austin From left, Na ‘Aksa Gila Kyew, Learning ( Centre students Patrick Collins, Angel Roberts and Deborah Parker take a break from their school . . work earlier this month. The school’ S. trailer, at Kitsumkalum, has been refurbished j in its interior. | itsumkalum ; - people between jobs — they’ re the. ~~ ones looking to start anew and tackle unfinished business. Angel Roberts, 36, said she heard about the school while working at Wal-Mart: ST was tired of working a: mini-. . mum wage job,” she said. “It felt good to quit because I know I can get a better _ paying job.” Roberts needed a - semester and a half, including math 11, First Nations stud- ies 12, family man- personal planning 12 and English 12. open a daycare for _ newborns "year-olds on the re- serve and she'll be one of six current students enrolled at nity College in Sep- tember — Roberts in the Early Child-| hood Education program. Roberts says she relished the at- mosphere of learning with her peers « ‘and thé school has opened her eyes to her own community. Guno has noticed the change with - the students, too. ’ fortune.- - agement, career and . Her goal is to to two- | Northwest Commt- . fairs Canada. ~ be taking registrations until May. ve DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO ° 7 “We’ re. beginning to see a suc- cessful spillover in the community,” “[{Students] are seeing how im- portant being involved in their own children’s education is,” Guno said. Guno says her faith in Austin proved correct and that she has been pivotal in the school’s reversal of “Colleen is one-of-a-kind,” said Guno. ‘“She’s knowledgeable in all aspects — math, sciences, social stud- ies, English and career.and personal planning — it has worked out.” In previous years, Guno said her teachers were experts in certain fields but didn’t have the overall skills Austin possesses. “Colleen’ S$ personality just draws you in,” Guno continued. “The stu- dents have a high respect for her.” Now the challenge will be to con- | tinue the school’s success in Sep- tember. The learning centre, operating. out of a trailer the band bought from | the local school district, uses the curriculum from the Northcoast Dis- tance Education (part of. the Coast Mountains School District) and is funded by Indian and Northern Af- Tt has five spaces left for its Sep- tember to January semester and will Only Kitsumkalum band members are cligible to attend the school. KINSMEN: Andy Roth and Patrick Mcintyre proudly leaf through the book they've collabo- rated on. it celebrates Kin’s 60-year history in Terrace. DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO “It’s not a pretty or perfect history — it’s peo- ple’s lives in their own words.” When Kinsman Bruce Martindale told Roth that in the early 1990s he “ate, slept, breathed and s**t Kinsmen,” that’s what you'll read. Life member Gary Reum tells Roth of the ini- tiation rites new members had to endure in the 1950s, such as drinking beer from a pisspot with a chocolate bar floating in the suds! While the book singles out 10 members, it’s the collective service clubs’ work achieved through 60 years that is the focus. Cont’d Page B3