ts - Pe b loent Moad Caledonia still ranked _ April 6. would ultimately like to . has a smoke pit - we under- ‘ . nior Secondary. ~usight of. why they’re at_ _ Student body is mostly re- near bottom By DUSTIN QUEZADA LOCAL SCHOOL district administrators say they’ re not concerned with the low ratings given to the area’s three high schools in a think tank’s yearly results released last week.. “I don’t pay attention to the Fraser Institute’s rankings,” said Cam Mackay, Caledonia Senior Secondary School prin- cipal. “We already know our exam results.” Caledonia slipped from a 5.7 out of 10 rating last year, to a 5.5 rating this year. The: ratings measure eight indicators, including aver- age provincial exam mark, percentage of provincial exams failed, the gap between, a school and the provincial exam average, gender differences in math and English results, graduation rate and the number of Provincially- examinable courses taken per student. Data can’t tell the whole story; says Mackay. “Private schools and (wealthy area-schools) will always ‘have a much higher level compared to:the North,” he said. “But, all the clientele is different.”. School board chair Lorrie Gowen agreed, saying no other district has the range or diversity of race and economic class- es seen in schools here. Peter Cowley, the Vancouver-based institute’ s director of | school performance studies and co-author of the report, says. ’ aschool’s cultural diversity shouldn’t be a factor. “Some’ schools. simply: do. better than’ “others,” Cowley said. However, the author did point out the rankings include — parents’ average education in years, a stat, with few excep- . tions he said, runs in direct correlation with income. ~ « Gowen said she. doesn’t put much stock into the yearly - results, preferring instead to focus on the job they’re doing. “We’re. concerned with making strides ourselves and. ' what the students do,” she said. Cowley said school administrators need not use the find- ings for comparison, but to compare them to ‘their own his- ~ tory. Despite a poor overall mark and little evidence of im- provement. at Caledonia, Cowley said the school has im- proved over five years in the number of provincially-exam- inable courses taken. Of 282 B.C. high schools,. the Terrace school ranked no. 199. Mount Elizabeth Secondary in Kitimat and Hazelton Secondary came in at no. 226 and 259 respectively. : The public policy group has been ranking: schools for 12 years. School smoking pits not moving © to neighbourhood By DUSTIN QUEZADA . scHea DISTRICT 8: 82 is still looking for a way y to address , . the problem of student smoke pits. A proposed policy that would have seen smokers pushed . 50 metres off school property didn’t.even go to a vote on “We'll revisit it rather than push “it,” said Lorrie - Gowen, the board’s chair. “We'd like to focus more on cessation and helping smok- ers quit.” The plan: was turfed be- cause it was seen as down- loading the smoke. pit prob- lem into the neighbourhood. . Gowen said pushing stu- denits “away from the school might work in an-urban area, but not here. .. Where we're situated, we're too close to people’s houses.” Gowen said the’ district Lorrie Gowen abolish smoke pits, calling the practice of underage ' smoking illegal. But, for now, she said the district will try to revise the existing policy before the end of this school year. “Every single high school stand that they .exist,” she — said. “We want to find a bal- - -ance between addressing — (smoke pits) and promoting a healthy lifestyle.” Discipline is also a bal- ance, says Cam Mackay, principal of Caledonia Se- “We don’t want. to lose The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - A9 Since 1986 ‘Canwood ha s been dedicated to producing superior -solid. lodgepole pine furniture that is . _ both beautiful in nature and versatile by design. Project Green: Towards a healthier environment GE 4501 Lakelse Ave Terrace, BC. 638- 1158. 1-800-813-1158. 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Project Green “ - A Plan for Honouring our Kyoto Commitment 57 yeuraebmsipehoore sure” Moving Forward on » Climate Change’ € Canad Government of Canada Gouvernement: du Canada school — for education,” he said. “If we do have to pun- » ish them, we like to keep them in-school.” While Mackay said his spectful, going off-property to smoke, some require dis- meet -cipline. eS Students caught smoking en wp on school property are first | = Oe warmed and repeat offend- ers at Caledonia will get. in- school suspensions or Friday school, where students come in on their day off. Mackay said the school eRear.Bunks — °18 foot awning . will move the existing smok- ing pit from its current loca- tion at the public bus stop, so MSRP | students disembarking don’t have to wade through clouds $23,300 of smoke. 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