June/July 2013 - Community Connections

Community Connections Page 22
June/July 2013
SCHOOL MATTERS
By Gordon Wetmore
gordonwetmore@yahoo.ca
For the school year 2012-2013,
this is the last issue of the
Community Connections. It is my
pleasure to thank on behalf of our
little publication the many students,
teachers, administrators, and
support staffs of our elementary and
secondary schools from Kanesatake
to Rosemere for their help and
support. In particular, the
Community Connection owes a huge
thank you to the office secretarial
staffs and teachers at McCaig,
Mountainview and St. Jude
elementary schools who count out
and distribute 1000 copies for the
students to take home.
In every year, certain projects or
events stand out. For me, the
number one initiative this school
year was the week dedicated to
intercultural activities by Lake of
Two Mountains High School. The
first activity, a ceremony granting
citizenship to 29 new Canadians,
took place on the same day that
terrorists exploded two bombs
among the spectators at the Boston
Marathon. What better time
could there have been to
underscore the need for
knowledge, understanding and
acceptance? The stories coming
out of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission
show us in exclamation marks
the cost of ignorance ,
misunderstanding and refusing
to accept.
Danielle Sauvageau, speaking
to the students gathered to take
in this year’s Red and Blue
Hockey Game, told them to
realize that they are the leaders
of tomorrow. The speakers at
the We Day conference last fall had
the same message and made it one
of hope for the future. Intercultural
Week, We Day, Idle No More and
even the Red and Blue Game aimed
to open eyes and unite those leaders
of tomorrow. And we adults, the
leaders of today, set the stage for the
tomorrow they will lead.
Perhaps one way to generate a
move from conflict to co-operation
and mutual benefits is for the Sir
Wilfrid Laurier School Board to find
a way to keep school populations
balanced. Right now there are
situations where one school’s
population is dropping while
another in close proximity has more
applicants than it can accommodate.
The situation is occurring in more
t h a n o n e
community within
t he S W L S B ’s
jurisdiction. The
problem is that all
the schools have
s o u n d
administrations,
good teachers,
and effective
programs. I have
been in a school losing students and
in a school suffering overcrowding
– and they were both the same
school in different decades. Why
did it shrink at one time and grow
to bursting another? Inaccurate
perceptions, mostly, and I think that
is what is causing the imbalances
now. It would be marvellous if the
SWLSB can come up with a
balancing formula that does not
involve artificial boundaries, which
only make parents bad tempered.
To the graduates, best of luck in
the great adventure. You are the
leaders of tomorrow. Take care of
each other and respect the cultures
that all of us other humans came
from.