(f)  50th year planning - As part of the planning process for the 50th and to ensure we retain as much of the club's history and background as possible for a publication in that year as well as populating the club's archives, we are calling on all present and former members to search for all photos and memorabilia they may have.  We will also be interviewing members and chronically the club's history.  More on how this will unfold over the next month. In the interim, start looking for your treasures and long pack-away souvenirs.  Contact Liz with whatever you may have.

This was a virtual club meeting. There were 18 Rotarians present with guests Elaine Hughes and several members of the Bridge (Thomas Brock) family. The meeting began with the usual practice of including pre-meeting time for conversation, conviviality, and opportunities to connect with fellow members.

 

Invocation was given by Roger   "....We ask you to guide and direct our club in leadership and action."

 

Liz presented Toasts to Canada, Queen, the Office of the President and Rotary International.  

 

Marie introduced speaker Mat Miller, fellow Rotarian and Principal of Grimsby District High School. 

 

School boards in the province have been allowed to develop their own systems of delivering quality education. There are three learning streams available for students at Grimsby Secondary School.  i. fully on-line   ii. in-person   iii. adaptive (mixture of i and ii).

 

Students are arranged in cohorts with class sizes adjusted to conform to rules of social distancing. School policies conform to guidelines outlined by the Board, in conjunction with the Ministries of Education and Public Health.  The same variety of classes, as in a regular school year, remain available. Kids are connected with teachers and each other. There is ease of transfer from on-line learning to in-person learning and vice versa. Covid has had minimal impact on either student or teacher absenteeism.

 

Strategies are in place for intervention and assistance to students who are struggling and for those who require special assistance in learning. Extra curricular activities remain in place such as Students' Council, Talent Shows, RPG, Ethics Bowl, Yearbook and numerous other student clubs and groups. School commences at 9:30 am. To ensure proper social separation, Students, including those who are bussed, enter through different doorways. Dismissal is class by class commencing at the east end of the school with bussed students exiting first. There is a late bus to accommodate those students who have after-school activity involvement. School bus protocol includes a seating plan, masks and spacing. Siblings may sit together. 

 

The new school, West Niagara Secondary School, will have a capacity of 1500 students. Board planners have completed thorough demographic/population growth studies and the school should easily accommodate any student population growth adjustments, if required, in the future. Externally, the school will include a turf field and a rubberized track. In addition to upgraded high tech classrooms and science labs, the school will host a wide variety of shops affording student opportunities to pursue education in an array of technical subjects, including construction, manufacturing, health care, welding, hospitality, horticulture, robotics and others. Cooperative Education continues with transportation support often provided by families, students able to drive themselves and arrangements with transportation services.

 

The facility will include a greenhouse. There will be two double gyms. The new school will have a large cadre of athletes available for school teams and intra-mural sports activity will be stressed as an important student activity. Sports Leadership will be taught as a course. Approval for a 750 seat theatre has been concluded with a fund raising project of 2.6 million dollars required to complete construction. The theatre will be accessible to the community for both civic events and for private rentals. Community will also have access to things such as catering services through the Food Service/Hospitality programs. Rotary will be using GSS Film Studies students to provide filming support for our upcoming Paul Harris Recognition Event.   

The school's logo is a composition including colours and components of the three legacy schools; Grimsby, Beamsville and South Lincoln. Team name: 'The Wolfpack' 

For more school information, see http://westniagara.dsbn.org/ 

                                                                    

In conclusion, Mat summed up his thoughts by expressing his feeling that there is too much negative narrative and not enough positive being told about the new school. Soil remediation issues are overstated and quite minor in a project of this size. Mat expressed gratitude to Rotarian and Regional Councillor, Wayne Fertich, for his ongoing support and encouragement. He finished by saying that students are motivated, parents are supportive and teachers are doing exemplary work. They all deserve our applause! 

 

Andy thanked Mat for his work as Principal at GSS, his efforts on new school construction and his valued contributions to Rotary.

 

 

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