Students from Robert Moore School’s Builders Club were presented with a certificate of excellence from Rainy River District School Board chair Dan Belluz last night in recognition for their service to their school and community.
The board invited staff and students involved with the Builders Club to describe their organization and their work.
The club provides young people aged 12-15 with the opportunity to help others and serve their school and community, explained Sarah Freeman-Kivimaki, a Grade 7 teacher at Robert Moore and teacher liaison for the club.
The club is sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club and is the only one of its kind in Northwestern Ontario.
Members have participated in projects like Robert Moore’s annual barbecue in June, the local Santa Claus and July 1 parades, as well as various Kiwanis activities, including “Lunch with Santa” and the Good Friday breakfast.
They volunteer their time to play board games with residents at Rainycrest, and accompany Kiwanis members in the Meals on Wheels program.
The club also raises funds for various causes in the community, like Friends of Animals and the Salvation Army.
“The students are making a positive impact in our school and in our community, and I am extremely proud of them,” said Robert Moore principal Penny Newman.
The club was first formed in 2000 and has been growing ever since. It currently sports 30 members, including president Kailey Bonner-Vickers, vice-president Brittainy Spence, secretary Katrina Wreggitt, and treasurer Moretta Onichuk.
“Basically what we’re trying to build up is a core of young people who would like to continue that service once they reach adulthood,” said Kiwanis member and club sponsor Ken Koprowski.
“We are just delighted to be the sponsoring club,” he added.
In other news, due to a lack of a quorum last night, the board was unable to hold a regular meeting but instead proceeded as a committee of the whole.
The three trustees who attended—chair Dan Belluz, Gord McBride, and Margaret Heyens—agreed the meeting should proceed, with matters requiring a vote to be postponed until a later date.
Superintendent of Education Terry Ellwood presented a recent study from Queen’s University professor Alan King on the success rate of students in the so-called “double cohort.”
The study showed 76.5 percent of academic level students under the new system completed a full complement of 16 credits by the end of Grade 10, compared to 79.7 percent of advanced level students under the old system.
Ellwood noted this difference in achievement was not very serious.
But the study also showed only 35 percent of applied level students under the new system completed a full complement of 16 credits by the end of Grade 10, compared to 57.4 percent of general level students under the old one.
“Kids are now missing a great number of credits in the Grade 9 and 10 area,” Ellwood said. “It’s something we’ve really got to react to and make some changes in that area.”
He noted once students reach Grade 11 and higher, they have a rate of success comparable to students in the old system.
“Where it’s not working is in Grades 9 and 10. . . . But it’s something we can fix, I think,” Ellwood said.
Also last night, the three trustees on hand:
•reviewed a recommendation to move to a modified school year for 2004-05, with classes beginning Aug. 31, 2004;
•heard an update on the construction at J.W. Walker School, which is 70 percent complete; and
•reviewed a report on class size in the board’s elementary schools.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
