For their daughter Parents see success lobbying for youth mental health. Page A3
NEWS: Saanich sticks with Regional Crime Unit /A3 BUSINESS: Quirky company rents typewriters /A6 SPORTS: Claremont wrestler pins provincials /A19
SAANICHNEWS Friday, March 8, 2013
Gray Rothnie
250 744 7034
www.graymatters.ca
Connected to More
®
Check us out on Twitter and Facebook and watch for breaking news at WWW.SAANICHNEWS.COM
Managing violence in schools In wake of WorkSafeBC order, SD 61 beefs up teacher safety training Kyle Slavin News staff
An anxious student pokes her teacher in the arm with a pencil to get her attention and accidentally breaks skin. A little boy with a history of outbursts throws a wooden building block out of frustration, hitting a teaching assistant in the leg, leaving a large, painful welt. While teaching likely isn’t the first occupation on the list of high-risk professions, teachers are susceptible to a certain level of violence while working with students. “In most cases these are not nasty, willful acts – they’re children who have needs that aren’t being met and are acting out in some way,” said Tara Ehrcke, president of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association. According to documents obtained by the News from WorkSafeBC, there have been at least a dozen incidents of violence against teachers in Greater Victoria schools over the past four years. But the definition of violence in the classroom is broad. Kim Munro, the district’s director of human resources, said incidents can include when a young child is “screaming aggressively” or threatens to throw an object. “In terms of workplace incidents, they tend to be relatively minor – usually involving students at the elementary school level,” Munro said. And while many of the documented incidents didn’t result in physical injury, some have led teachers to feel their workplace isn’t safe. PLEASE SEE: Safety training lacking, Page A10
Edward Hill/News staff
A great horned owl minds her three owlets, which were hatched in a planter box outside a building in the Tillicum area of Saanich. Normally a reclusive bird, it’s unusual for an owl family to nest next to an area with regular, daily commotion, but it gave several non-profit agencies the opportunity to set up live-streaming webcams through hancockwildlife.org.
Owl family lands online reality show Edward Hill News staff
The big mama shoots me a death glare – her scowling amber eyes never leave mine as three little puffballs tuck into her chest. You can’t sneak up on an owl, and this one is probably aware of every conversation and keyboard clack in the building where she’s made her home. It’s unusual behaviour, but two great
horned owls have decided to nest in a concrete planter box under a window, four storeys off the ground. Where North Saanich had its famed eagle cam, the Tillicum area of Saanich now hosts live-streaming webcams broadcasting the daily drama of an owl family. So far, much of the action is mom doting over her three down-covered owlets, while papa delivers a steady diet of rodents and birds after dark. NEW LISTING
Rare 3 Bedroom Songhees Condo! MLS 317734
RE/MAX Camosun
250.744.3301
Victoria’s Referred Realtors
“It rare to have a nest situated next to a window where there’s a lot of activity going on,” said Jeff Krieger of Alternative Wildlife Solutions, an animal control company based in Metchosin. “Usually they take over nests of crows or red tailed hawks. Here they took over a planter. It’s a strange spot. It’s quite unique.” PLEASE SEE: Owls expected to stay for weeks, Page A2
NEW LISTING
NEW LISTING
Immaculate Broadmead Condo Exquisite Mt Doug Character Home NEW LISTING
NEW LISTING
www.crozierandmarchant.com