The CAMROSE BOOSTER June 4, 2013
8
Letters to the Editor
MCHAPPY DAY PROCEEDS
McDonald's operations supervisor Richard Martins, from left to right, Camrose owner Maddie Sharma, Camrose Special Olympics athlete George "Rocky" Hagel, Special Olympics volunteer Carol Wideman and Ronald McDonald gathered to celebrate the $4,357 raised during McHappy Day on May 8 for the local program. Proceeds from each market were split 50/50 between the local Special Olympics and Ronald McDonald House. Then the two splits from Wetaskiwin and Camrose were added together for the Ronald McDonald House.
Letters are welcomed but please limit them to 500 words or less and sign with first name, initial, surname, address and phone number; only name of writer and city or town will be printed. Letters to third parties are not accepted. The Camrose Booster may edit for length, clarity, legality, personal abuse, good taste, public interest and availability of space. The Camrose Booster thanks you for your interest in the letters page and encourages your comments. BRSD Assessment = O
As representative of the peti-
PEN .I am a more empathic person POINTS by Berdie Fowler
Proceed with prudence! “Let us proceed with prudence,” I thought as I read several recent articles about trends in the delivery of higher education in Alberta, Canada and the USA. When post secondary education first became available via internet, it was hailed as a great opportunity for those who had no other access to continued learning – and it was. Students could sit face-to-face with a computer in their own homes and complete learning that would earn credits for a university degree. Technology has brought us education by internet, at less cost, and now it threatens to replace the classroom experience, perhaps within the next five or ten years. It’s time for second thoughts on the subject. Is it really wise to totally replace the classroom experience? Dr. Allen Berger, dean of the University of Alberta Augustana Campus here in Camrose, addressed the issue in a recent “Second Thought” column in The Booster (Apr. 30/13). With technology making available “massive open on-line courses and free on-line educational materials ... " he asks "why will students in the future – perhaps as soon as 2020 – even need to come or want to come to a brick and mortar campus?” He warns that university campuses will have to have a “compelling answer” and he believes that “it is human-scale, residential campuses like Augustana that are best positioned to provide a persuasive response.” He explains, “Our advantage is that we already offer what the internet cannot and will likely never be good at providing: one-on-one relationships with caring faculty mentors; learning through in-depth discussion and problem-solving with peers; rich opportunities to apply and test learning in community settings or through guided undergraduate research; well-designed and diverse programs to help young people navigate a pathway to responsible adulthood and citizenship, etc.” Further education is more than simply learning and accepting without question what has been passed down to us. If we did that, we would still think Earth was flat. Questioning and research leads to discovery but discovery needs questioning and testing, too, before tossing out old ways which accomplished outstanding expansion of knowledge and once-believed-to-be impossible achievements – like putting a man on the moon. Dean Allen Berger hopes we will learn from observing the negative effects of massive open on-line courses that enable students in USA to “collect certificates like Easter eggs in a basket.” This thought is echoed by associate professor of physics Michael Pravica, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, writing in the Edmonton Journal, (May 24/13). He says “Beyond instilling core knowledge in students, universities teach them how to think, solve problems and interact with the world.” He adds that “This education is seriously hampered when the only means of learning is via a one-dimensional computer and the opportunities for getting questions answered ... are seriously hampered when one professor teaches thousands of students at a time.” He also notes that for science and engineering-based students there is no substitute for hands-on lab experiments which the internet cannot provide. Based on my own classroom experience, I know that my learning would have been seriously restricted without the mentoring of instructors, discussion of subject matter, and how the knowledge might be used to make our community and the world a better place. I think that you would probably say the same. Let us use teaching via internet with prudence!
tioners, I, Shelley Dolter, would like to inform the community that we are very appalled to have been told that our 2,800 name petition was deemed "invalid" by Battle River School Division (BRSD). Although we question the fact that they say it is "non compliant" because we did not ask for a public meeting, we are still pursuing other avenues. We question the statement made by Dr. Larry Payne regarding how they will calculate an "accurate overall percentage" mark. We are disturbed that living in a democ-
racy, a 2,800 signature petition holds no weight and has been minimized to being a "portion" of our parent and community populations. Considering there are just over 6,000 students in the Battle River School Division, this petition represents a significant amount of concern from the parents and community. We appreciate the work of all our dedicated parents who are trying to keep our Alberta school system one of the best in the world. Shelley Dolter, Hay Lakes
Literacy award for Andreassen By Dan Jensen
The Camrose Adult Learning Council (CALC) will present its 2013 literacy award to David Andreassen during a short program at Camrose Composite High School June 5 in recognition of his passionate and engaging approach to teaching English Language Arts. The program is scheduled to get underway at 12 noon. Andreassen started teaching English at the junior high school in Stettler in 1975 before moving to CCHS and, this past year, to the PACE Outreach School at the Camrose Community Centre. He spent three years from 1990 to 1993 teaching school for military dependants at the National Defence School in Germany. Andreassen has found literature to be a wonderful springboard for teaching students about life. "I find it enormously exciting when students take ideas and build their own ideas, and get involved and engaged," said Andreassen. "That, to me, is magical." Andreassen believes he has a good understanding of how someone in construction must feel after he completes a new home build. "It is interesting going around this town or looking beyond it and thinking I helped build that hockey coach, that pharmacist, that Brownie leader, or Lord help me, that Minister of Education," he said. "Just as a builder is proud of what he leaves, it is nice to see former students succeeding. That in itself is wonderfully gratifying." Andreassen's nomination for the 2013 literacy award was supported by 27 letters written by peers and students that outlined the extraordinary impact he has had on them. Colleagues described him as a mentor who "lives his subject matter, modelling his passion for reading and literacy through his humour, curiosity, and his interest in investigating the impact of words on our hearts, souls and daily lives." Students commended him for challenging them to do their best. "His dramatic and animated approach," said one student,
David Andreassen
"brings literature to life and instills the desire to learn." Andreassen has found over the years that students are most interested in literacy when it is meaningful to them. "When it is something that engages them – and that doesn't matter if it is a piece of classical literature or a shopping list – if they see value in what they are doing they get excited about it. Within the parameters that are set by the mandated curriculum, I pick things that interest me. If I get excited about it they do as well, or as many of them as possible. If something is a dull and boring slog and I treat it as such I can't expect anyone to be terribly interested. It gets infectious." Andreassen is often fascinated to see how many people in the community have problems with literacy. "One of my sons, an electrician, said in his first-year class at NAIT, smart and capable people with wonderful hand skills, who had done the ten and a half months of practical, who knew something about what they were doing, either dropped out or flunked out because they were bad readers, while the people who were strong readers and also had the hand or other skills thrived. It is sad to me that a significant portion of our population doesn't see the value of being good readers until they are in their twenties, and by that time it is hard to make up lost ground." Andreassen believes that rather than making us smarter, electronics and the internet are making us more stupid and caus-
ing us to have shorter attention spans. "I think that is really sad. Average kids don't read as well as average kids did 20 years ago. They don't have to. They can't sustain their concentration. The author of the book, The Shallows points out that people will skim a sentence or paragraph (on a website for example) and if it seems that is enough will flip to something else or go sideways, or hit a link and that is it. Or sometimes the words are too difficult so they will get something that is dumber. So what happens is that we know about a whole lot more stuff but less about anything. Those people who are able to concentrate and sustain will thrive in this world and those who can't are doomed not to." Andreassen is very impressed by the work that is being done by CALC. "They are taking people who have weak literacy skills and giving them the tools so they can prosper. The world demands so much and whatever the cause – and there is no end of causes – each of these people has an interesting back story. There are holes to fill, and because of what CALC does, these people are able to become useful, productive, taxpaying citizens. Whatever it costs, the return is several fold. Sadly, the organization and so many others like it are depending more and more on the volunteer pool which is getting thinner as more demands are put on them." Andreassen and his wife, Wenche, have three grown sons. Lars, their eldest, is completing his Ph.D. in entomology in Winnipeg, Erik is an electrician in Edmonton, and Sven has just completed a Master's degree in archiving in Lethbridge. The literacy award program will include music and guest speakers, followed by refreshments and an opportunity to congratulate Andreassen in person. All interested community members who support literacy and learning in Camrose are encouraged to attend. There is no cost to attend, and no pre-registration is required. For more information, contact Diane McLaren, executive director of Camrose Adult Learning Council at 780-6728754 or calc@camroselearning. com. The CALC website is www. camroselearning.com.