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Thursday, June 26, 2014 X Volume 27 No. 74
THIS WEEK
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NO REPORT CARDS, SUMMER SCHOOL SITES WILL BE PICKETED By Adam Williams STAFF REPORTER
adam@kamloopsthisweek.com
Firefighters pull a woman from the North Thompson River on Tuesday, June 24. The elderly lady was navigating a steep path off Schubert Drive when she ended up in the water. Mark McVittie photo
Eagle eyes lead to rapid river rescue By Adam Williams STAFF REPORTER
adam@kamloopsthisweek.com
When Cecile McVittie and husband Mark saw a woman with a walker approaching the North Thompson River, they knew something was wrong. A few minutes later, the woman, estimated by Cecile to be in her 50s, was in the water and Kamloops Fire and Rescue was on its way. “My husband had just come home for a quick lunch,” Cecile said of the Tuesday, June 24, incident. “We finished lunch and we were walking into the living room and I happened to see a woman with a walker trying to go down a path on the river bank, just in front of out house, that nobody should attempt with a walker.” The path is steep and not one one that is generally navigated by pedestrians, Cecile said, noting it would be especially dangerous for someone with mobility issues. Mark grabbed his shoes and went out the door of their Schubert Drive home as the woman disappeared from sight. She was in the water and Mark signalled for Cecile to call 911. X See FIREFIGHTER A6
Parents and students anxious to see how the 2013-2014 academic year went may be in for a long wait — report cards aren’t likely to be coming home any time soon. And, even if report cards did arrive and tell students whether they needed summer school, that option to upgrade before September is in jeopardy with the teachers’ union decision yesterday to picket summer-school sites if the strike continues. With no end in sight to the ongoing labour dispute between the B.C. Teacher’s Federation (BCTF) and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), about 14,000 report cards in the Kamloops-Thompson school district are likely to be the next casualty. “Well, we’re not 100 per cent sure on that but, at this point, we cannot give out report cards because we don’t have them,” assistant superintendent Karl deBruijn told KTW.
“The clerical things we might be able to overcome somehow,” deBruijn said, referencing the mailing, filing and printing that would need to happen. “But, without the content of the report card, the grades, the comments and that kind of stuff, it’s pretty hard to send anything home.” DeBruijn said it is relatively rare to have students repeat a year, noting there shouldn’t be any surprises when report cards are finally issued, especially in elementary grades. What may put some strain on the system, however, are secondary-school marks. Students are required to pass the previous section of each course before moving on to the next level — math 9 before math 10, for example. Students who were on the cusp of passing might be in line to repeat the section again in the fall, but probably won’t know until September. DeBruijn said details on report cards, summer school and other strike-related issues should have been communicated to parents via a telephone message from superintendent Terry Sullivan in the afternoon or evening of Wednesday, June 25.
Harper languishes, pope popular in digital diplomacy THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canada is among a small group of countries that have Twitter accounts for most of their embassies and missions, a global study has revealed. The study, called Twiplomacy and conducted by the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, looked at the use of the microblogging site by heads of state and by governments and ministers of foreign affairs. “Not a week goes by without a new Canadian embassy setting up shop on Twitter in English and French,’’ it said. “Ottawa, which was once described as a laggard in digital diplomacy, has now
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He noted teachers are required to submit final marks for students in grades 10, 11 and 12 based on an order from the Labour Relations Board (LRB). Those marks have been declared essential services by the LRB process, deBruijn said, as they are required for passport to excellence financial awards, as well as for graduation. Those reports will be minimal, though, likely just a mark, without the feedback and comments normally present in a report card. “We can’t really, as a district, generate report cards because the grades are determined by the teachers,” deBruijn said. “So, if we send home a grade, mark or report card, we want it to be accurate and an accurate reflection that’s arrived at through an assessment process — and that process is controlled by the teachers.” DeBruijn said it is unlikely students will receive report cards before the fall. The assessments would need to be issued in the next day or two, which is unrealistic from both a clerical and content standpoint.
caught up with its peers.’’ But, when it comes to personal Twitter accounts, Prime Minister Stephen Harper languishes in 44th spot among 50 world leaders, with more than 478,000 followers. That’s a far cry from U.S. President Barack Obama, who remains the most followed world leader on Twitter with more than 43 million followers. However, the study found that despite Obama’s huge following, he is not the most influential leader in the twitterverse when it comes to retweets. That honour goes to Pope Francis, who has 14 million followers on nine different language accounts.
POPE FRANCIS: 14-million followers
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