Geelong
Friday, 2 October, 2015
Connecting people and communities
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Class act helps kids into Norlane community
Call for Potway Ranges By PAUL MILLAR
LIFE LESSONS: Jenny Griffiths with students Kerenabuke Mulashe, Unuer Pucoc and Ngahuia Puru.
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THE Otway Ranges are a prime location to introduce controlled marijuana crops, according to the leader of the Australian Sex Party. Fiona Patten said the Otways could become an international supplier of medical marijuana to help overcome a global shortage. “The Otways is one of the great places to grow a controlled crop for medicinal purposes,” Ms Patten told the Independent yesterday. She identified the Owtays’ potential as state and federal governments continued considering legalisation of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Ms Patten said areas such as the Otways had the right climate to grow the drug without the prohibitive heating costs of nations that had already legalised it for medicinal purposes, such as Canada, the Czech Republic and Israel. “There’s a global shortage of medicinal marijuana and it’s a highly profitable export crop,” she said. “This a great renewable resource ... it gives us a great chance to reinvigorate the farming communities.”
Ms Patten said legalising the growth of medicinal marijuana could also revive the hemp industry. “If this is done properly we could become a leader in the supply of this product.” The Otways have a history of illegal marijuana cultivation, which has led to many major drug busts over recent decades. Ms Patten, a Victorian Upper House MP, welcomed the State Government’s consideration of a “cultivation trial” of cannabis for medical purposes as long as it was under strict supervision. Federal Greens leader Dr Richard Di Natale, who has a property at Deans Marsh, introduced a medicinal cannabis bill that earned a senate committee’s unanimous backing. Senator Di Natale said it was” a significant step toward achieving medicinal cannabis reform”. “This issue is not about politics, it’s about getting medicine to people who need it,” he told the Independent. “We have an opportunity to relieve the pain and suffering of many Australians if we can just come together and show Parliament at its best.”
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FOR JENNY Griffiths, teaching at Norlane’s St Aquinas Primary School is much more than just classroom time. Ms Griffiths is no stranger to juggling multiple extracurricular learning activities and after-school programs with her already-hectic teaching schedule. Her diverse role covers everything from reading-recovery teacher, literacy and pastoral care leadership and lunchtime reading club coordination through to managing early-morning breakfasts and refugee program Mercy Connect. On top of all, she also runs Saint Thomas Aquinas’s mentoring program for children, known as STAMPS. Ms Griffith’s dedication and passion for teaching was among local success stories celebrated during Literacy and Numeracy Week. “It’s an absolute pleasure to work with such a diverse group of children and their families (in) a rewarding job that has motivated me to continue my role at the school for so long,” she said. “One of my favourite programs is Mercy Connect, (which) I’ve been coordinating for three years now. We work with refugee children in the school to teach them English and help them integrate with ease. “Mercy Connect also welcomes volunteers from the community to help the children’s parents learn to read and write, so it’s not only about the children but the whole family as well.” Ms Griffiths enjoyed helping students “integrate into the broader community“. “I love being a part of Norlane; it’s grown immensely over the years and developed into a budding community that’s very supportive of each other, full of wonderful young kids with a bright future.”