The Creemore
Echo
Friday, September 25, 2015
Vol. 15 No. 39
thecreemoreecho.com
News and views in and around Creemore
Inside the Echo
Record Run
Toilet Training
Ultra runner sets world record
Duntroon Hall holds kybo contest
PAGE 11
PAGE 14
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Meet the candidates
Staff photo: Trina Berlo
Seeing double Helen Blackburn embraces a sculpture in her own image created by artist Juliet Jancso. The bust was created for a new book, The Village and I: Ten Life Stories, for which a launch party was held at the Avening Hall on Saturday. For the full story, see page 6. Blackburn is a local historian and long-time contributor to The Creemore Echo. Read her latest story on page 5.
Lower than expected kindergarten enrollment prompts changes at NCPS by Trina Berlo Because of lower than expected enrollment at Nottawasaga Creemore Public School this fall, classes have been restructured and three staff members have been transferred to other schools. The school population is down to 196 from 206 last year but the school also had a lower than expected enrollment of kindergarten students, which prompted the change. “In terms of where we lost a class, it was the kindergarten numbers specifically,” said principal Alison Golding. “Our numbers are healthy everywhere else.” Golding said with only 18 kindergarteners it wasn’t enough to
staff a whole class so a kindergarten/ Grade 1 split class was formed. Twentysix kindergarten students were required to staff a class with a teacher and early childhood educator (ECE). “That affected everything all the way up, every class except Grades 7 and 8,” said Golding. She said overall, within the Simcoe County District School Board there was a gain in teachers but locally, the changes resulted in three educators being deemed surplus to the school. Kindergarten teacher Heather Jeffery and ECE Jennifer McFarlane will be moving to a newly created kindergarten class at Cameron Street Public School in Collingwood and Nicole Stewart, who was at the school
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one day a week, has taken a full-time position in Wasaga Beach. Golding said the declining enrollment is due in part to parents choosing to send their children, particularly younger students, to private schools in the area. “Some people are choosing to send students outside of the public board and it’s harder to sustain the population here,” said Golding. She said she is looking at the possibility of running a pre-school program out of the school in order to get families engaged. “It’s about getting people into the school and making those connections before school, that school is a good (See “Consideration” on page 3)
Federal election candidates running in the Simcoe-Grey riding will be appearing at two all-candidates meetings in the area. Conservative incumbent MP Kellie Leitch is being challenged by Liberal Mike MacEachern, NDP David Matthews and the Green Party’s Joanne Fleming. All four candidates have confirmed they will be in attendance at meetings in Wasaga Beach and Collingwood. The first meeting, hosted by the Wasaga Beach Chamber of Commerce, is on Sunday, Sept. 27 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the RecPlex in Wasaga Beach. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and there may be a chance to chat with the candidates. The second meeting is hosted by the Collingwood Chamber of Commerce and takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 30 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion in Collingwood. At both meetings, candidates will be given time to make opening remarks before taking questions from a media panel. Afterwards, questions from the public, submitted at the beginning of the evening, will be posed by moderator John Eaton, of The Peak FM. At the end of the meeting, candidates will be given time to make closing remarks. The Collingwood Legion is located at 490 Ontario St. The Wasaga Beach RecPlex is located at 1724 Mosley St.
Total eclipse of the supermoon
There will be a total eclipse of the supermoon on Sunday, Sept. 27. The full harvest moon begins to slide into Earth’s shadow at 9:07 p.m. Mid eclipse will be at 10:47 p.m. with the celestial show ending at 12:37 a.m. A total lunar eclipse is a very safe and awe inspiring event. During mid eclipse the moon turns copper orange as sunlight refracts through Earth’s atmosphere much like a deep red sunset. A partial eclipse is slated for 2017.
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