SERVING MAPLETON AND MINTO
THE
COMMUNITY NEWS VOLUME 52 ISSUE 25
1 Year GIC - 2.40% 3 Year GIC - 2.70% 5 Year GIC - 2.90% Daily Interest 1.50%
638-3328
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2019
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School boards hope to rescind all layoff, redundancy notices By Jaime Myslik GUELPH – Officials with both Wellington school boards are hopeful all teachers who received layoff and redundancy notices will have a placement come September. In April, the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) announced 54 elementary teachers received layoff notices and 56 high school teachers received redundancy notices. However, on June 14 UGDSB spokesperson Megan Sicoli told the Advertiser that the board was able to “successfully recall all elemen-
Centre supporters - Andy Knetsch, an original founder, past chair Albert Teeninga and current chair Calvin Martin posed in front of the Drayton Youth Centre on Wellington Street in Drayton during the centre’s 20th anniversary celebration on June 15. Additional photos on page 8. Photo by Jennifer Goertzen
Legion seeks veteran banner sponsors DRAYTON - The Drayton Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion is again offering the opportunity for families of veterans in the Drayton and Moorefield areas to purchase a memorial banner. “The goal of this initiative is to engage our local community in honouring and remembering our local Veterans, as these banners will be displayed in the fall alongside those already purchased last year,” states an email from Legion officials.
Memorial banner programs have become popular throughout Canada. Locally, in 2014 Legion Branch 296 in Harriston created street banners to honour veterans from that community. The Drayton Legion will again work with OnePromo. ca to bring banners to the towns of Drayton and Moorefield. Each banner will highlight a specific person and hang on light posts in the downtown area. Each banner will be dou-
ble-sided and in full-colour. Displayed on the banner will be a picture of the veteran, along with their name, the era of service (First/Second World War, Korean War, etc.) and the branch of the military, as well as the name of the banner sponsor. To sponsor a banner, contact Mary Miller at 519-6383324 or by email at marymillertime@gmail.com. To have the banners ready for Remembrance Day, all orders must be placed by July 31.
tary and secondary teachers and rescind all layoff notices.” She said the staff completed a line-by-line review of expenditures and revenue. “On May 27, notices were sent to all 56 secondary teachers who received layoff notices, stating that all layoff notices were rescinded,” she stated. “On May 31, board staff communicated to elementary schools that we were able to recall all 54 teachers who received layoff notices. “Although we were able to successfully recall all teachers this year, changes made
by the provincial government to class sizes ... will result in fewer and fewer funded teaching positions in the system over the next four years.” Tamara Nugent, director of education for the Wellington Catholic District School Board, said staff is working to bring back all 22 teachers who received layoff notices in April. “We remain hopeful that teachers will be recalled to positions,” she said on June 14. “At this time we are close to having all those who were declared redundant placed.”
Township approves CIP grant applications MAPLETON - Mayor Gregg Davidson and council are ecstatic about the success of the Mapleton Means Business, Community Improvement Plan (CIP). Grant applications were received starting at the end of April. The CIP was approved in the spring of 2017 and had not received much attention since. In a report to council on June 13, economic development officer Trish Walton expressed there is a need for grants and businesses are just starting to become aware
of them. As a result, the township will need to increase the 2019 CIP budget. There was a request to use the funds from the 2018 budget to accommodate the influx of applications so that more improvements can be made. Councillor Michael Martin stated, “It is nice to see some action happening regarding the CIP.” He added he is impressed with the number of current applications and looks forward to seeing the improvements come forward.
The recipients of the grant money included: - A la Mode cafe and ice cream parlor, for façade improvements; - Mapleton Flooring and Windows for signage; - Tri-Mech Inc. for signage; and - The Sign Depot for building improvements. The township is looking forward to reopening its current CIP to accept changes from the Wellington County CIP and also to include a few updates that will allow for more business opportunities within the township.
Youth intern to identify underrepresented youth HARRISTON - Mapleton, Minto and Wellington North have hired Erin Raftis to identify underrepresented youth in a new position: municipal youth intern. Over the course of the summer Raftis, 21, is expected to identify and reach out to youth aged 13 to 19 who are currently not a part of community clubs or organizations. The three municipalities will take her findings to create a strategy to better address youth needs. A resident of Harriston and current communications and multimedia studies student at McMaster University, Raftis said she is able to relate to youth in this role. “I love that it’s an oppor-
tunity to actually make good change in my community... Hopefully over the next couple of years I will be able to start something so that we have a really engaged community around here,” she said. Youth helping youth is exactly why the Rural Ontario Institute (ROI) established a grant and the internship, Raftis explained. “For the ROI, youth is 15 to 29, so they wanted someone in that age range to get youth researching about youth,” she said. The ROI developed the Municipal Internship Program to encourage municipalities to facilitate more youth engagement across rural Ontario. The program has provided grants to 10 rural communities for
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summer interns. Wellington North was one of the successful ROI funding recipients and decided to use the grant in partnership with its neighbouring municipalities, Mapleton and Minto. Already Raftis has begun to tailor research to the three communities. In northern Wellington the focus is on ages 13 to 19, explained Minto marketing and community development coordinator Taylor Keunen. “We have never had this kind of position before,” she said. “Over the past three or four years, depending on the municipality, we’ve had youth action councils in place … but now we are just looking for that extra level to connect with those youth that we haven’t been able to.” Getting to the next level
means working against stigmas, Raftis told the Advertiser. “Some businesses definitely are taking youth seriously, but a lot of youth maybe even now just think that people aren’t taking them seriously,” she said. A month into the role, Raftis has spent much of her time getting a sense of each community and reaching out to service providers and organizations currently working with youth. She has spoken to classes at Norwell District Secondary School in Palmerston and Wellington Heights Secondary School in Mount Forest. Raftis said she has plans to provide youth with creative safe spaces to express their opinions. Some of her SEE RAFTIS » 4
WEEKLY WAG
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By Aryn Strickland
“Summertime is always the best of what might be.” - Charles Bowden
Municipal youth intern - Mapleton, Minto and Wellington North have hired Erin Raftis as the municipal youth intern for the summer to connect with and report on underrepresented youth. The three townships will take her findings to create a strategy to better address youth needs. Photos by Aryn Strickland
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