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Sixty days: That’s the amount of time Islanders were given to have their voices heard on the recommendations contained in January’s School Change Category II Study Report. Of course, the recommendations that generated the most conversation and the most anxiety were the ones calling for the closure of five Island schools.
The voices that spoke the most and the loudest were the ones insisting that none of those five schools should close.
There was unity across the province on this point, and it was most evident in West Prince where two of those five schools are located. A united home and school group, made up of representatives not only of the Bloomfield and St. Louis schools but of all nine schools in the Westisle Family of Schools.
Many convincing arguments against school closure, including impact on the students and on the rural communities, were presented. Interested parties have had their say and they said it loudly.
Were the board members listening and what did they hear? We’ll get the answer to that question within the next 60 days.
Brimming with Hockeyville pride
The Town of O’Leary is on the cusp of hockey greatness. No, it’s not the Stanley Cup, but it’s close. The town is very much in the running to become Kraft Hockeyville 2017.
Sure, there are nine other deserving communities across Canada still in the running, too, and their story might be as worthy of votes, but O’Leary is the only community in the Maritimes in the running and the Maritimes usually stick together.
Voting starts Sunday morning and wraps up Monday night. O’Leary can’t get enough votes on its own; it needs Maritimes-wide support and the support of acquaintances spread across this great country, and it would seem the committee behind O’Leary’s nomination is doing all it can this week to gain that support. Making it to this stage of the competition, now twice in 11 years, has certainly created a great sense of pride. The last time, O’Leary fell just short of the grand prize. It did get some exposure but no money for the effort. This time it has already achieved $25,000 for arena upgrades and if it is successful through this weekend’s voting period the prize will quadruple. Then it would be just one more voting period away from the ultimate title and the additional prize of an NHL pre-season exhibition game. Is it worth playing for? Well, yes it is.
Provide help where help is needed
Even with the best intentions of government support programs like Employment Insurance, sometimes the people the programs are designed to help still fall through the cracks.
That seems to be the case for an O’Leary woman who has raised concerns about being denied the EI benefits she was hoping would help her take a college program. She was banking on the program enabling her to find more sustainable employment at a higher rate of pay. When an individual is intent on improving their lot in life through education and skills training, programs like EI have to be flexible enough to help make things happen.