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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 23 ,2 02 0 | 26 ©2020 California Closet Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Franchises independently owned and operated. Custom solutions for better living OAKVILLE 146 Lakeshore Rd E - NOW OPEN! TORONTO 1400 Castlefield Ave 800.274.6754 californiaclosets.ca A new outdoor educa- tional program is being of- fered by the Halton Boardfered by the Halton Boardf of Education during the second semester of this school year, one that will incorporate both elemen- tary and secondary stu- dents. The initiative is a "starting point" as the board seeks to fulfill its commitment to find alter- natives to the Bronte Creek Project, one of the more contentious casual- ties of last spring's budget. The once popular BCP, a semester long outdoor program for secondary students, was a board sta- ple for 30 years but was discontinued as the result of a combination of pro- vincial funding cuts to ed- ucation, the project's high price tag and declining participation. The new initiative, out- lined to trustees at the regular meeting of the board Jan. 8, was designed to impact as many stu- dents as possible, said HDSB associate director David Boag. "The concept is a bit of a rebranding of Earthkeep- ers or Project Wild offered through Bronte Creek; this will be a different ver- sion of that but some of the essential elements from those two programs will be incorporated into this new program, he said. Between February and June, Grade 5 students will participate in a one- day outdoor environmen- tal education "learning experience" to be facilitat- ed by an outdoor educa- tion expert and high school co-op students. The program will uti- lize inquiry, cooperative games, teamwork and hands-on learning activi- ties to relate to environ- mental issues and pro- mote responsible steward- ship of the environment, according to the staff re- port. The outdoor space it- self is flexible and stu- dents may find them- selves in their own school yards, a local park or a conservation area, said Boag. "So our co-op kids will be trained by this outdoor ed expert and the co-op students will be facilitat- ing the learning of the Grade 5 students, so we've got kids learning from kids and we think that's a really powerful model." SCHOOL BOARD OFFERING NEW OUTDOOR EDUCATION PROGRAM KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com NEWS Wayne Parrish, an award-winning reporter, editor and digital media leader, is Torstar's new se- nior vice-president editori- al. Parrish will focus on ed- itorial transformation, in- cluding content science and data analytics, for Tor- star's newspapers, which include the Toronto Star, six additional Ontario dai- lies and more than 70 com- munity newspapers. "Wayne Parrish brings a wealth of experience, a his- tory of digital innovation and a burning desire for our papers to flourish," said Torstar chair John Honderich. "What's more, he is an accomplished journalist, who knows who we are and what we stand for." Parrish, 64, who won two National Newspaper Awards as a sports report- er at the Star in the early 1980s, has held executive leadership positions at Postmedia Network, Que- becor and Sun Media. Parrish's digital experi- ence includes launching CANOE, which became Canada's premiere inter- net network-portal and top news and information site for more than a decade. He launched Postme- dia's digital subscription program, consulted on a sports-only digital sub- scription business in the U.S., and developed the new media unit of Quebe- cor. "He's definitely a sea- soned executive and he's one of those rare people who has a lot of digital ex- perience, a lot of news ex- perience and a lot of trans- formation experience," said Torstar president John Boynton. "So he's go- ing to be able to hit the ground running really ear- ly and help Torstar with the overall transforma- tion." The appointment is ef- fective Jan. 27, 2020. WAYNE PARRISH NAMED SENIOR VP EDITORIAL Wayne Parrish BUSINESS SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM