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Are our teachers deserving of respect? (This article originally appeared in the Windsor Star on April 4, 1987. It has been reprinted with permission.With all the school issues that have happened in our area in the past, perhaps you will find it interest- ing- and maybe even enlighten- ing.) Karen Hall People are still grumbling about the settlement the teachers got (in Windsor). Not me. I like teachers. I think they've got the toughest job in the world, and no amount of money- no amount of time off- is compensation enough for what they do. You say they got a whole pile of money and some didn't deserve it? I agree. I've met some pretty lousy educators in my day. Some pretty lousy doctors and lawyers and journalists, too, so don't be throwing stones. You may hit someone you love. Maybe I sympathize with teachers because I always wanted to be one. When I was growing up it was a noble profession. You may have hated some teachers, feared others, but there was always one who made a differ- ence. Always one along the way who respected your abilities, made you want to learn, gave you the confidence to think you could become a big person and achieve just about anything you wanted. Maybe that's not a great bat- ting average form some. people, considering how many teachers a kid will have from start to finish. I had lots of teachers I yearned to please, but one would have been plenty for me. In this world, just having one mentor you like and respect is a blessing, so it seems a little unre- alistic to expect all teachers io be all things to all students at ai! times. Flesh-and-blood parents aren't, for heaven's sake. Teachers today are in a no-win situation. Years ago they didn't make much money, but they had respect. A good teacher was a community treasure; right up there with the minister, the GP and the parish priest. Funny thing about educators, though. They decided they should be rewarded, not penalized, for undertaking to mould impression- able young minds. They decided they should enjoy a decent stan- dard of living. They started get- ting militant like the rest of us organized, unionized folks- make it clear they were not just volun- teers in this quest for knowledge- and that was the beginning of the end. The community was appalled. Imagine those teachers thinking they could be forceful and demanding, just like normal peo- ple. Then going out on the picket line like half the parents of half the pupils in their class. Such nerve! So now teachers make good money. Damned good money, and yes, they get the summers off, too. That's part of the deal. Be a teacher and you'll get your sum- mers too. Respect? Sadly, teach- ers seem lacking in this depart- ment these days. Lots of parents don't like them. Plenty of kids won't mind them. In some schools you can't even Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, June 10, 1987, page 9 put the fear of God into an eight year-old (even sanctimonious par- ents have been known to try this tact when all else fails), and if you teach in Detroit, you proba- bly wouldn't try. Never mind teaching kids to read and write. Teachers over there are otherwise preoccupied by the nagging fear they may get their brains blown out for their efforts. Crazy, isn't it? A baseball play- er on a losing team thinks money is the measure of his worth and nobody bats an eye. And when he doesn't get the money he wants he goes to arbitration, gets a couple of million bucks, emerges a hero. But what does a teacher with 35 young charges- and all the par- ents, and all the policies, and all the out-of-touch superintendents mired in paperwork down at the board- get? Surely no thanks for running the school bazaar or coaching the basketball team. Never a pat on the back for going in early and Staying late because some kids need extra time and attention. The teachers I know get some guy next door- always the one © racking in double overtime for pulling a neat little three-day shift- complaining because he works the March break and teach- ers don't. I wonder what parents want from teachers? Each wants his or her kid to get a made-to-measure education, but nobody wants to foot the bill for it. Each wants teachers to go beyond the basics of reading and writing and be innovative, inspiring and stimu- lating. Yet how many parents, tired New trades centre in Marathon North Shore residents to receive trades training centre The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines will pro- vide a $250,000 grant toward the construction and equipment of a $600,000 trades training centre at Marathon, announced David Ram- say, parliamentary assistant to the minister, David Peterson. Legion News The regular monthly meeting of the Legion Auxiliary Branch 223 was held on May 25 with 14 members present. There will be an executive meeting on June 15 at 7:30 p.m. Pam Jones will be convening a Father's Day Tea on Sunday, June 21 from 2-4 p.m. "'This centre will operate as an extension campus of Confederation College of Applied Arts and Technology. Based in Thunder Bay, it is part of the government's commitment to equip Northerners with the skills to use tomorrow's technology in business and _in- dustry," Ramsay said. The centre wil be built as an ad- dition to Marathon's future high school now in the planning stage. The Lake Superior school board will contribute $41,000 toward the facility and the Ministries of Education and Colleges and Universities will provide $309,000. The campus will deliver post- secondary training in fields such as electronics, metalworking, heavy equipment mechanics and computers, A variety of delicious pies will be served. There will also be a col- lectors' corner at the tea. Peoples from the community will be taking part. The auxiliary is giving a dona- tion to Shawn Prince who will be taking part in the Cerebral Palsy Olympics. Also a donation is going to the Annual Legion Athletic Summer camps. This is to help with the transportation cost for some of our boys and girls who will be attending. Publicity, B. Randa. Phone 3724. at Cail: 825-3747 to- day, to contact Betty Our Ad Rep about placing your Ad in our paper. THE NEWS extra strength balm FOR RELIEF OF MINOR ARTHRITIC PAIN For hours of relief of minor arthritic . themselves after a full day at work,, dump their kids in front of the tube and never inspire at all? Parents want teachers to be on top of things, then begrudge them their paid professional develop- ment days. "Now I have to make other arrangements," they'll grumble, as if the sole reason for school was to act as a babysitting service. Parents want teachers to instill values like decency, morality and responsibility, but howl if they think educators have gone too far. Parents even expect teachers to become masters of etiquette and turn their children into polite little beings, but they do not expect them to achieve any of these mir- acles through discipline. That, they say, is not a teacher's job, What is? Everything else. I suppose teachers could say the'll just teach the three Rs and leave it at that. No bazaars, no extracurricular activities, no time for the kids with special needs. They could say their job is to make learning available, and it's up to the kids to take it or leave it. They could let parents take responsibility for their own chil- dren; for inspiring them, stimulat- ing them, teaching them the-non- academic subjects like honour and respect. Fortunately, I don't know many teachers like that, and I'm proud to say I know a lot of them. If most parents gave half the time and effort to their craft as teachers give to their kids, there'd be no such thing as apathy in the workplace. imine Citi 100 year old Railroad Inn 824-3213 ROSSPORT INN Licenced dining in the charming atmosphere of a Comfortable overnight accomodations Est. 1884 "Overlooking ' Rossport Harbour" Rossport, Ont. -CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE in TERRACE BAY BakofConmece JANITORIAL SERVICES requires - position to start JULY 1, 1987 A position is also available for an EXPERIENCED PART-TIME TELLER -Required immeditely For further information pleese contact: C. Hamilton - No phone calls please. Perths | DRYCLEANING SERVICES Comforters & Bedspreads Parkas & Heavy Winter Coats Mens & Ladies Top Coats ) ke 7 Simcoe Plaza Terrace Bay -PROMOTIONS FOR JUNE 8th to JUNE 20th 5.49| 6.29| 5.49| TRAILER PARK - Schreiber