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Today‘s students are leaving the education system with an unrealistic view of work and inflated career expectations, concluded a panel made up of representatives from business, labor and ;fic&flm taking part in a discussion on the future of education Monâ€" y. ‘Teachers attending the debate, sponsored by the Waterioo County Teachers‘ Association and District 24 of the OSSTF as part of professional development day activities, were told that youth must be taught that succeeding isn‘t easy if they are to be adequately prepared for the workplace. ‘*We‘re not doing a good job of preparing our youth with the work ethicâ€"â€"we‘re not teaching kids that they have to work hard to get rewards," said Kathi Smith, representing the Kitchener Chamber of **Kids are coming out of educational institutions without a realistic view of work. Too many are coming out thinking they will step right into management positionsâ€"they don‘t think they will have to work 10 years and climb the ladder to get to those management positions." Coâ€"ordinator of coâ€"operative education programs at the Northumâ€" berland and Newcastle board of education, Eva Nichols said that adjusting to the realities of the workplace, regular hours, responsibility, productivity, is the greatest problem faced by students starting work placements. ‘‘They have trouble adjusting to the fact that they must be punctual, responsible; that they must do a certain amount of work, and that they can be fired...in school momma‘s note will get you off the hook," she said. The panel agreed that educating youth to meet the needs of the future isn‘t just the job of the education systemâ€"they said there must be a sharing of this responsibility between educators and the wider community, especially business and labor. We must work closer with the community if we are educators are going to better serve our students we must work with the community; get public input on curriculum,"" said Nichols. ‘‘There must be a greater sharing of resources, because education can‘t keep up with the changes occuring in technology."‘ ‘"A better interface between secondary schools and local business and labor will result in greater relevance of program to the workplace and a smoother transition for the student from the school to the workplace," said Tom Tidey, of the provincial Ministry of Edâ€" ucation. According to Tidey, in the future school boards must place a greater emphasis on general level programs and students, for it is the youth who do not wish to proceed to university whose needs are not now being met. ‘‘There must be a recognition that dropping out is natural and desireable for some youngâ€"â€"that some will return at some point in the future,"" he said. ‘‘We must restructure our programs so the basic and general level students are getting their fair share of attention. They must be assigned our most skilled and imaginative teachers." Society must abandon the attitude that only those who attend university and become whiteâ€"collar professionals are successful, agreed Smith and Al Turner, president of the Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo and District Labor Council, noting that the greatest employment need today is for skilled laborers. message must be realistically conveyed to youth Wendy Lewis of Waterioo stops to take her pulise during "Walk on the Fit Side‘"" Saturday morning at Conestoga Mail. The doors to the mail opened early to give people a place to walk during the February campaign of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. CATCHING THE BEAT Richard O‘Brien photo Negotiators for the Waterloo region separate school board and its 920 teachers are set to meet tomorrow in an eleventhâ€"hour bid to resolve their contract dispute. It will be the first time the two sides have met since the teachers voted overwelmingly to reject the board‘s final contract offer three weeks ago. Thursday also marks the earliest day on which the teachers, members of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, are in a legal position to strike. The separate school teachers have been without a contract since Aug. 31. Primary issues in the dispute have been working conditions, including lesson preparation time, teacherâ€"student ratios, and teacher workload. Negotiators for the teachers say the Waterioo region board is one of only four separate school boards in Ontario in which teachers do not have the same workload as their public counterparts. Alf Dietrich, chairman of the board‘s negotiating team, said the committee will return to the session with the same offer that was rejected Jan. 19. Dietrich has said it will be difficult for the board to put any more money on the table, and changes desired by the teachers would require 55 to 60 more :.mchen necessitating a dramatic increase in the rate. Costly repairs to the roof at Waterloo Arena are not necessary to keep the facility functional until demolition plans are carried out in the next two to three years, says Waterloo community services director Ken Pflug. Estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $30,000 to $40,000, the repair work would make safe a section of the arena which has been roped off since midâ€"January. The provincial Ministry of Labor ordered 650 seats cordoned off at one end of arena because of substandard roof joints. The ministry decided the roof was not sound enough to carry heavy snow. Called by mediator Eric Runacres, the session is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and will continue Friday if necessary. roof was not sound enough to carry heavy snow. _ A decision to do nothing with the roof could speed Waterloo council had already decided to demolâ€" â€" up plans for the Beechwood structure, it has been ish the decayed structure in the near future, to be reported. Negotiators to meet in Meat Makes Sense was the message last week when more than 850 people gathered at Super Skate Seven for the Town and Country Dinner. This year‘s dinner was organized to recognize the financial impact of the red meat industry on the Region of Waterioo. Enjoying the meal was Waterioo Mayor Marjorie Carâ€" Pflug to prepare report on arena roof options MEAL FIT FOR A MAYOR WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1987 â€" PAGE 3 Meanwhile, some 23,000 separate school students are without classes as 400 teachers with the Sault Ste. Marie separate board have joined about 900 colleagues in Windsor on the picket lines. York region‘s 1,300 teachers also began a workâ€"toâ€"rule campaign Monday warning strike action is possiâ€" ble in midâ€"March if a settlement is not reached in their contract talks, and in Welland, a strike vote is set for Feb 26. replaced by a Beechwood arena in 1988â€"89 and eventually a new uptown structure in 1991. Pflug says the 650 seats "might" be necessary to accommodate large crowds for Waterloo Siskin Junior B or Wilfrid Laurier University hockey playoff games. The arena is capable of handling close to 1,000 without the cordoned section, and Pflug admits the chance of the 650 seats becoming necessary is "very rare." Council will decide what to do about the roof in late April after the ice is removed. Pflug will prepare a report outlining the options. o â€" The "average"‘ Waterloo homeowner will see an increase of $12.70 on the biâ€"monthly bill for water and sewer charges, effective on billings issued after March 27. City treasurer Tom Stockie says the inâ€" crease will bring the average bill to $43.70 from $31. Waterloo council was forced to adopt the rate increases because of a whopping increase at the regional level. Wholesale charges by Waterloo Region will go up on average 56 per cent for water and 38 per cent for sewage City bills jump in response to region increase Melodee Martinuk photo