October 8, 2002

Dear Sir,

I am writing in reference to the recent incident at Spice Valley School. I am a parent there. My son is an M1 student and is adjusting quite well. I was apprehensive about sending my son to public education, especially at Spice Valley Middle School, having heard so many negative rumours and attributes about this school. I have had a few tours and been to a few PTA meetings as well as the Welcome they had for parents and students.

I was impressed with the school motto, the ethics that are going to be instilled in our children and the vast and extensive efforts made to reassure us, the parents, that Spice Valley Middle School is the best school on the island. I was impressed and I am not going to let one isolated incident change my views on this.

It is unfortunate how negative press can impact on a reputation, be it school, personal or otherwise. I feel it is not the school at fault for the unfortunate incident that occurred there. These children must have come from somewhere... the family. Yes the breakdown of the family is what I see as the main cause of the behaviours that are reflected in those of our young people. It is sad but true.

There is a lot of prayer needed here and I as a Christian myself, implore others like me to keep our schools in vigilant prayer as well as our families. We need to keep our teachers, students (who are our children not just mine), our administrators, our principals under constant prayer.

They have an undaunting task of raising our children to be our future leaders. They don't have much to work from with the family structure not what it used to be.

Parents, before pointing your finger at the school and saying "how could they let this happen? ", look at yourself, look in the mirror and see what you can do to raise your children so that when he or she enters the school system, they arrive prompt, proper and poised to learn.

Thank you for allowing me this forum to air, what I feel is an important, should I say, very important issue.

THERESA TANNNOCK

Proud Parent of a Spice Valley Middle School Student

October 7, 2002

Dear Sir

Amidst all the complaints about problems with cable TV service, one that hasn't been mentioned yet is Cable Vision's failure to carry the "Fox News" channel, which is the #1 cable channel in the US, far bigger in the ratings than CNN.

I was reminded of this today after reading another article in the Royal Gazette about the Fox News vs. CNN competition ("Spurned Fox still holding a grudge"). Unfortunately, we can't see any of these popular Fox News shows like #1 rated Bill O'Reilly here in Bermuda unless we want to invest $3000 in a satellite dish.

It seems to me that Cable Vision could easily carry the popular Fox News by just throwing a switch and bumping one of the channels that hardly anyone in Bermuda watches anyway, like Spanish language cartoons for example!

FOX FAN

October 4, 2002

Dear Sir,

In light of so many discussions about our educational system, I wanted to share our story in hope that at least one young person is helped. We have a fourteen-year old son that has experienced difficulties with mainstream education in both the public and private school systems locally and abroad.

Entering his eighth year of school, he was still finding it difficult to read and keep up with a modified curriculum. We searched for and found an alternative solution that is so far yielding better results than ever anticipated. Our son is has a language based learning difference that, without the proper tools and techniques to master reading and learning, would have labelled him as dumb, indolent, or just a kid with an attitude.

Having never considered boarding school as an option, we tried everything else, from learning support at school, modified curriculum, after school tutors, computer enhanced learning tools, and the Sylvan programme.

When all those efforts were to no avail, I started doing research on the Internet and found that we weren't alone. There are thousands of other parents experiencing the same challenges and heartaches at seeing their child struggle and strive to learn but, without any fault of their own, not being able to keep up.

I learned about something called Executive Functioning, which, according to Ruth Spodak, Ph.D, a psychologist specialising in learning disabilities is a "new term used by some professionals to describe problems associated with Learning Disabilities and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

It often refers to problems with memory, organisation and planning. However, it does not fit neatly into the aptitude/achievement discrepancy model used by many school systems to diagnose learning disabilities.

Executive Functioning appears to be an important syndrome which can often explain the reasons for a child's difficulties in school and beyond. Yet it is only just beginning to be understood and assessed." I've attached the complete article for inclusion in your paper, along with another article entitled "The Almost but not quite Dyslexic Child" by Thomas D. Scheidler, Director, The Greenwood Institute Putney, Vermont.

I learned of various schools that are designed to help children and adolescents in reconstructing their language learning patterns and provide them with techniques to assist in organisational and study skills. We settled for the Gow School, located in South Wales, New York, near Buffalo.

As published in the May 14, 2001 issue of US News & World Report, during a Special Report on Outstanding Boarding Schools, "The Gow School just celebrated its 75th year and is an internationally renowned boarding school for young men, grades seven-12 with dyslexia or similar language based learning disabilities.

The school provides a daily Reconstructive Language Program (a phonetic language programme that focuses on oral reading, reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary and written expression), and multisensory classroom presentation.

Gow's solid college preparatory curriculum, with a diverse fine arts and full interscholastic athletic program, focuses on a boy's talents while strengthening his academic foundations. Classes are small, with a four to one student/faculty ratio, allowing an individualised program for students."

The report goes on to mention the school's summer and teaching programs. "Gow also offers a six-week summer camp experience for boys and girls ages eight to 19 from around the world. Another outreach program is Gow's Teacher Training Institute (TTI). Since its inception in 1991, it has been a model program of independent and public school collaboration."

There are many reasons we chose the Gow School, and much to our delight, our son is thriving in his new environment, he is happy to finally be able to see positive academic results from his efforts while continuing to build on his strengths.

He is learning essential study and organisational skills, along with a full array of other lessons and responsibilities that come with living in a dorm away from home. I wanted to share our story to give hope to those who, like me, until recently didn't know where else to turn.

Director of Admissions of the Gow School Rob Garcia was at the boarding school fair and reception at the BUEI on October 10 and gave a presentation. Interested schools can learn about the school via their website www.gow.org or at 716-652-3450.

DORA PRICE

Hamilton Parish