Saturday, January 11, 1992 & What’s on around the West Kootenay | CLUBS ——1-9:30-p.m.to-:36-a.m—— If you have an upcoming event or a- regular meeting and you want it listed in AfterHOURS, let us know. Call our entertainment reporter Donna Bertrand at 365- 3517, fax us at 365-3334, or drop us a line at P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4. DEADLINE Deadline for listings in AfterHOURS is Friday at 5 p.m. as Le CASTLEGAR Banjo’s Pub . San Jose West '|-Tuesday to Saturday 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. to midnight 365-6933 : Brewskies Pub Bad Reputation Wednesday. to Saturday 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Exotic Dancers Mondays to Saturdays 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. Karaoke Talent Search Every Monday 9:30 p.m. 365-2700 Dexter’s Pub Crossroads Thursday to Saturday 365-5311 Marlane Hotel . Exotic Dancers Monday to Saturday - 4 Noon to 12:30 a.m." 365-2626 “2. ROBSON Lion’s Head Pub Karaoke Wednesday 8 p.m. to midnight 365-5811 TRAIL Crown Point Pub Eastern Breeze Wednesday to Saturday 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. 368-8232 - ROSSLAND Powder Keg Pub Men in the Making Wendesday to Saturday 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. 362-7375 NELSON Boller Room Nightclub Comedians . Wednesdays 9:30 p.m. 352-5331 NELSON - Nelson Museum Peter Valisek’s Fear of Flying Jan. 6 to Jan. 31 352-9813 : TRAIL Trail Society for the Performing Arts Performance ’91 Ballet North Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m. CASTLEGAR Castie Theatre’ Tonight through Thursday Next Meeting:Jan. 22 —365-3444— - Hook, 8 p.m. only 365-7621 TRAIL Royal Theatre Tonight through Thursday The Addams Family 7 and 9:30 p.m. 364-2114 NELSON Civic Theatre Tonight through Thursday Double Feature Little Man Tate and Billy Bathgate 352-5833 MEETINGS Beta Sigma Phi (Exemplar) 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Various locations Beta Sigma Phi (Preceptor) 1st Wednesdays , 7 p.m. Various locations Next meeting: Feb. 5 365-3401 Beta Sigma Phi (Ritual of Jewels) . 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Various locations Next meeting:Jan. 22 365-6892 Canadian Cancer Society . (Castlegar Unit) 2nd' Monday of every other month : 7:00 p.m. Castlegar Health Unit Next meeting: Jan. 13 365-6498 Castlegar and District Heritage Society Next meeting: Jan. 16, 7 p.m. Castlegar Rail Station 365-5241 : : Castlegar and District Senior Citizens Action Committee ist Tuesdays, 10 a.m. . Next meeting: Feb. 4 365-8237 or 365-0085 Castlegar City Council Regular meetings 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Council chambers Next meeting: Jan.21 365-7227 Castlegar Hospital Board 4th Thursdays Hospital board room Next meeting: Jan. 23, 7 p.m. 365-7711 Castlegar School Board 3rd Mondays, 7 p.m. School board office Next meeting: Jan. 20 365-7731 Castleview Care Centre Auxillary 4th Wednesdays, 1:30 p.m. Castle View Next meeting: Jan. 22 365-3754 Christian Women’s Club 2nd: Thursdays Fireside Inn Next meeting: Jan. 16, 114 a.m. 365-7728 David Thompson Stamp Club _2nd-_Mondays,-7:30.p.m.— St. David's Undercroft Next meeting: Jan. 13 365-5496 Kinnaird Women’s Institute 3rd Thursdays, 1:30 p.m. Next meeting: Jan. 16 365-5441 Kiwanis Club Tuesdays, 6 p.m. Jenny's Cafe Next meeting: Jan. 14 365-2151 Knights of Pythias — Twin Rivers 1st and 3rd Mondays, 7 p.m. Masonic Hall Next meeting: Jan. 20 365-6149 Kootenay No. 9 Oldtime Fiddlers Monthly 2:30 p.m. Senior Citizen’s Hall Next meeting: Jan. 26 359-7621 Kootenay Temple #37 Pythian » Sisters 2nd and 4th Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Masonic Hall Next meeting: Jan. 23 365-5282 Lions Club ; 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Sandman Inn dl : Next meeting: Jan. 14 Regional District of Central Kootenay Next meeting: Feb. 15 Nelson, 9 a.m. 352-6665 Rotary Club Tuesdays, 6 p.m. Sandman Inn Next meeting: Jan. 14 365-2780 Selkirk Toastmasters - | 2nd and 4th Mondays, 7 p.m. Selkirk College, Room B17 Next meeting: Jan. 13 365-6442 or 367-6549 Selkirk Weavers and Spinners ~ __ Guild Ree ee 3rd Wednesdays, 9:30 a:m. Castlegar Doukhobor Museum Next meeting: Jan. 15 365-5918 SHSS Parent Advisory Council 4th Tuesdays, 7 p.m. SHSS Library Next meeting: Jan. 28 365-7735 Strokers Club 2nd Wednesday of each month 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Senior Citizen’s Hall Next meeting: Feb. 12 359-7480 or 365-3540 West Kootenay Family Historians ist Monday of every month 6:30 p.m. Selkirk College Library Next meeting: Feb. 3 365-6519 West Kootenay Naturalists Association To be announced 365-4933 Women’s Aglow Monthly Various locations Next meeting: To be announced, 365-3279 @ Saturday, January 11, 1992 OurPEOPL E Learning Wl The ABCs of education are changing in the face of Year _ 2000 strategies, creating a new breed of students and teachers Donna Bertrand NEWS REPORTER en I was in college, one of the courses I had to take to complete my journalism diploma requirements was a magazine ‘course. The idea was for us to break in- to groups and,-by the end of the term, publish a magazine — articles, edito- rials, pictures, advertising, the works. It was a joke. The scale of the a signment, the resources we had avail- - able and the time frame within our hec- tic academic schedules made the as- signment impossible. In the end, not one group published a magazine. The instructor ended up grading us solely on the one or two articles each of us had written. I learned nothing. On Wednesday, I sat in on Deb Chmara’s Grade 8 humanities class at Kinnaird Junior Secondary School. In it the students were putting together the final pieces needed to complete their assignment; to each produce a 30- page magazine reflecting life in the middle ages. Wow. From what I saw — help wanted ad- vertisements for court jesters, draw- ings of the ‘latest fashions’ in 14th cen- tury women’s wear, charts showing the distribution of power in both the French and English governments, and ‘ articles on everything from weapons to religion — those students have met the challenges of the assignment with great success. So why can individual Grade 8 stu- dents do what a group of adults in col- lege couldn’t do? Because, quite simply, we hadn't been taught how to learn and Chmara’s students have. Using strategies from the Year 2000 intermediate program, Chmara’s stu- : dents are developing skills in decision making, problem solving and creative- critical thinking, skills they can apply to all their classes and to life in general ‘ when they get out in the ‘real world’. In a nutshell, Year 2000 strategies allow students to learn in an active way that interests them, so they do learn, and recognizes that learning is both an individual and a social process. By applying those strategies to lessons about the middle ages, the stu- dents have learned more than the cur- riculum outlines, they've done it in about half the time with virtually no homework, and they’ve enjoyed it. “They’ve brought questions to me that I never, ever thought were impor- tant before, they’re constantly chal- lenging me,” Chmara said. “I’m so proud of what these kids have accomplished.” Chmara said she based the assign- to lea News-photo by Donna Bertrand KJSS Grade 8 students Shane Albert (left) and Chris Littlejohn share information they each need for their respective projects Wednesday during a humanities class. What may have been considered cheating in the past is now looked upon as a healthy exchange of ideas under the Year 2000 program. See page 10 for more pictures. ment on the idea of getting students away from the textbook and into a more active way of learning. : “And getting them away from the idea that if it’s not in the textbook, then they don’t have to worry about it be- cause it’s not going to be on a test,” she said. ‘ So, instead of the students memo- rizing a few chapters in the Grade 8 so-_ cial studies textbook, they used the textbook as just one of many resources which included other books, videos, art and guest speakers. ee And instead of a test, they produced their magazines. “One of the requirements was they were not allowed to copy any diagrams or charts from any source,” Chmara said. “They had to find a way of repre- senting that knowledge by creating charts and diagrams of their own. “Normally we would teach kids how to read charts and diagrams, but when you have to take a body of knowledge and put it into a diagram from scratch, _there’s a lot more thinking in there.” Her students agree. “It’s hard but sometimes it’s better because you have to understand it bet- . ter to do it,"said one student, Ben Post- nikoff. : . Also a part of the Year 2000 strategy is the removal of learning barriers. For example, when appropriate, if students are more comfortable on the floor, that’s where they sit. es They’re also much more free to talk among themselves, in support of the so- cial aspect of learning. “Kids are chatty, so why not build on what’s natural,” Chmara said, explain- ing that communicating breeds new ideas, new thoughts and new knowl- edge. However, that’s not to say there is less discipline. In fact, Chmara says she finds discipline much easier. “And ifI say, ‘this is an individual ac- tivity’ they know that there’s so much time for group work that they'll work individually,” she said. The magazine is just one example of how the Year 2000 program is i the shape of education. A stronger emphasis on reading is another._ - During every class, Chmara gives time for her students to read. The dif- ference between her set up and the old schoolis that quality literature has be- come the basis of education, rather than just a part ofit. “T have one student who has read 10 books.this year and he’s not even a top reader, and this is top quality reading material,” she said. “A major portion of my time and ef- fort is spent trying to keep up with the students’ demands for literature.” Chmara began using Year 2000 ini- tiatives last year. (The intermediate portion, for Grades 4 through 10, must be integrated into all classes by the fall of 1994.) ; To get a better grip on how Year 2000 would work, she developed the human- ities course, an integration of English and social studies, as a pilot project for her then Grade 7 students. After proving successful, she ex- panded the project this year to include her students in both Grades 7 and 8: Chmara says they are learning more and working harder than ever before. “T think to have Grade 8 students, 13 years of age, produce a 30-page maga- zine based on that much content, and to be that thoroughly involved with what they’ve done, I think proves the essence of the program,” she said. I bet-there won't be any college courses wasted on these kids.