The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor High school gym teachers joined forces Tuesday to urge the Flin Flon School Board to maintain the physical education supervisor's position. The board employs a quarter-time supervisor, John Belfry, whose duties include organizing sports tournaments, booking athletic travel arrangements and applying for sport-related grants. "We do want to make it very clear that we believe in this position and we want to keep it," Gord Halpin, one of six phys ed teachers appearing before the board, told the trustees. Halpin said Belfry saves phys ed teachers valuable time, adding that the work involved represents "far more" than a quarter-time position. One of his colleagues, Brenda Chrupalo, said the school division could not offer all of its valuable athletic programs without Belfry on the job. "Let's not take a step back," she said. Craig McIntosh concurred, saying that if the phys ed teachers had to take on the added tasks Belfry performs, something would have to give. Responsibilities The group distributed to the trustees a list of Belfry's responsibilities. Other than the aforementioned duties, they include gym scheduling, finding coaches, maintaining the school division's mini buses, heading up fundraisers and administrative tasks, among others. The presentation marked an exercise in productivity, as the board has not publicly indicated the supervisor position is on the chopping block. But with cost-cutting moves frequently contemplated, the teachers saw it prudent to express their support for the position ahead of the board's upcoming budget. Aside from serving as the phys ed supervisor, Belfry also works quarter-time as a consultant for the division's Building Successful Students with Aboriginal Parents (BSSAP) program. Among his duties in that job: coordinating a community / school committee to set goals designed to increase success for aboriginal students and involve aboriginal parents. BSSAP initiatives include traditional feasts, support for native studies programs at Hapnot Collegiate and Many Faces Education Centre, and the availability of Cree lessons at Ruth Betts Community School and Ecole McIsaac School. The remaining half of Belfry's contract sees him teach.
