Tuesday 31 March

Vocational Day #4

PJ CLOETE

PJ met up with Janey Cleveland from CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates - whose mission is to collaborate with other professionals, and to provide trained volunteer advocates to represent the best interests of abused and/or neglected children involved in the Juvenile courts of the area. From there they headed to Dave Metz the Vice-Mayor of Staunton who took PJ to lunch with the City manager, Steve Owen and City attorney Doug Guynn. An interesting discussion was had about the system of City Managers that started some 101 years ago right here in Staunton. A note from a nearby town of local politicians who visited to see this new fangled position was that a street sweeper was needed but not a town manager!! After coffee with Dave and his delightful wife Debbie we set off to the circuit court, meeting Grant on his way to the Barbershop for a haircut. A great day was rounded off in the office of Circuit Judge Victor Ludwig where matters judicial and legal were discussed. A really super day was enjoyed by PJ. (The pic below shows the mayor of Staunton).

NORAH-ANN DE WET HAYES

Norah spent her vocational day in Nelson county with Mike Lacanche, an extension officer for Virginia Tech. The day started off at Polack winery and included a chat with Jake Busching about Quality management and export markets. The next stop was at a Nelson County elementary school to see the cafeteria. Norah was surprised at how many children were choosing to eat salad! As a first timer to American schools, she found the facilities exceptional. After lunch, She and Mike meandered towards Democracy vineyards, a farm that is only just starting to plant vineyards. The poles were being knocked in with a small Cat (before you call PETA that is a machine not an animal), which was amusing as in South Africa you would have seen two men knocking in the poles. Lovingston winery was next on the list, where Norah had a chance to practice her Afrikaans while chatting to Riaan Rossouw, an South African now living in the US. She also had the chance to taste a pinotage, one of the few made outside of South Africa, and she was most impressed. The wineries in Virginia are still small in comparison to those of the South African Wine industry, but Virginia's Wine industry is growing. There are currently about 150 wineries, but more vineyards are being planted continuosly. It is great to see the amount of enthusiasm being shown by Vineyard owners so that they can improve the industry. Norah looks forward to hearing more about these wineries in the future.

GRANT BUTLER

Amber, from the USA GSE team to Brazil, picked Grant up at his host's and they drove to Fort Defiance, where Amber is on staff. The school draws largely from the rural area of the couty, and there are over 1 000 students at this impressive high school. The atmosphere of the school is a happy one, and many of the students gather socially in the foyer (halls) to chat before school. The principal, together with other staff, mingles amongst them on Hall Duty, so to speak, but you can see that the interaction with students is a pleasure for them. It was Grant's over-riding opinion that the staff obviously enjoy working at Fort Defiance, and that they have established excellent relationships with the students. Grant attended a Social Studies class and was immediately impressed by the complex social issues that the Grade 10 class was covering. Part of the period was spent at the bank of computers in the school library, where the students worked individually on an "intranet " of activities. The most moving (and inspiring) part of Grant's morning was the time that he was afforded with students in the Special Needs class. Some of these students have significant challenges, yet, surrounded by a staff of totally dedicated individuals, the these challenges are being met, to some degree. Grant's second stop for the day was at Stuart Hall, a private school in Staunton. This 150-something year old school caters for all three bands of education; elementary, middle and high school. Each phase has an administrative head, who fall directly under the principal. The school's strength is undoubtedly the small classes, as well as the emphasis on accelerated learning, and drama. As an example of accelerated learning, Mathematics is taught in sets, the stronger group focussing on pre-algebra in Grade 6. The difference in the level of the content covered was obvious. Grant attended the two Maths streams, and also an English and a Civics class.