The fate of extra-curriculars at local area schools

Oct 25, 2012

Heather Highet, principal of Sharbot Lake High School, reported that staff will be running all of the regular extra-curricular activities at the school. “It is my understanding that the federation has directed staff that their involvement in extra-curriculars is voluntary. Fortunately all of our staff here are volunteering to run their regular programs so we have not had to cancel any of our fall programs” Highet said when I interviewed her earlier this month. The school will be running their regular fall programming, which includes volleyball, basketball, band and coffee house, as well as parent’s night, which took place at the school on October 17. “This is a small community and the teachers are thinking about what is best for the students and it is great for the students here to have such dedicated staff members,” Highet said.

The Joe Goodfellow Memorial Race

October 1 would have been the last and final running of the Joe Goodfellow Memorial Race at Hinchinbrooke Public School, which has taken place annually on the first Monday in October for the last 11 years. The popular race was named in honor of Joe Goodfellow, a student at Hinchinbrooke Public School who passed away tragically in a car accident in 2000 at the age of 19. The race was initiated by Dan Kimmerer, who was Joe’s cross-country coach at HPS, and it was set up as an invitational race in Joe’s memory. In its first year over 1000 students participated and it was decided in its third year to make it one of three qualifying races, (the Region 3 Meet) for the Limestone District School Board. Kathy Goodfellow, Joe's mother, said that this was to have been the last race, as Hinchinbrooke Public School is slated to close in 2013.

However, the race did not happen this year due to the recent decision by some elementary school teachers at the Limestone District School Board to discontinue extra-curricular activities. As a result, three regional qualifying meets, of which the Joe Goodfellow Memorial Race was one, were canceled. (The other two were the Fort Henry Run and the South Fredericksburgh Run).

Hinchinbrooke PS did hold a non-competitive Fun Run at the school on October 1, and HPS students did compete in the final LESAA (Limestone Elementary School Athletics Association) District Cross-Country Meet at Fort Henry on October 9, where over 500 students participated.

When asked about her feelings regarding the cancellation of the memorial race, Kathy Goodfellow said, “I guess many people were disappointed. But people were very considerate in letting us know and we were very grateful for that.”