Page 6 June 1988 Cassiar Courier Norma Ray is a prominent Cassiar citizen. She has been involved in assisting in many community efforts and is best known for her devotion to Ptarmigan Players. Born in Lacombe, Alberta, Norma Ray, as the second oldest of four girls, moved to Burnaby at age two and a half. She attended Armstrong Avenue Elemen- tary School which at the time was a two room structure. “We went to school upstairs and played in the basement,” remembers Norma. “It was sort of unique when I think about the schools today!’ Norma lived in Burnaby for 20 years. “I graduated from Burnaby Central High in 1968 at age 25,” says Norma. “In my eleventh year of high school I got married. In those days you didn’t marry and stay in school!” By the time Norma was twenty-five she was a single parent and decided that she would change things. “With help from my family I worked, looked after my kids and went to school. It was the hard way to do things, but I did it!” By 1974 Norma’s parents were retirement age and wishing to sell the family home. Norma in the meantime had bought a grocery store, Prospect Lake Market in Victoria. “It was an old heritage building.” ‘says Norma, “and my parents helped me run the store. It was a lot of hard work but good experience!” Deciding to sell the store, Norma moved back to the mainland where she formed a family unit with sister Ellen. “We had four kids between us, it was a good idea. I had my own house, then we bought one together. 1 was working as a retail clerk and Ellie was involved in her own business.’’ The idea of coming to live in Cassiar began with a phone call from Ellen to Norma. Ellen was visiting sister Ida and family here. She enjoyed life in Cassiar, and there was a small hair dressing business for sale. “What do you think,” asked Ellie. “Should we move here or not?” “You've seen Cassiar, ” replied Norma, “I haven't. Whatever you think we'll do. That will be great, right on!” The family drove from Surrey to Cassiar in a pickup truck carrying all their belongings. “We sold almost everything except the house,” recalls Norma. “To Ellie, Amy, Lisa and Spanky our dog, as well as to ME we had simply gone on an adventure!” Norma worked at Cassiar Hair Design, which she had purchased with Ellie as well as working part-time in the lounge. The family was happy and life goals were set. Norma’s love and concern for the welfare of children is well known in Cassiar. Her positive attitude and her ability to build ego with meaningful support is a natural talent. In 1985, she was able to combine this natural talent with her intelligence when she was hired by the School Board as the schools’ Child Care Worker. She remains in this position today. “For most of my life 1 have been a single parent,” says Norma. “I did however have some strong positive influences in my life from family and friends. I learned from people about values. I set goals, personal goals that I would work hard towards.” Norma says she has confidence in the ability of “her children’ to overcome and she thinks they are wonderful. “I just help them realize that they are (wonderful) and they figure it out for them- selves,” says Norma with a smile, “and the parents are pretty good too.” Norma’s interest in Cassiar’s theatre group, Ptar- migan Players, is much more than passing, it is pas- sionate. “I love it,” exclaimed Norma. She continued py Lisa Prosser Steadman’s Clocks and Rocks are now located in Whitehorse. Being members of the Whitehorse Art Society they keep very busy. Clay is always in his art studio at their home, painting up a storm, gold- pans, canvas’s and saw blades. He also puts clock works into the saw blades as well as cutting rock for his well known rock clocks.. His new love is painting northern lights with an air brush, which are absolutely beautiful. You will often see them set up in the Qwanlin mall on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays as well they keep some of the major stores supplied with their work. Soon prints from his originals will be available for purchase. Clay and Karen are enjoying their business. and its location and also are keeping busy remodeling ' their home. Keep up the good work! to explain that at the first meeting of Ptarmigan Players (which wasn’t Ptarmigan Players at that time) Norma adamantly refused to participate in the improvizations or play readings. “I would have died,” says Norma, “to be any way involved with acting or being on stage. I just wanted to work behind the scenes.” Norma gives credit to the development of this small theatre group and how that development was managed for her own abilities today. “We were directed in stages,” remembers Norma. “Small skits, walk ons, “fun stuff’ and with each minor success confidence in the group grew.” The Ptarmigan Players Dinner Theatre held in Left to right: Norma Ray, Amy Erickson, Ellen Erickson. Front left to right: Spanky and Lisa Ray. 1985 was the groups largest production until Oz. Norma remembers the hours of work that went into it. “I was on stage for two song and dance numbers. “New York, New York” and “Oklahoma”! As well I was serving dinner, clearing off tables, serving drinks and after the production did dishes and mopped floors. We then set up again for the next night. It was fun!” There were severity five people involved in the production and Norma‘ herself was responsible for having the tenacity to keep it going. “Our director’s mother died on October 10th of that year, and she had to leave town for two weeks. Most of the players felt we should postpone the Dinner Theatre which was to be held in late Novem- ber. With the help and backing of Marg Whalen, Eric Glyn-Jones and Judy Walker, the attitude “THE SHOW MUST GO ON” became firmly entrenched in the minds and hearts of the cast. By the time our director returned, the rehearsal schedules were in full swing, she had but to step in and continue with what she had started.” The show was a major success and during the following years the players performed numerous times. fies “One of our funniest productions was “Spaghetti Western” written by Lorraine Lanteigne and directed by Joan Cass. It was like a silent movie. We performed it at the figure skating spaghetti dinner then the Lion’s fun!” Norma is supportive of the growth of the group. “At our first meeting it was stated that you can do any- thing you want if, you have the faith and enthusiasm. I believe it,” beams Norma. “All the stages the players have been through have built the group to its present level. “My first words uttered on stage were out of the mouth of a turkey costume when our group performed REAP POO OCOOOOO OO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO III IIIS Steadman s Rocks & Clocks ee Avwork erouads Clay and Karen Steadman Club asked us to do it at their Casino night. That was “Christmas in a Box” at the Childrens’ Christmas Party.” stated Norma. “From a turkey to a wicked witch, what is this “type casting’? I asked her. “Actually,” says Norma, “I auditioned for the part of the lion as well as the witch for Oz, but I’m glad I was the witch!” Norma says that the Wizard of Oz was the most demanding extra curricular project: she’s ever been in- volved with. She liked the idea right from the beginning. “It involved lots of people and the music was well known so even if we flubbed it the audience would have some idea what was going on.” Asa challenge Norma describes it as incredible, but adds she had faith in the production because of the confidence she felt in Iris Trask. “I just hoped she had the knowledge and the skills,” Norma said with a smirk. “I was certainly willing to be the workhorse!” Norma felt the production needed more core people, it was so much work. She seriously feels that the players need to develop skills from within, through workshops. This is one area of development she plans to promote. “For example,” states Norma, “Tinda Beck might be interested in teaching costume design, then the people who like to do this would be there for the next production. (It should be noted here that Linda designed and made most of the Wizard of Oz costumes). i One of the major things the Oz production did for the Players, Norma feels, was to break down the types. ‘For instance Katherine Langeigne could dance, people knew that, but could she act, or be responsible for a major role? I think she did, as did so many others. The Oz production gave the Players a chance to really stretch their creativity. Theatre provides such postive re-enforcement of a personality. It also draws people from all walks of life into it’s struture. If you even had the tiniest notion of getting involved, try. It’s worth it.’ The future as far as Norma is ‘concerned with the Players means to grow and-never stop. abe ats The Ralf Voss Centre for the performing arts now provides the Players with:a home. “We can orily put on a major production every other year. The Arts ‘and Cultural Centre is well suited to our performances on a smaller scale, as well as dinner theatres. It will also serve as.a place for us to hold meetings and workshops.” “1d hate to see the theatre in town torn down,” continues Norma. together to save it. The Ptarmigan Players can’t keep it going alone, but we support it.” Norma also adds that if the theatre is closed people will lose. Opportunity will be gone ‘forever from Cassiar, cultural opportunity at'having a theatre such as this here. Travel is one of Norma’s favorite pass times. _ She has been to Hawaii, Mexico, Italy, (“I love Rome,” she says) Morroco, Spain and California. She has a daughter, Cori, in Italy, who is married to husband John, and is attending school. Son Wes, lives in Surrey where he is employed by General Motors in the parts department. Her youngest daughter, Lisa, lives in San Diego, Califoria where she is going to school as well as pursuing a modeling and acting career. Throughout the interview Norma spoke with an optimism not often seen in people today. She is planning to make Cassiar her home. “You know,” she said, “I think people should get involved, don’t be afraid to take on a new life experience!”” To Norma Ray, Cassiar and its people are her rainbow’s end. _ PAAOOOOOOOCOOCOCOSCCSes P & W Services } esso dealers SCHEDULE Monday - Thursday open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday - open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday - open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. CLOSED SUNDAY Cassiar, B.C. 778-7383 & “JT hope several groups can work A total of twenty students from Cassiar Second- ary participated in the 1988 Spring Work Ex- perience Program in Cassiar. | believe that the program was a success and would like to thank tha following organizations and businesses for their cooperation in the program. ORGANIZATION/BUSINESS Cassiar Shopping Center Roland Rudkowsky John Cavanagh David Andrews Joy McLeod Ron Meers Lyte Meise Zoran Radulovic Duane Callbreath Robert Rudkowsky Ellen Artico Corrina Boyes Sonia Saro Kamal Athwal Cassiar Mining Corporation Finning Tractor R.C.M.P. Royal Bank District Resource Center Cassiar Secondary. Cassiar Hair Design Cassiar Playschool Darla Creyke ij ah Sheena Billingsley Snowridge Elementary Kate Elhorn Marvel Travel Cassiar Post Office Priscilla Quash Sharon Carlick In conjunction with the “field experience’’, Cassiar Secondary students were also able to hear a variety of presentations on career choices. ° This program was open to all students in grades 8 - 12 provided they pre-registered for each presentation. The career options that were available at Cassiar Secondary were: the medical field (Carlin Miro- _ slaw, Ethel Songhurst, and Anita Wilson), the R.C.M.P. (Corporal Don Harrison), the appren- ticeship program (Rick Warner), and the resume and job interview process (Outreach). | would like to take this opportunity to thank all the guest speakers for their time and effort, for over sixty students participated in the ‘‘Career Presentation” Program. CONTEST WINNERS | mentioned in the April edition of the *“*Courier”’ that Mr. Cocking and Ms. Kuechle had sponsored QOL MLL MG STUDENT Kelly Huber Nicole Deyo © PPO OL OPO VP LOL OL OL OL OL OL OL AL LG. | am very pleased to announce that the winners of the contest were: 1st - Jennifer Becket 2nd - Adrian Dostie 3rd - Vicki-Lynn Molloy In addition, while some students were busy writing in April, others were busy participating in the annual School District No. 87 Math contest which, this year, involved estimating the number of jelly beans in a large jar. bam pleased to. announce that the Cassiar Secon- dary jelly. bean contest was won by a grade nine student, Jan Wypych. Apparently, Jan used trigonometry, geometry, algebraic equations and a lot of guess work in establishing his estimation of the number of jelly beans inthe jar. ~ — |! am also pleased to announce that Jan for- tunately has dental plan coverage. INTRAMURAL EVENTS | mentioned in the previous edition that the “big-net” indoor intramural soccer season play- offs were about to commence. , As expected, but not without a hard battle from the ‘‘Wreckers’’ and the ‘“‘Tic-Tacs’, the playoffs were won by the “Crazy Canucks’’. Unfortunately, the infamous “‘Pele’s Plumbers”’ played like they were the Montreal Canadiens in the 1988 N.H.L. playoffs and were eliminated in the first round by “‘Becker’s Wreckers’. Truly an upset by the ‘‘Wreckers’’. In conjunction with the N.B.A. playoffs, the Cassiar Secondary intramural program has initiat- ed an intramural basketball program comprising four teams: the Victors, Huber’s Hoopsters (Hampsters), the Running Rebels and the in-— famous Celtics. The regular season was won by the Victors, with the Hoopsters, Celtics, and the Rebels finishing second, third, and fourth respectively. Playoff action was to commence by the week of May 16 and the results will be available in In addition to soccer and basketball, Mr. Trask organized an afternoon badminton program which involved twenty students. The overall winner was Pat Moth with Mr. Trask finishing a distant second. MAY 16 NON-INSTRUCTIONAL DAY The staff of Cassiar Secondary was fortunate to have Mr. Doug Player, Assistant Superinten- dent from West Vancouver, give a presentation on “School Climate’’ on May 16. Mr. Player’s discussion centered on such topics as developing the model classroom and school, improving staff-student morale, individual and group motivation, an individual action plan for the classroom, and a Cassiar Secondary action plan for improving school climate. ~ | believe that the day was a success and | antici- pate that a number of Mr. Player’s suggestions will be incorporated into our school over the next few months: PERFECT ATTENDANCE | would like to congratulate the following stu- dents for having perfect attendance, including no lates, from September 8 to May 16. DAVID LANPHEAR STEPHEN RYAN SONIA SARO GARBAGE, GARBAGE, GARBAGE | would like to mentionthat a number of classes, on an ongoing basis, are participating in a village cleanup campaign. | would like to thank those students and teachers involved in the program for their cooperation. ‘ DATES TO REMEMBER June 3 Graduation ceremony and banquet June 17 Last day of classes. Awards ceremony at 2 p.m. June 20-24 Examination week. June 29 Report cards available for pickup. ~ Parent-Teacher Conferences This column is one in a series developed by the British Columbia Principals’ and Vice-Principals’ Association. If - you would like copies of this article, or more information in general, please contact your local school principal ~or write c/o of this paper. Sooner or later nearly every parent has a confer- ence with his or her child’s teacher. And, when we have a conference, we want to get the greatest possible value from it for our children and for us. To do so, it is important that we understand the purposes of the conference and the responsibility we have for making it a success. ~ Every parent-teacher conference has three major purposes: - - first, to secure information about a child’s’ progress in school; = - second, to provide information about a student that may be helpful to the teacher; - and third, to work with the teacher to resolve problems that. stand’ in the way of our child’s learning. When we have a conference with our child’s teacher, we must be clear about the specific objectives of the conference. And we need to tell the teacher at the start of the conference what our objective is. To decide exactly how we will state our objective, we need to ask ourselves, “What specifically do I want to know?” Do I want to know: - how my child compares with other children in the class? - how I can help my child expand his or her circle of friends? - what academic growth has occurred in my child during the last grading period? - why my child is having problems in learning or behaviour? - what I can do to help my child have the most valuable school experience possible? Regardless of what we want to know, we must be specific about our objective - and ask the teacher to talk with us about it. We should realize the teacher may have a specific, and possibly different, objective in mind. If so, we can agree at the start of the conference that we will devote some time to both objectives. The amount of time allocatéd for the conference is usually quite limited. As a result, there may not be sufficient time to address fully both the parents’ and the teacher’s objectives. If there is not enough time, parents should ask the teacher to schedule another conference period later. We should go to the conference with the assump- tion that both we and the teacher want the very best for our child. We should trust the teacher and talk WITH -- rather than TO — him or her, and we should expect the same in return. We need to be willing to give the teacher as much information as possible to help the teacher achieve his or her objective. If we do, the likelihood of the con- ference being a fruitful one is greatly enhanced. It is the responsibility of both parents and teachers to work for a successful conference. If we have a successful conference with the teacher we will know that we have done our part in helping our children to have the best possible learning experience at school. Choose to. be a non-smoker. Ou Lee Pe Pe el OPO OPP OL OPP OL OL OL CLP OL OL OL OL OL OLD OL ALP OL OL OLD OLD ALP OL OL OL OL OL Denetia Elementary School in Lower Post, B.C. was officially opened December 4, 1987 by the Minister of Education for B.C., Anthony J. Brummet. Also attending were Keith Lanphear, the district’s Superintendent of Schools; Doug Kerr, Denetia’s Principal; Joanne Voss, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for School District 87; as well as Lower Post elders, Bella Abou and Alfred Jakesta. Bella Abou and Alfred Jakesta flank the Honourable Anthony Brummet at official ribbon cutting ceremony.