www.pgcitizen.ca | Wednesday, February 18, 2009

17

pglife
Ebus students meet in real life
Frank Peebles Citizen staff
A lot of students who normally never even see their teacher got together to socialize on Monday. The gathering was at The Exploration Place, so there was learning involved too, but it was a rare faceto-face encounter for about 45 families registered in the Ebus Academy public schooling program. Ebus is the longest running online electronically distributed schooling system in the province, started in Vanderhoof 15 years ago when the word "Internet" was still puzzling to some people. Now the Web is worldwide and Ebus is delivering enhanced, interactive correspondence courses to hundreds of students. "My son has always wanted to be home schooled, ever since he was in Grade 2, so we thought we'd try it," said Tracy Warnock, mother of an elementary-aged son, Barry. "He is very computer literate, and we wanted to find a balance between learning that was computer based, and the traditional pen and paper school work." Barry, in Grade 7, has had some classroom experiences, but said he didn't miss the typical pedagogical style of learning, with a teacher at the front talking to kids in rows of desks. "Why did I push for home schooling? Just the fact you can finish earlier in home schooling and, to a limit, chose most of what you do," Barry said. He said the downside was the slower, glitchy service on the computer because his area is still on dial-up Internet service. A major difference between usual correspondence courses and Ebus is that the Ebus classes have a live teacher available either via webcam or via e-mail. "You can e-mail your teacher and get responses sometimes right away, because they are not dealing with attitudes or behaviours, they are just dealing with course materials and the exchanges between teacher and student," said Tracy. "The students don't have all those distractions either, so the work they can get through is quite substantial. It is possible for him to be done all his work for the year by May. There is huge potential for the kind of student who can stick to task and get things done." While the Warnocks live in the Prince George area not far from the root of the Ebus program, many of the students are scattered across the province. There is a student council, with business conducted online the same way classes are. The president, George Benson, lives in Nanaimo. The vicepresident, Katelyn Turner, lives in Kelowna. "It is the way the world seems to be going," said Ebus vice-principal Stacey Soffel, who led the group excursion to the museum. "It is not a course in a box: `here's Grade 6, go to it.' It shows you all the requirements for completing Grade 6, but how you get to the end is your own choice." Last year, there were about 800 full-time equivalent students; this year, that has grown to almost 1,100 from Kindergarten to Grade 12 as well as some adults. There are 25 staff members helping them all along through webcams, e-mail, videoconferencing, telephone, support websites and other technological tools. "I was always dead-set against home-schooling - no way were we going to do that - but it has been awesome," said Tracy Warnock. There are already plans for another group activity, this time at the Two Rivers Art Gallery.

Music festival starts Sunday
Bernice Trick Citizen staff
The annual Prince George & District Music Festival continues to grow with more than 1,000 participants from Prince George and beyond competing in four general categories. The festival, runs from Sunday through March 7, and is being held in two venues. Vocal and choral, strings and instrument classes will be at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 3590 Dufferin Ave. from Sunday until March 2, while piano classes will be held at the Evangelical Free Church, 4590 Fifth Ave. running Monday through Feb. 28. Although most competitors are local, there are participants from Terrace, Burns Lake, Quesnel and Surrey. "The most popular classes are entries in classical concert groups and baroque piano music," said festival president Wilma Romanin. "There are a large number of musical theatre entries in the vocal section, and several school and community choirs are performing." The public is invited to attend all performances and admittance is free. Programs with times, dates and venues can be purchased at Studio 2880 for $5. The festival wraps up with two big events at Vanier Hall which will highlight a variety of outstanding performances from the two-week event. The Showcase Recital is at 5:30 p.m. March 7. Admission is free. The Gala Concert is at 8 p.m. March 7. Tickets, at $10, available at Studio 2880 and the door. This year's four highly-qualified judges are well known across Canada for their expertise and adjudicating abilities. Harold Wiens (vocal and choral) is a professor of music at the University of Alberta. Jamie Syer (piano) is from the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Calvin Dyck (strings) is the concertmaster for the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra. Norman Stanfield performs as a freelance professional flutist for several Canadian orchestras.

MUSIC SPEAKS ALL L ANGUAGES -- Finnish exchange students Jani Suontausta, left, and Sonja Ebeling, greeted the crowd before singing Lazereth, and a Finnish melody, to the full house of entertainers and supporters at the Cafe Voltaire Open Mike at Books and Company. Jani and Sonja will be finishing the school year at PGSS and D.P.Todd.
Citizen photo by David Mah

Theatre Royal heading out on provincial tour
Paul Strickland Citizen staff
The cast of Barkerville Historic Town's popular Theatre Royal are rolling through B.C. on their third annual provincial tour. "This tour is called The Legacy Tour ­ Barkerville or Bust, encouraging folks to come back to Barkerville in 2009," said theatre manager Richard Wright. "At our tour shows we will have a computer database and a complete record of early mining licences where people will be able to search out whether their ancestors or grandparents were in the Barkerville, Williams Creek area during the 1860s gold rush." The Legacy Tour show comes to Prince George March 26. A matinee is scheduled for 2 p.m. and there will also be a 7 p.m. show. Contact Rotarians in Prince George for tickets. The goal of the tour is to promote Barkerville as a tourist destination, but the secondary goal is to take a little of Barkerville to B.C. communities, Wright said. The show focuses on material actually sung on the stage of the Theatre Royal. The theatre was built in 1869, right after the Great Fire of 1868, but before that time, performances were held in the Parlour Saloon. The music includes tunes that were popular as B.C. was entering Confederation, telling the story of Barkerville. It also moves into the later years of the theatre with rollicking songs and humour associated with the great British Music Hall era. The tour cast features Elliott Loran on piano with Newman, Marcello Sequeira, Thomas Boutilier and newcomer Alison Jenkins in a variety of song, dance and comedic numbers. The stage manager is Aaron Wicks, and Richard Wright serves as the host and manager. The tour is being undertaken with the financial support of the Barkerville Heritage Trust, local businesses and other sponsors.

`I'm ready to rock out with my fox out'
Foxy De-Rossi hosting the Snow Daze's Gong Show on Friday night
Frank Peebles Citizen staff
What happens at the Gong Show stays at the Gong Show. What else could you do with a talent contest based on a wild Las Vegas theme? On Friday night the Snow Daze festival holds its annual all-for-fun, overthe-top talent contest and when you've got an event of this nature, you need a host who can be the decoration on top of the cake. Nobody in Prince George could be better at that than Travis Shaw, otherwise known as Foxy De-Rossi, one of B.C.'s most acclaimed drag queens. "They wanted me to help them create a Vegas atmosphere. They know who to call," said De-Rossi from under a headdress of red plummage. "My name gets people out, and I get to wear feathers and fishnet and sequins and get all dolled up for a big show, which I don't really do anymore so this is a big highlight for me. I'm ready to rock out with my fox out." De-Rossi will act as host for the evening, help hand out the awards for the winners, and do a performance number along the way. As with the 1970s television show of the same name, all contestants get one minute to showcase their performance talent before the judges either allow you to carry on to the end or gong you off the stage. The Gong Show goes ahead at the Treasure Cove Casino on Friday night at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10. Registration for talent competitors is $5 (Wednesday deadline), with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies up for grabs, a People's Choice Award, and plenty of door prizes. For more information go to the Prince George Snow Daze website or call 250564-3737 or 250-564-4605. Travis Shaw, a.k.a. Foxy De-Rossi, is the star of the Gong Show on Friday.
Submitted photo

Comet may soon be visible to residents without needing telescope
The Comet Lulin is getting brighter, and the public may soon be able to enjoy a view of the phenomenon without specialized telescopes, says an astronomer. On Feb 23 and 24 Comet Lulin will be near Saturn. On Feb. 27 and 28 it will be near Regulus, and on Mar 5 and 6 it will be near what professional astronomers refer to as Messier Object 44, popularly known as the beehive cluster of stars.    individuals or groups who contribute to building stronger and more peaceful communities. Transken's work in Prince George has involved service to many agencies and events including Take Back the Night, UNBC's Art Council and Association Advocating for Women and Children.    Parents and people who work with autistic children may be interested in attending an Autism Conference in Vancouver that will feature 18 of the world's foremost autism experts speaking on a range of related topics. The conference runs Feb. 26 to March 1 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. For more information visit www.autismvancouver.com or call 780-719-2242.    Diana Phillips, author of Beyond the Chilcotin: On the Home Ranch with Pan Phillips, will be in Prince George to talk about her book at 2 p.m. Friday at Cafe Voltaire in Books and Company.    On Sunday members of the Prince George Naturalists Club will be skiing or snowshoeing into Troll Lake cabin on Tabor Mountain. Bring your lunch and GPS unit. "We'll practice GPSing so it's easier to atlas this spring," said Sandra Kinsey, a member of the club. Meet under the Spruceland Shopping Centre sign at 10 a.m. For more information contact Sandra or Laird at (250) 9638381.

Si Transken, an associate professor at UNBC, was recently honoured as this year's recipient of the YMCA Peace Medallion, given to