By Dara Hakimzadeh
Picture it: a high school chemistry experiment without the test tubes and beakers — no Bunson burners, no dry ice.
Instead, students watch from across lab tables empty of chemicals while a small group of their classmates carry out the experiment for them.
Teachers say that’s what classrooms have been like ever since the provincial government stopped the flow of educational props to schools last February, when it closed Ottawa’s media centre, a resource that once provided educational equipment.
But now, a new budget may see those props return with an injection of new provincial cash, says Dave Wildman, the president of the Ottawa-Carleton Elementary Teachers’ Federation.
Teachers have been scrambling for all kinds of classroom props — from videos to books, software packages and even science kits — ever since the February closure of a media centre that fed classroom resources to all four school districts.
Merv Beckstead, the former provincial supervisor, ordered the closure of the Bronson Avenue media centre, which served schools in the region since 1978. The board projected cost savings of $90,000.
Students are now forced to learn through seeing rather than doing, says Wildman – a situation that trickles down and affects the quality of their education.
“Teachers are talking heads,” he says. “Before, everyone would participate.”
As a result, teachers – nearly 6,000 of them borrowed more than 49,000 items from the centre last year – are lamenting the loss of the centre.
“It was like a lending library,” says Kathryn Turnbull, who teaches English as a second language at Arlington Street’s Glashan Public School.
“We don’t have access to novel study sets anymore.”
But Ian Scott, chairman of the school board’s arts committee, is now looking into developing a plan to open the centre by January.
“If the new board is willing to remains to be seen,” he says.
“It hinges on the business plan and who will take it up.”
In June, the school board put $25,000 toward a plan restoring the service in its 2003-2004 budget.
While Wildman holds out hope that the province will continue to support the centre, he says provincial promises have too often been dashed in the past.
“This government of ours has continually said they are making cuts that don’t take away from the classroom . . . (but they take) resources right out of the hands of the kids,” he says.
Not having a media co-operative has meant teachers get their props from libraries or by dipping into school budgets – or even their own pockets.
Marie-Lou Boyle, a French immersion teacher at Lisgar Collegiate Institute, says she borrows materials from the Ottawa Public Library for her classes.
“There’s a lot of sharing between teachers now. We have our own little collection of materials,” says Boyle, who is planning a trip to Montreal to buy supplies for her class.
She adds she’d be thrilled if the centre opened in January:
“The media centre is more education-focused while the library appeals to a larger segment of the population. It was such a great resource.”
Paula Marinigh, Glashan’s vice-principal, says the loss of the media centre has led to strains on school budgets.
“We have money we dedicate to our library every year and some of that goes to purchases now.”
The closure has led many schools that don’t have fundraising abilities to stretch their resources, adds Wildman.
One plan to re-open the centre would see it resurrected through user fees — the exact cost of which has yet to be determined.
“If the only way they could re-open it was to charge a user fee to the school as a whole, I guess it would be better than not having one at all,” says Boyle, who adds the centre’s closing was “a shame.”