Updates

I have been remiss in writing again, and for that, apologize. I am working on getting into a groove with keeping this blog up to date. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t want this blog be used to debate board agenda items. I have come to realize how important it is to keep debate to more formal channels. And yet I want to remain accessible & accountable.

It was a good year; I was active in educational matters both within our district and within our province. On a provincial level, I had the privilege of being part of the peer review process related to the Foundation for Enhancing Student Learning. It was a great opportunity to visit another school district on the Island & see different ways of approaching literacy, numeracy, social responsibility, support for students with diverse learning needs, and mental health.

Locally, I enjoyed being part of the NDSS zone with Trustee Lee. I admittedly had difficulty getting out to all my schools this year; I will ensure that I get caught up & get in a better groove for the 2023-2024 school year. I did have the opportunity to visit Mountain View a few times, and I got to see the work of their youth leadership group first hand. These students are passionate about sustainability! I also visited Ecole Quarterway & Ecole Pauline Haarer. In all the schools I visited, and in all the presentations I saw throughout the year, there was a recurring theme: our district is staffed by dedicated people who are committed to doing their best for students, and who care about not just their academic achievements, but their overall wellbeing.

In the fall we will be discussing the current status of our strategic plan. We will need to decide whether to update it, change it, or simply ask staff to focus on different aspects of our operational plan, while focussing on the same broad goals.

One of the core principles of our board which I am very proud of is our commitment to inclusivity & respect for diversity. As such, the following public statement was sent out today:

http://surl.li/jgkyy

Board & staff discussed this in great depth prior to making the decision & I believe it is the right course of action.

A few announcements!

Come out tonight! We would love to talk to you about the issues that matter to you!

First, I want to make sure everyone is aware that there is a candidate meeting and greet tonight. It’s hosted by the Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, and it will include candidates for both school board and city council.

Second, you will see that I have added a page to my blog which shows the key bullets of my platform. I’ll be adding details to that page, and writing some posts about particular topics of interest, over the rest of the campaign. I had intended to get that page up and begin this process earlier, and the combination of life and pressing work deadlines simply made that an impossible goal to achieve. I would rather share the information properly than put something out that isn’t an accurate reflection of my thoughts.

Last, I want thank community volunteer extraordinaire, Joel Canfield, as well as candidates Mark Robinson, Greg Keller, and Naomi Bailey for their assistance in putting up the first batch of my signs. One of the hardest parts of campaigning for me is that I can’t put up my own signs. I currently have 5 signs left, and 20 more on the way. Of those 25, 6 are spoken for. If you would be wiling to take a sign – either for your lawn, or to put up somewhere in your neighbourhood (or both, if you’re willing to take more than one), please contact me at cycworker11@gmail.com

Please take a look at my updated get involved page for ways you can support the campaign. A few people had requested information on how to e-transfer a donation to the campaign, so I have now added that information. I wish that fundraising didn’t have to be a part of running for office; sadly, however, the rising costs of signs & other advertising make that very difficult. I am genuinely pondering some ideas I want to share with local elected officials on ways we can address this topic in the future. I view it as both an environmental issue & an equity issue.

On that note… I hope to see you tonight at Beban Park!

It’s official!

On Tuesday I submitted my paperwork to put my name forward for a third term as trustee on the Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools Board of Education. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and I would like to be part of continuing the good work of the past four years. I am deeply committed to serving the students, families, and staff of our school district as we strive to build on the achievements of the past term.

This term, I have served the district in a number of ways. I began the term by taking on the role of Business Committee Chair, and I have spent the final year of this term as the Chair of the Education Committee. I was also on a variety of committees, including the CUPE/Trustee Liaison committee, the Policy committee, and both the main Long-Range Facilities Planning committee and the Ladysmith Advisory sub-committee. These committees have been vital to the Board’s goal of ensuring that we are gathering meaningful feedback from our all of our partners.

This term, I’ve also been active on a provincial level. I spent 3 years as the Vice President of the Vancouver Island School Trustees’ Committee. I am now the Vancouver Island representative on the Professional Learning Committee. I have also served as a trustee representative on a provincial working group devoted to the Framework for Enhancing Student Learning (FESL). I have recently been selected to continue as a FESL sector representative and I am excited to dig further into this initiative! I will do a short series of posts next week outlining my formal campaign platform! I am grateful for the support I have received so far & I would consider it an honour to have the support of the community to be part of the next phase in the district’s growth.

I am so grateful to all who signed my nomination papers

The New Term Begins

First, I apologize for not posting on my blog during the campaign. My desktop officially died in August and for a bunch of reasons I didn’t get it fixed. Basically, it had so reached the end of its life that I realized it wasn’t worth it. And I didn’t have time to research what to get.

I’m honoured to have been reelected. I look forward to four productive years of working with eight other strong,   committed individuals who believe passionately in public education.

Tonight we had our inaugural meeting, where we took our oath of office. We also held elections for the Board positions that required them. Here is the full list:

Jessica Stanley: Education Chair, BCSTA Rep

Lisa Marie Barron: Board Vice chair, Alternate for the BCSTA Rep

Tania Brzovic: Chair, Business Committee

Greg Keller: Vice Chair, Business Committee

Stephanie Higginson

Charlene McKay: Board Chair

Chantel O Neill

Bill Robinson

Elaine Wilkinson: Vice Chair, Education Committee

I am very excited to have the opportunity to take on a chair position. I’m genuinely excited for the possibilities this group of people brings to the District. It is a really strong mix of people.

As always, I welcome any questions people may have about anything in this post.

I would like to take the opportunity to formally announce my candidacy for a second term as a school trustee in the October 20, 2018 municipal election.

During my first term, I have shown myself to be a strong advocate for public education. Over the past four years I’ve worked diligently to make decisions that put the needs of children first, whether it be opposing the closure of Rutherford Elementary school, speaking out against cuts to CUPE positions, or calling for an increase in student support teachers.

As I reflect on the past term, I take pride in the District’s work in the area of social justice. As an active member of the Safe Schools Advisory Committee, I am particularly proud of our Inclusion Policy, which actively challenges racism, homophobia, and transphobia, and is highly regarded throughout the province. I am also honoured to be part of a Board that has embraced Reconciliation as one of our key strategic goals.  We have also invested both time & financial resources into an equity scan to further our understanding of challenges facing our Aboriginal students.

I strongly believe that we must support  neighborhood schools & the community schools. Our community school coordinators are a vital link to programs which provide important resources to our children and families. I have seen this first hand as a volunteer at one of our local schools in their breakfast and lunch program. The partnership between FoodShare and the School District is only one example of the amazing work that is happening.

A strong voice will be especially important in the next four years. The new Board will face challenges. We will be entering the collective bargaining process for both our teachers and our support staff. I remain committed to growing the public’s confidence in District decisions by continuing to advocate for meaningful consultation with partners and encouraging effective, appropriate oversight of management. A review our facilities plan must be completed so that we can come up with strategies to address the growth in various parts of the District, particularly the north end. We must ensure that we have adequate resources for special needs students so that all children receive the education they deserve. Lastly we need to continue our work to create welcoming, inclusive and safe schools. With my experience as a trustee, coupled with my personal background, I believe that I can make a significant contribution to the work of the Board.

 

Year End thoughts

The end of the school year is often a little bittersweet to me. It’s a time of both endings and beginnings. It was a privilege to attend both the CUPE and NDTA retirement functions, as well as the District retirement event. Every year I’m awestruck by the sheer amount of talent and experience in the room as we say goodbye and good luck to these incredible professionals, as they move on to the next part of their lives.

This year, we also said goodbye to a place… an amazing school – Rutherford Elementary – which will always hold a special place in my heart. I was grateful to have the opportunity to say goodbye to it; I was a Rutherford student from grade 1 through to the end of grade 7. Tamara Cunningham, the education reporter for the Nanaimo Bulletin, did a lovely write up on the ending events at the school, which you can find here. The staff did an amazing job with the final assembly; it was one of the best I’ve been to. I was unable to say a proper thank you and goodbye to the staff until the next day, as I had to leave to get ready for the Dover graduation, which was that afternoon.

As always, I’ll share my remarks from the ceremony.

Good afternoon staff, parents, family, friends distinguished guests, most importantly, the graduating class of 2018. It is my profound honour to bring you greetings on behalf of the Board of Trustees of School District 68.  

First of all, I want to say how incredibly proud I am of each and every one of you. I consider it the greatest privilege of my role as a Trustee to be able to be here and share this day with you. Although I work hard to have a unique message every year, there are two things I have to say that I will say until someone tells me I can’t anymore. One – as much as you may feel like you want to hurry through today’s proceedings, try not to do that. Savour this moment. You’ve earned it. Two – as hard as you worked to get here, to become the person you are today – you didn’t do it all by yourself. Many adults: Family, friends, teachers, coaches, neighbours, and others – have supported & encouraged you along the way. Take even just a few moments to find one or two and thank them for their efforts. It matters.

I want to take this opportunity to share my hopes for you as you move on to the next phase of your lives.

First…..  At the end of the day, who you are is more important than what you do. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work hard. Just remember that material success isn’t a substitute for character. The true measure of a quality education is that combination of developing knowledge, skills, self-awareness and character.  

Second.. There is a time to take action. Dr Martin Luther King Jr stated that the true measure of a man isn’t how he behaves in moments of comfort & convenience. It’s how he stands during times of controversy & challenge. And don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too young to make a difference. You’re not.I know by the way many of you have been involved in social justice efforts through the school – things like We Day, for example – that there are amazing leaders among you. Each of you has gifts to share with the world & those gifts are part of the unique contribution you make to society. Communities are formed by the way individuals come together & share those gifts to create a whole that’s bigger than the sum of its parts.

Last… And this lesson is the one I’ve had the hardest time learning. It really is possible to be responsible & take life seriously without taking yourself too seriously. It’s just as important to play, to goof off & have fun, as it is to work hard. Remember that George B Shaw was right… we don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing. So make time for fun in your life.

Class of 2018, you are an amazing group of people. Thank you for listening & for the privilege of sharing this ceremony with you.

 

 

Superintendent Search Survey

As some may know, School District 68 is in the process of hiring a new Superintendent to take over upon the retirement of John Blain this summer. We haven’t shortlisted yet and we’re looking for input as to the qualities the community values in this role. Please take a few moments to complete this survey, and share it widely! It is open to anyone whether or not you currently have children in public school. Our belief is that everyone benefits when our children receive a quality education.

 

The survey date has been extended to Sunday, February 4th. Please share widely.

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BGK3S9J

Also – I’m aware that a my posts from September, October, November & December have posted properly. I’ll fix it this weekend, and do an update for January.

Welcome back!

As I noted in my last blog post, I’ve been assigned to the Dover zone this year. I greatly enjoyed my time in the John Barsby zone.  As I move into my new assignment, there is one thing I want to clear up.

There is a perception that the Board didn’t question the move of VAST to John Barsby because they don’t care about these students.  I can guarantee you that every member of our board, whatever our differences, believes, when they vote on a matter in front of us, is looking at the issue through the lens of what they see as the best way to serve kids, in the short term & the long term. Many of us did raise a lot of questions regarding the move; we didn’t just give it a rubber stamp. And to the credit of staff, when we discussed the issue of the VAST move, they worked very hard to address all the concerns. I know that first hand, because I was part of the transition meetings. I have had many conversations with the staff who work directly with these students. They are passionate about supporting them and we are lucky to have them.

Second, there appears to be some confusion around the issue of the fact that the students in VAST/CTC have a separate entrance they can use. This decision wasn’t made to stigmatize the students. Learning Alternatives (which is what the overall program is called) is a school within a school. They want to feel like their own entity, and part of respecting that desire is to give them their own entryway. That is very important to the students and the program staff, who work very hard to support them. The planning for the physical layout of the new classrooms – including the choice of location – was made with full input & approval from the program principal & discussed in depth at the transition committee meeting.

As always, if anyone has further questions about this matter or any other issue, please feel free to contact me!

Graduation 2017

Well, my part of the graduation festivities for our grade twelve students, small as it is, has been completed. This afternoon I was part of the platform party for the John Barsby Community School Class of 2017. The ceremony was absolutely lovely. There was a fantastic slide show, two beautiful musical performances, and a poignant, yet funny valedictory address.

As always, I will share with you what I wrote for the graduates. Special thanks to my mom and to  Robyn Gray, who is part of our senior District administration,  for their assistance in determining how to modify the poem I used at the end.

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Good afternoon staff, parents, family, friends distinguished guests, most importantly, the graduating class of 2017. It is my profound honour to bring you greetings on behalf of the Board of Trustees of School District 68.  

First of all, I want to say how incredibly proud I am of each and every one of you. I consider it the greatest privilege of my role as a Trustee to be able to be here and share this day with you. Although I work hard to have a unique message every year, there are two things I have to say that I will repeat until someone tells me I can’t anymore. One – as much as you may feel like you want to hurry through today’s proceedings, try not to do that. Savor this moment. You’ve earned it. And consider yourself lucky you didn’t have 800+ kids in your grad class. Two – as hard as you worked to get here, to become the person you are today – you didn’t do it all by yourself. Many adults: Family, friends, teachers, coaches, neighbours, and others – have supported & encouraged you along the way. Take even just a few moments to find one or two and thank them for their efforts. It matters.

High school, in my opinion, can best be summarized by the immortal words of Charles Dickens, at the start of A Tale of Two Cities: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I can’t begin to imagine the wealth of memories that you are taking with you, both bitter and sweet.   

You may think that because you are only one person, that what you do doesn’t make a difference. But it does. There’s a story I first heard years ago about a man who sees a boy throwing things into the ocean. The man approached the child and asked what he was doing and the boy explains he’s tossing starfish back into the ocean, because the tide was going out and he didn’t want them to die. The man laughed & pointed out that there were too many for him to make a difference. The boy listened politely, picked up another starfish and as he did so, he stated: “I made a difference for that one”

As I’ve pondered, over the past few months, what I wanted to say to you today, I’ve thought about many things. I must return to Dickens for a moment: He continued, after that famous first line, to note that, “it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us:”

That was written in 1859, and yet it’s just as true today. For every challenge you face, you will also be faced with an opportunity.*

As hard as it is to stay positive and hopeful, try to remember that there is no light without dark.It is the bad times in life that will help you appreciate the good times, and the good times which will give you the strength and resilience to get through the bad times.

A few of the young men graduating today played floor hockey with me back when you were in elementary school, and maybe even in grade 8.  I said to you back then that when you remembered your time with us, you wouldn’t remember who scored that sweet goal, or the final score of any of the games. You’d remember the fun and the camaraderie and the sense of being part of a team. Life is a lot like floor hockey, gang. It’s a team sport. And as important as it is for you to contribute your skills and your talents, what’s even more important is who you are. It’s how you treat people. Be the change you wish to see in the world. One way to do that is to strive to live out, every day, the virtues that some call the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,  self-control, and, most importantly, kindness.  I will end here with a slightly altered version of a poem by The Abbey of Gethsemani.

Of all the virtues open to all of us the

Most effective, the most far-reaching, the most

Consoling is Kindness.

Kindness is one of the greatest gifts to the world.

It drives gloom and darkness from souls.

It puts hope into fainting hearts.

It sweetens sorrow. It lessens pain.

It discovers unsuspected beauties

Of human character.

It calls for a response from all that is best in souls.

It purifies, glorifies, ennobles, all that it touches

It opens the floodgates of children’s laughter.

It gathers the tears of repentant love.

It lightens the burden of weariness.

It stops the torment of angry passion.

It takes the sting from failure.

It kindles courageous ambition.

It lifts the unfortunate.

It leads back the wayward.

Let us all become advocates of kindness to partake

Of its sweetness, to aspire to its magnificence

The virtue of kindness is exalted;

It is sublime;

It is worthy  of each of us

Congratulations, again to all of you. I wish you every blessing as you embark on the next phase in your life’s journey.

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If you’re wondering about the part in bold & italics, with the asterisk beside it – that would be the part I decided I needed to add this morning, because something still didn’t ‘feel right’ in the original version. Of course, I wrote that part out by hand because I didn’t have time to get it printed again. And then I stumbled a bit over my words because, well… nobody will ever give me awards for my penmanship. Of course, I’m the person who noticed that stumble the most, and I beat myself up over it on the drive home.

The universe’s way of helping me find the theme for next year’s speech?

I think so.

 

 

 

And so it begins…

It’s officially the end of the school year. Tomorrow I’ll be at the Port Theatre, watching the John Barsby graduating class of 2017 as they a take the stage. As always, it will be a great honour to be able to address the students. I am happy to say that I finished writing & proofreading my speech on Sunday night, which is a record for me. I am a bit of a perfectionist, and sometimes – many times – that manifests itself through procrastination. In February I took part 1 of spritual growth program & identified that bad habit of mine, and in part two, which I am currently participating in, I began really tackling the issue.

So that said… despite the fact that the speech is written, I don’t think it’s right to share it with my blog readers until the students themselves have heard it. I will, however, share the speech I gave to the Dover graduates in 2016, which I forgot to post last June.  I was  (maybe still am?) a little self-conscious about the fact that I used the Jack Layton quote again, because I work really hard to find different ones each year. But for some reason, that particular one just felt right, again.

Spoiler alert: I did NOT use it in this year’s speech.

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Good afternoon staff, parents, family, friends distinguished guests, most importantly, the graduating class of 2016. It is a privilege to bring you greetings on behalf of the Board of Trustees of School District 68. Of all the many tasks I’m asked to perform in my role, it’s events such as today that bring me the most joy. And today that joy is mixed with a profound sense of pride, because I have known a number of you for so long, and in fact, I’m related to one of you. The kids who know me likely remember that I’m slightly obsessed with pictures & scrapbooking. I have a lot of memories of many of you, from track meets and ball games to assemblies and holiday parties; so many that at one point I considered that a slide show to accompany these words might be fun. But my hope is that you’ll all still be speaking to me by the time this day is over, so in the end I reconsidered that approach. That said, I’ve been waiting almost 18 years for this day, and I’m I wee bit sentimental at the best of times….  

But seriously… as I prepared for this day, 3 things came to mind

The first is that memories matter. So I ask you today to do something that’s a little bit contrary to the messages our society gives us. Stay in the moment today. Today really is the first day of the rest of your life. Don’t think about what you’re going to do tonight, or the long weekend. Stay in this moment, and truly reflect on all you’ve accomplished. As Robert Fulghum once wrote, “Every person passing through this life will unknowingly leave something and take something away. Most of this “something” cannot be seen or heard or numbered or scientifically detected or counted. It’s what we leave in the minds of other people and what they leave in ours. Memory. The census doesn’t count it. Nothing counts without it.”

The second is that although I am absolutely sure each of you worked as hard as you could to get to this day, you didn’t get here alone. As someone once said, No man is an island. Each of you has had at least one person – if you’re lucky, maybe more than one – who has encouraged you, supported you, invested time & effort into you… And in a society that often puts a lot of emphasis on individualism, it’s easy to take that for granted. So my final assignment to you? Don’t do that.  Take the time, over the next few days, to thank those people, be it parents, other family members, former teachers, secretaries, coaches…all of those interactions played an integral part of making you the person you are today, and they’re part of the foundation that will help as you take your next steps into the adult world.

And that leads me to my final point. I remember my own graduation, feeling a tremendous pressure as all these speakers blathered on about how we should change the world. How could I live up to that? And as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized something – it isn’t about the career you choose. The legacy you will leave, when it’s all said and done, is not in what you do, or what you have, but in who you ARE. We are meant to be more than what we do – there’s a reason we’re referred to as human BEINGS, not human DOINGS. In the words of the late Jack Layton, Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So be hopeful, loving and optimistic. And you will change the world.

 

Thank you