Blog Posts

Now in my thirty-fifth year as an educator, I still look forward to the beginning of the school year with anticipation. It still feels like yesterday, but three and a half decades ago, I started my career in Peace River South School District as a grade 6/7 teacher in Devereaux Elementary School. I remember when I first saw the ad for the position, going to a map to see where the heck this place was. The principal, Mr. Evans, interviewed me over the phone and offered me the job shortly thereafter.

This time last year, I posted a blog expressing my profound gratitude to all our staff for getting us through what was a tremendously demanding year. As I look back on this past school year, I continue to be truly grateful for how we have managed an even more challenging year than we anticipated.

One of the lasting legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic will be its exposure of pre-existing societal inequities to a wider audience. While inequities have existed in society and schools since they were created, the pandemic has caused many of us to see them with greater clarity. The murder of George Floyd perhaps served as a catalyzing moment, but I suspect there were more forces at play.

As many of you know I will be retiring in the summer. I am excited and humbled by the upcoming experience. I would first of all like the thank all Superintendents over the 35 years I have been in the Abbotsford School District. Their support, mentorship, and challenges have made me the principal and person I am today. Next up are the teachers and support staff, I can honestly say I have never worked with anyone that was not hard-working and child-centered.

This month we have been fortunate enough to be able to host some normal events at school. Small gatherings like assemblies, special presentations, small tournaments, and guest speakers, along with our Vasaikhi Mehla last week. What I've found as a whole is the overwhelming gratitude of the students, staff, and later the parents. Our students have always enjoyed being together to celebrate and learn but the number of thank yous and student cards of gratitude has been overwhelming. Even a simple field trip has students bubbling with joy and happiness.

The most recent stop on my student voice inquiry journey was at WJ Mouat. I continue to be fascinated by the diversity of thought about certain issues, and simultaneously the remarkable consistency around other topics. Rather than editorialize, I will Arianna (Gr. 9), Omran (Gr. 12), Jazzi (Gr. 11), Nickolas (Gr. 11), Bella (Gr. 11), Lily (Gr. 12), Nathan (Gr. 11), Jayda (Gr. 12), and Natalie (Gr. 12) speak their truth:

When you think about school, what is the first word that comes to mind? Why?

I visited the temporary Upper Sumas Elementary site this week to see how the staff and students were adjusting to their “new” environment (For those of you who have been around as long as I have been, this was the old Abby Elementary School site). As I approached the front doors, I saw a class of students standing in circle in a little garden patch. I made eye contact with the teacher, Ms. Marr, who invited me to join their circle. She told me that they had just finished sharing what they were grateful for and invited me to do the same.

With all that has transpired in this country and in Europe over the last few weeks, it is easy to slip into despair. However, when you work with and in service of children it is both difficult and unhealthy to live in that space. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with a group of eight students from Robert Bateman Secondary last week, and true to form, they not only affirmed the importance of our work, but lifted my spirits about the fundamental importance of our ongoing journey to deepen student learning experiences in our schools.  

With all the deserved recognition of our health providers and essential service personnel, it's easy to overlook the role of the teachers and support staff in schools over the last two years. Our HSE staff along with other staff across the district and province have kept schools open and students learning. They have flexed and changed their routines and practice so students can come to school safely and learn. I would like to pay a special thank you to our HSE Staff. They have been outstanding professionals during these pandemic times.

I have a hope that one day we will not have to celebrate Black History Month, that our society, discourse and school curricula will be redolent with the contributions and experiences of Black Canadians, that Black students in our schools will be proud of who they are, that they will see their history and culture in the ecology of their school experiences, and that they will not suffer the legacy of prejudice and racism as their previous generation had.