“Good morning friends and neighbors. I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you that I have decided to run for Chestermere School Board trustee in the Rockyview School Board system. I sincerely hope you will find me worthy and capable of representing families and children in this capacity.
I have two children in elementary school here in Chestermere and I have spent several years as school council chair. I have also spent the last few years being part of focus groups for Rockyview school board, attending quarterly School Board and Joint School Council meetings, attending school board trustee meetings, and most recently I’ve had the privilege of attending the annual Alberta School Council meeting in Edmonton earlier this year.
I had the opportunity to voice my opinion, along with the rest of our community, regarding School Board trustee representation for Rockyview and I’m pleased to say that the changes made to trustee representation is advantageous for Chestermere. As you may know, Chestermere is now going to be represented by two trustees, one for the city of Chestermere and one for the rural area surrounding Chestermere. This not only gives us a bigger voice when it comes to decision-making and policy, but it gives us the opportunity to ensure both City and Rural needs in Chestermere are heard at the board level.
Our outgoing trustee, Bev LaPeare, has served our city for 12 years with her heart and her voice well and truly dedicated to our children. She has left very big shoes to fill, thank goodness we get two sets of shoes to try to fill them! Spending years in her company picking her brain has only served to increase my desire to follow in her footsteps and, with hope and with her mentorship, I will be able to do justice to the role if given the honour.
From a qualification standpoint, I have spent years managing upwards of 25 direct reports, overseeing budgets of over several million dollars, spanning various interests across western Canada. I have created policy, designed and delivered training programs, and managed projects projects through to completion on time and on budget. I hope you will find my education and experience to be an asset to this position, but I do believe my complete dedication to making sure education policies reflect the needs of children in and around Chestermere are my biggest asset. I will post my resume and other candidate information upon request and closer to election day.
There are many issues facing our children that I would like to be part of. From the approval of new schools, to transportation, to bullying, to meeting the education needs of children of all abilities, and to ensuring our education standards prepare our children for the future, there are numerous challenges that we need to address to the satisfaction and betterment of education for our children. I would love to hear from you about what concerns you the most and matters to you the most regarding the education of our kids.
Voting for school board trustee takes place at the same time as the municipal election in Chestermere – on October 16th. Of course, I do hope you will consider me when it comes time to vote. But most importantly, I do hope you will indeed take the time to come out to vote.
Should I be successful, it will be my honor and privilege to represent you and your children.
