Celebrate! In June we focus on our value of celebration and this year is particularly special because it is a return to in person celebrations after two years of recognizing our special days and milestones virtually or in other ways. This is especially important for our students graduating, for our staff retiring and for our learners transitioning to high school because these celebrations will look as imagined!
What makes an exceptional trustee? Do I have what it takes? I find that I ask myself this question each time I attend a board meeting, committee meeting, engage with community or represent the board to other levels of government. It is also a question I ask more frequently as this term comes to an end and the question of running to be elected to the Board of Education for another term is being asked.
May is the month we embrace our values of respect and responsibility. These, like our other values, are evident at every school on the coast. These values were also present at the recent British Columbia School Trustees Association’s (BCSTA) annual general meeting. The event entitled From Grief to Medicine was an honouring of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action in a very real and palpable way.
April brings our focus to our District’s value of innovation. Innovation is a new idea, a way of doing something, or a new tool to help us do our work. Innovation often feels scary at the beginning, especially when our innovation feels foreign or daring.
The British Columbia School Trustee Association (BCSTA) will be hosting their 2022 Annual General Meeting next month, and as a way to show the works of School Trustees throughout the Province, I thought I would share some of the motions coming to the table. I believe it is essential to show that districts throughout the province share many of the same values as we do
Collaboration and Equity is on our focus this month, a perfect fit for the month that celebrates International Women’s Day. This years’ theme for International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias.
Bias is located in our culture and our identity. Bias reveals itself in our communities and organizations. It reveals itself when we look around to see who is beside us, who we report to, who we learn from, and who is welcome. Bias is both conscious and unconscious.
Becoming a trustee was a difficult choice for me. At the time, I did not know what a trustee was, let alone how to do it. It had some abstract ideas around it, things like keeping education public, or passing a budget and hiring a superintendent.
Inclusion is the value we focus on for February. What do you understand when you hear this word? The understanding you hold is going to influence and impact your perception of how inclusion ought to look. It will also likely help you understand how you belong or experience exclusion. What do you elect to belong to? What do you belong to that is outside of your control? What do you feel excluded from? What do you elect to exclude yourself from? How much does choice impact how much value you place on inclusion?
The new year is a good time to reflect on what ethical decision-making means to the board of education from the perspective of governance. What ethical principles guide our decisions and how do we ensure we are aware of the impact on students, families and community?
January is a key month. It is the start of a new calendar year; however, it also moves us from reflecting on our vision, mission, and affirmation statements into our six value statements. A vision communicates our goals and inspires us. A mission defines our purpose. An affirmation communicates what we believe to be true. And our values communicate our philosophy about what we do and how we do it. Values help create our school district culture and we rely on them to inform key decisions.
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