Submitted by Chair Amanda Amaral
June 8, 2022
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!
Hand in hand with celebration is ritual. School concerts, class parties, field trips and marking the end of the school year with friends in special ways has already commenced. In returning to our rituals in person we are able to revisit what we mark with celebrations and reflect on its’ meaning for us. We are provided an opportunity to reconfirm the significance of what we do and why we do it. What rituals and celebrations in June are important to you? What are your best memories of the end of the school year?
June is also host to Pride Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day. We are looking forward to recognizing these celebrations at our schools and some of you may already notice the rainbow Pride flag flying!
As a Board we have a lot to celebrate this June. It is not one decision, action or event that is the cause for celebration: it is the accumulation of many small things that create the most authentic celebration this year.
I want to thank our Student Trustee, Mathew Douglas, for joining us around the Board table this year. We have enjoyed your contributions immensely and appreciated your engagement with Board business. We wish you well and congratulations on your graduation!
I want to thank all of our staff; this year has been challenging and as we returned to normal operations you have all managed the changes and transitions with grace. We heard about how each one of you took on new or different duties and responsibilities to ensure we were able to offer in person instruction and keep schools open as safe community hubs for students each day. Together we accomplished something remarkable!
I want to thank each trustee for making our last school year together one full of action and learning; each of your contributions has been important to our work as a Board. As we start to enter into a new phase of reflections on our term I have experienced a rainbow of emotions: Revelation, Optimism, Yearning, Gratitude, Bliss, Inspiration and Vulnerability. What is in your rainbow this June?
I wish all staff, students and community volunteers a carefree, restful and inspiring summer break. I hope everyone has an opportunity to reconnect with their special people and places that have been out of reach the past few years. Enjoy and I am looking forward to reconnecting in September!