Blog Posts

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?

Mrs. Michelle Olson is Clayburn Difference Maker. Michelle, a quiet, unassuming, thoughtful teacher is a person who continually strives to make our school a better place to teach, learn, and work.

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.

Our lovely StrongStart Facilitator, Ekta Thind, here at Blue Jay Elementary School truly embodies our District’s Mission Statement: Preparing and inspiring our students for a lifetime of success through Respect, Opportunity, and Innovation. Ekta, or Ms. Ekta, as she’s known to our children, their families, and our staff, has been supporting both our 0 to age 4 children in our wonderful StrongStart space, and our incoming Kindergarteners.

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.  

Ms. Mirjana Juric is Eugene Reimer’s Difference Maker. MJ, as she is known by many throughout the school District, is a long-time teacher in Abbotsford starting off her career at Clearbrook Elementary over twenty-five years ago. She continues her passion for teaching and learning at Eugene Reimer Middle School where she is the Home Economics teacher. She makes connections with all 650 students through so many avenues.

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.

Over the last few years, it has been my practice to post a “Top 3” January blog related to our educational transformation efforts and ways these ideas might be manifested in the coming twelve months.

What does it mean to be a school community? The events of the last few weeks have been challenging and tested our resolve to remain a healthy and vibrant community. No school site has been thrown into this challenge more than the Upper Sumas Elementary staff. They have had to grapple with the stories of loss coming from their families because of the flooding and the prospects of being school-less as we recover from the relentless storms this past week. In this recovery and reconnection process for Upper Sumas Elementary, Principal Abby Chan described it in this way:

When I was recently asked to share with some of my colleagues how our school district was handling the challenges related to the recent rainstorms and flooding, I could not help but reflect on the numerous calamities we have experienced as a community over the last decade. In addition to the pandemic and disastrous flooding of the last three weeks, our community has endured more than its fair share of tragedies. We have lost more students from a range of misfortune too difficult to recount here.