Superintendent's Blog

This is the first guest blogger post on my weblog, and I believe it clearly illustrates the  advantages of occasionally offering an overview of an SD42 event from another perspective. Although I attended last week’s COR project, Alouette Elementary’s Dennis Tjernagel will recap it for you here. Dennis is in a unique position to speak to the event since he was one of the administrators who worked on this project with our DSAC kids.

Here is his post:

The day was organized by the DSAC Executive, which consists of a number of high school students from across the district.  These students have worked hard all year to organize monthly meetings and to put together this large COR project. (The acronym “COR” stands for Celebration of Respect, a term coined for our first DSAC conference in Maple Ridge.)

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The bi-annual Graduation Transitions presentations put on by Maple Ridge Secondary School are always a big favourite with our Senior Staff. These presentations allow district staff, district retirees and many other community members to engage with students who have spent 13 years in our public education system.

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At last week’s Board meeting, we were very fortunate to receive a presentation from a member of the RCMP Youth Academy who currently attends Maple Ridge Secondary.  This young man came to share his thoughts and to thank the Board for its continuing support of this very valuable partnership.

The program takes place over spring break. This year, our district sent approximately 25 students, who for spent all day from early morning to late at night taking part in a demanding Policing Bootcamp.  According to all those who attend, the experience is life changing for many participants. Those students who have a passion for this line of work often take the next steps once the camp is over. [Read more...]

So I have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus the past few months. I was hunkered down in my office with budget, staffing and hiring issues, and with all the other things that conspire to keep me out of schools. But there really is nothing like a group of kids to snap you out of a “blogging block.”

Today I met with a group of students who were working on an Inquiry Project as a part of the District’s 1-1 laptop initiative. They wanted to conduct three separate interviews with me as the Superintendent of Schools on three issues: the school calendar, school buses as a means of resolving school parking lot traffic problems, and the renting out of our schools for community use. [Read more...]

Anti-bullying day received amazing support in SD 42 last week as the district was immersed in a sea of pink.  Each school embraced this day to try to remind everyone that bullying is never appropriate.  At the District Education Office, all staff dawned pink shirts to show support, and in the evening each Board of Education trustee wore a pink shirt to the Public Board meeting to honor and recognize the day as well.

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