(November 15, 2022)
I am honored to continue to serve the Algoma District School Board as its chair for my eleventh year. Thank you, Trustee Reid, for your nomination, and thank you to my fellow trustees for your confidence and continued support. I look forward to working with Vice Chair Elaine Johnston.
Working with our dynamic leadership team, we will seek every opportunity – whether in classrooms, through budget discussions, or at the Board table -- to strive to best meet the diverse needs of every student in our system.
Just a couple of weeks ago we acknowledged and said farewell to some very experienced and dedicated trustees who served this board for 8-26 years! We know that as we work around this table as colleagues, we often develop strong relationships that will last into the future. With that being said, we welcome our four newly elected trustees to our Board and we look forward to working with you over the next term! Your unique experiences will bring new perspectives to our group and we look forward to learning alongside you as we serve our students and communities. The learning curve can be steep and we want to ensure that you feel informed and engaged from the outset, so our first order of business will be to provide support and professional development. We look forward to maintaining the strong, respectful relationships, for which our board is known, with our Director Lucia Reece and the passionate team of leaders who join us around this table. Change at any level is a driver for growth and opportunity and we look forward to learning and growing together as lead learners in the ADSB.
Early in the new year, we will begin the work on reviewing and renewing our strategic plan, vision, mission, values, and priorities with the new board and we want to bring our best thinking forward to our staff, families, and stakeholders for their feedback and approval.
As we work to support strategies to mitigate learning loss and gaps in our student population due to the pandemic, we look forward to continued stability in the classroom to support student success. We recognize the importance of mental health and well-being supports integrated into the classroom curriculum and activities. An upcoming survey of our students will further inform our work as we develop focused strategies to provide differentiated support for our increasingly diverse student body and their families. Incorporating land-based learning for our Indigenous students and furthering our work in reconciliation will continue to be a priority.
Last year I mentioned our anticipation of getting the shovel in the ground at our new JK-12 school in Blind River and today we continue to work with the Ministry to get this project off the ground. We will advocate for this site and other capital priorities that have been identified within our board. We look forward to the continued transformation of the new Trades School at White Pines as it unfolds over the next year providing a technologically modern space for the trades of today and the future. We are always so proud of our board’s ongoing commitment to maintaining and revitalizing our learning spaces and grounds.
There is a lot to look forward to as we look ahead to another busy year. We look forward to positive and successful negotiations with our union groups so that we can continue to focus on our priorities of achievement, well-being, and engagement.
Thank you once again for your support and we look forward to working together to build confident learners and caring citizens who are proud to be ADSB!