Past, present and future in LRSD

I had the opportunity to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations held at Niakwa Place School on Sept. 25. The staff did a fantastic job of working with the parent council to welcome alum staff, alum students, current students and their families, along with community members. I had the chance to look through old yearbooks, sadly seeing a much younger “me” as a teacher at Niakwa Place in the 1980s. One of our assistant superintendents, who shall remain anonymous, thought it would be nice to share that he was one of my students at Niakwa during that time!

Students had the opportunity to learn about the past through music, movies, and news, as well as opening the time capsules from 2000. Their astonishment at the absence of cellphones, social media, and indeed classroom computers was very amusing to the older people in the crowd. The inclusion of an Indigenous drumming group and the storytelling was not something that would have happened 50 years ago. How lucky we are to be living in a time where inclusion and diversity are infused into all our work with students.

On Sept. 26, I joined Sandy Nemeth, chair of the board, and Mia Guenther, assistant superintendent, at Dr. D.W. Penner School. Staff and students had worked very hard to surpass their fundraising goal, raising money in support of cancer research! Our younger students enthusiastically performed a Terry Fox song, and the presentation by Deanna Holowachuk from The Terry Fox Foundation emphasized the importance of determination, community, and effort. Participating in this annual event encourages our students to demonstrate kindness and appreciate resilience. I think we can agree that these attributes are so important in our world today!

And as for the future, we have a by-election coming up on Oct. 25 to fill the vacant position in Ward 3. Mark your calendars and make sure to visit each of the candidates’ websites to learn more about why they have chosen to run for the LRSD school board. Being a trustee is an honour, and we appreciate the community members who put their names forward to work on behalf of the community.