Trustee Contact Information
Our Board of Education consists of nine members including the Chair and Vice-Chair positions. Trustees are elected for a three-year term.
Back Row: Colleen Butler, Jackie Swainson, Sherry Cooper, Connie Huelsman and Bill MacFarquhar
Front Row: Vice-Chair Doug Wagstaff, Chair Ian Taylor, Penny Archibald and Ron Fisher
A message from Board Chair, Ian Taylor
Being a trustee for nine years has been a rewarding and interesting experience. I took on this role largely because of my belief in the importance of good public education and my lifetime connection with students as a teacher and school administrator. Having spent many years in the delivery end of education I saw retirement as a chance to become involved with the governance side of the enterprise and bring whatever knowledge and experience I had accumulated to benefit all the students of our division, not just one school. Local school boards, with their elected trustees, are an important part of our democratic heritage; they allow for grassroots input to decision making and the running of the system. A big part of what drives me to do this job is to raise people’s awareness of what a valuable institution we have and how easily it could be lost through public indifference.
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Jackie Swainson
Ward 1 – Sylvan Lake/Benalto
403-887-5467
jswainson@chinooksedge.ab.ca
I have been a trustee in Chinook's Edge for the past 12 years, because I have a strong belief in our division's ability to offer the best opportunities to all of our students. I became a trustee because of my commitment to public education and my desire to make a positive contribution to our future. My greatest satisfaction comes from my family, my children, and now my role as Granny.
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Sherry Cooper
Ward 2 – Penhold/PoplarRidge/River Glen
403-886-5191
scooper@chinooksedge.ab.ca
I am proud to serve the families of Penhold, where my family has lived for over 20 years. My three children were well served by Chinook's Edge during their school years and I'm happy to contribute my time to this great school division and to my community. I believe strongly in elected trusteeship, in partnerships and collaboration, in cost efficient management, and in listening to students and parents.
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Colleen Butler
Ward 3 – Delburne/Elnora
403-749-2124
cbutler@chinooksedge.ab.ca
Representing this area is of very personal interest to me, as I grew up at Delburne, graduated from Delburne School and served as Vice Principal of Delburne for many years. My grandchildren now attend Delburne School, and my great nieces and nephew are at Elnora School. I have been involved in education all my life and feel that children and their high quality education must be our greatest priority.
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Penny Archibald
Ward 4 – Innisfail
403-227-2146
no email address
I work as a trustee because of my firm belief that all children should have access to a rich education to help them fulfill their full potential. I like to see young people become well-prepared for life after school. Through our Career High Schools, along with our apprenticeship programs and extremely academic programs, Chinook's Edge is dedicated to finding the potential in all our students and guiding them to a successful career. I care so much about kids - they are our future and I am proud to be working on their behalf.
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Connie Huelsman
Ward 5 – Bowden/Spruce View
403-224-3037
chuelsman@chinooksedge.ab.ca
I am pleased to represent the K-12 schools of Bowden and Spruce View, along with the Off Campus School in Bowden which features alternative courses, such as distance learning and homeschooling. We farm and operate a riding arena in the local area, where I have lived for 25 years. I have worked within our schools, as well, and feel that this background helps guide me in my work. I am proud of my rural roots and ran for trustee to promote the wonderful schools within our division. It is important to me that we ensure a quality public education for each and every child within our boundaries. I am proud to represent a division 'where students come first'.
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Ron Fisher
Ward 6 – Sundre
403-638-3670
rfisher@chinooksedge.ab.ca
I enjoyed a 34 year career in the classroom, including 30 years at Sundre High School. Education has really been my whole life and my passion. I always found it rewarding to teach biology and history, and many of my personal interests still revolve around those subjects. Having lived for over 42 years in the Sundre community, I believe my background and experience allow me to represent the community well. I have spent my entire life in a rural Alberta setting and am proud to bring that perspective to my work. I have enjoyed the opportunity to work on the Board, and I recognize the importance of facilitating public input into education. I think the role of trusteeship is vital, and I always strive to guide exemplary practices in education.
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Doug Wagstaff, Vice-Chair
Ward 7 - Olds / Reed Ranch
Vice Chair
403-507-2599
dwagstaff@chinooksedge.ab.ca
It is a cliché to say, “It’s an exciting time for education”, but it is an exciting time for education. It always is, and it always should be. That is one of the reasons I became involved in the school system as a Trustee. Being a parent of three children in the system, I also felt it important to be as involved in their education as I could. And finally, I hold dear the principles of public education as a model of civil democracy, so for me dedicating a commitment to Trusteeship was a natural choice. School Board policies directly impact the development of our children and have tremendous impact on many aspects of community development. As a community, shaping our young people into well-educated and well-rounded citizens is one of the most important things we can do. Chinook’s Edge is preparing our future citizens well and through collaboration between community, parents, teachers and students, we continue to make great things happen in our local public schools.
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Bill MacFarquhar
Ward 9 – Carstairs/Cremona
403-337-2910
bmacfarquhar@chinooksedge.ab.ca
It has been a privilege to serve in my first term as school trustee, because I feel our schools are the most important part of our communities. Without strong schools and good educational opportunities for our students, we are not building for our future. I am a strong believer in obtaining good value for our educational tax dollar by partnering with our communities and other stakeholders to provide programs and facilities for our students and community members. As well as bringing a business person’s perspective, I have had numerous leadership roles in youth organizations and have been involved in developing and delivering learning resources and programs for rural adult learners. Our division is in the business of developing people - both our students and our staff.
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Upcoming Board of Education Meeting Agendas
Draft November 18, 2009
Draft December 9, 2009
Draft January 12, 2010
Public Consultation Process
Dear Friends of Chinook’s Edge:
The Chinook’s Edge Board of Education was pleased to host nearly 200 people from our school communities at the second annual Public Consultation events. This year’s public consultations were held at Didsbury High School on May 11 for communities in the southern part of the division, and at Penhold Community Hall on May 18 for communities to the north.
This year, participants were guided in small group discussions regarding their views and priorities about Board stewardship and budgeting during these challenging fiscal times. We have compiled the feedback and information we received into a document that can be accessed here.
As part of the public consultation, we asked participants: “What questions do you have about the Board’s allocation of resources and establishing goals?” We will be discussing some of the questions we received at our annual Board/Superintendent retreat in August, and we will present some of those questions and answers on this section of the website following the retreat.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Public Consultation events. We hope you found the process to be as helpful and fascinating as we did.
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2009 Public Consultation -
Dear Friends of Chinook’s Edge:
The Chinook’s Edge Board of Education enjoyed lively and important discussions during our Public Consultation sessions in the spring, and the information we gathered will help guide our work of developing both short and long term strategic plans for our school division. A strategic planning meeting of the Board has been scheduled for September 23, 2009.
Three main priorities emerged as participants provided immediate response through the Senteo system to the question: ‘What are the three most important things that we should remember as we reshape education in Chinook’s Edge?’
- Respect and personal responsibility
- Community/societal connectedness, relationships, citizenship
- Engaged, meaningful learning.
Also through the Senteo electronic voting system, we discovered that the majority of participants do not have children in Chinook’s Edge School Division (64 respondents currently have children in our schools, 78 do not).
Most (128 respondents) believe there is benefit in holding these public consultations, compared to 7 who do not. Most (113) are interested in participating in future focus group discussions.
Please click HERE for a detailed summary of the Public Consutations.
We look forward to continue working together as we set the direction for 21st Century Learning in Chinook’s Edge. We invite everyone interested to share their views by emailing division.office@chinooksedge.ab.ca.
Yours truly,
Ian Taylor, Chair
Chinook’s Edge Board of Education