Who Am I?

I am a resident of lands east of Sherwood Park and south of Wye Road. My husband and I moved to the area in 2010. Our children attended Fultonvale Elementary Junior High, Strathcona Christian Secondary School and Bev Facey Community High School. 

Three out of four of our children have graduated from Elk Island Public Schools. We have one remaining in Grade 12.

I have been involved in Education since 1996 when I began teaching in Saskatchewan. In 1998 I moved to Alberta where I worked with children with Autism and taught kindergarten until we started our family in 2001.

I have always been actively involved in the education of our children beginning with volunteering and sitting on the pre-school board and continuing into volunteering and sitting on school council in elementary school and throughout high school. I have participated in school councils first in Edmonton and then in Elk Island Public Schools since 2006. I have held positions of chair and vice chair on various councils as well as our district Committee of School Councils.

This means that I have worked closely with school based administration, senior administration, and many trustees. I know and understand the role of trustee and am familiar with the work of the board, board policy,  and administrative procedures. I received the ASCA Parent of Distinction Award in 2019. I sat as a director of the Alberta School Councils Association from 2020 to 2022. These many years of volunteering provided me with countless opportunities to address ministers of education, participate in consultations, develop and advocate for education policy.

Why Me?

I understand the unique issues affecting education in this area.

We are neither urban, like the community of Sherwood Park or Fort Saskatchewan, nor are we completely rural, like the communities of Vegreville, or Lamont.

We are faced with issues impacting education that require clear and competent representation, understanding of provincial legislation and how it impacts local policy development, and a familiarity with the history of education in this area.

I was involved with school council at Fultonvale when Colchester School was closed. I attended Colchester meetings, was involved in welcoming Colchester students, families and staff when they joined Fultonvale as a cohort, and advocated to the board of trustees to grandfather bussing students from the previous Colchester catchment area to Fultonvale. Similarly, I was involved on school council at Fultonvale when the decision was made to close Ministik School. I welcomed Ministik families to attend Fultonvale school council and invited the superintendent to speak to the issues arising as another cohort was being welcomed into Fultonvale.

I have advocated for affordable transportation, reasonable bell times, safety concerns, modernization issues, and countless other issues that have impacted our community. I have had a good working relationship with our trustees over the years and believe that a good trustee is a good listener and responsive to the needs of their community.

A good trustee carries the voice of their electorate to the board table and speaks on behalf of their community keeping in mind the needs of all students and ultimately making decisions in the best interest of all students in Elk Island Public Schools. I understand how the budget is allocated from the government and within Elk Island Public Schools. I understand capital requests and classroom pressures. I believe in the need for adequate, predictable, stable provincial funding of education in Alberta.