Typically the end of the school year is a time of reflection and wonder; a time to contemplate the events of year gone by and to dream of the possibilities of the summer to come, and this year there is plenty to ponder. Breaking news of the tentative contract agreement between teachers and their employers suitably caps a tumultuous year in dramatic fashion just days before the start of the summer break. While it is great to hear that a tentative agreement has been reached, any suggestion that all is now fine in education would be false as there is plenty of work to be done, relationships to build, and communication to take place.
Speaking of communication, that is one of several themes your new Board of Directors hopes to focus on as we begin our term. For my part, I am genuinely excited about having the opportunity to work with this particularly sincere group of parent leaders. John, Nicole, Susan, Angie, Wendy, Liz, Bonnie, Ayesha and Ann represent diverse and well-informed opinions from a variety of backgrounds which will make for interesting and worthwhile meetings with good membership representation. Geographically we are nicely spread out as well, with four directors hailing from the lower mainland, three from the island and three from the interior, and as usual we will be relying heavily on our fine staff to get things done — it is just Tracey and Lisa for the time being, while Francesca is on leave.
Our successful Spring Conference/AGM held recently in Coquitlam was inspirational and confirmed the importance of (re)connecting with our membership in order to help build organizational capacity. We plan on reaching out to members to support, listen and learn, with an upcoming northern conference being and important part of that. Hopefully our new website will stimulate discussion and action as we continue to promote our resolutions and develop resources as best as we can. But more than anything else, we want to hear from you. We know you are doing some great things out there and have some great ideas that need to be shared, so let’s get in touch — I will certainly appreciate it, and I know our kids will too.
p.s Remember that our office is open throughout summer
Sincerely,
Terry Berting
BCCPAC President
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