The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Being sent to the principal's office isn't such a bad thing for Brent Bedford. The long-time Flin Flon educator has assumed the top job at Hapnot Collegiate and Many Faces Education Centre. 'When you're the principal, you never know what the day is going to bring,' says Bedford. 'You often spend a lot of your time dealing with all of the different things that come up during the day. It's never boring.' Bedford took over as principal of the two high schools and their 378 students on Monday following last month's retirement of Bill Pauley. Strengths He comes into the position ready to build on the schools' strengths and work to address their challenges. Bedford is thrilled with the variety of programs, both extracurricular and curricular, available to the students, including quality academic, music and athletic opportunities. But it's been a struggle to elicit interest among students in trades training, something Bedford hopes to change. 'We don't get a lot of kids buying into taking the trades courses even though we're continually told that's what's needed in the country and the community,' he says. See 'Educ...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 Bedford brings 23 years of teaching and administrative experience to the job, all of them with the Flin Flon School Division. He joined Hapnot as a teacher in 1990, fresh out of his hometown Brandon University, where he earned bachelor's degrees in general studies and education. Education was an obvious career path. Not only was his father a teacher and principal in Brandon, but Bedford also found while working as an assistant golf pro that he relished interaction with youth. When he arrived at Hapnot, he wasn't thinking so much about his future as he was his present. 'When I was applying for jobs in 1990, there were not a lot of education jobs available and I just wanted to work,' Bedford recalls. 'So Flin Flon had an opening and I came here. I really had nothing planned beyond that.' But with his love of the outdoors, including hunting and fishing, Bedford soon fell in love with the community. In his career, he quickly forged a strong reputation among colleagues and students alike at Hapnot. In 2007-08, after nearly two decades of teaching subjects ranging from English to science, Bedford was named temporary vice-principal when Hapnot's principal at the time took a leave of absence. He enjoyed the experience so much that he applied for, and received, a permanent vice-principal's position for both Hapnot and Many Faces in the fall of 2008. Next step Three years later, ready to take the next step up the administrative ladder, Bedford was hired as principal of Ecole McIsaac School. Working outside the familiar confines of Hapnot was a new and welcome experience, but he would soon be drawn back to where his career began. Last year, when Pauley announced his retirement as high school principal effective December 2012, Bedford was named his successor. Following his one-year stint at McIsaac, Bedford served as high school co-principal during the final months of Pauley's career before assuming the full reigns in the new year. Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch has every faith Bedford will succeed in his new post. 'He brings new energy and a very good level of common sense, and a good way of dealing with people,' says Veitch. 'So I think he'll be able to continue to move the schools in positive directions.' For his part, Bedford sees many similarities between being a teacher and a principal. 'It's a lot of the same skills,' he says. 'You're still dealing with people every day, it's not just students, it's more teachers as well. I think it's a very logical transition.' While technology has evolved and course offerings have been tailored to meet new demands, for Bedford education has not changed all that drastically since he launched his career almost a quarter-century ago. 'Kids are still kids,' he says.
