As he reassumes the chairmanship of the Flin Flon school board, Trustee Murray Skeavington has his sights set on increased vocational opportunities for students.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, Skeavington thanked his colleagues for electing him chairman for the seventh time. At the previous meeting he won the position over Trustee Tim Davis in a secret ballot.
In an interview, Skeavington said he wants more emphasis on vocational partnerships to give students a better taste of particular careers so they can decide which occupational path to pursue.
He gave the example of the cosmetology students at Many Faces Education Centre, wondering whether they could do work placements at local hair salons.
Trustee Andy Burbidge joins Skeavington as vice-chairman, having been elected to the position over Davis.
Burbidge becomes the first of the three trustees who joined the board in 2014 to serve as chairman or vice-chairman.
Skeavington has been a trustee since 2002. Prior to that he actively attended board meetings as a parent.
He has now been elected chairman seven times, though the most consecutive years he served was three. Each term lasts one year.
Trustee Trish Sattelberger served as board chairwoman in 2014-15, with Trustee Tim Davis as vice-chairman.
Committees
Trustees approved membership of the board’s subcommittees and joint committees.
All trustees will sit on the facilities and grounds, strategic planning, finance and policy review / resolutions committees.
Trustees Skeavington, Simpson and Leslie Fernandes will sit on the Manitoba Teachers’ Society negotiations / liaison committee. The negotiations / liaison committee for the United Steelworkers features trustees Fernandes, Davis and Amy Sapergia Green.
Sapergia Green, Davis and Skeavington are on the City of Flin Flon ad hoc committee. Trustees Simpson and Sattelberger are on the committee for the Voices educational project. Sattelberger is also on the bursary / Hapnot Collegiate scholarship committee.
Burbidge is on the suspensions committee and the City of Flin Flon traffic commission. Simpson will sit on the committee for Flin Flon’s 2017 homecoming, with Davis on the school division’s workplace safety and health committee.
Mentors return
Youth mentors have been hired for Ruth Betts Community School and École McIsaac School, Superintendent Blaine Veitch announced.
Kelcey Anderson, Monique Wall and Raquel Laliberty will be at Ruth Betts with Jesse Simms and Haylee Fouillard at McIsaac.
Veitch said mentors assume many different tasks, including running extracurricular activities and acting as big brothers and big sisters to the students.
He said very few schools in Manitoba have a mentor program of this nature, and as far as he knows Flin Flon is the only community in the region that does so.
Trustee Angela Simpson noted that each year the mentors meet with the board and share their thoughts about the job.
“Some realize they never want to be a teacher after they’ve dealt with children,” she said, “and some realize that teaching is the best thing in the world. …It’s quite exciting for me as a trustee to talk to these [mentors] and see how much they’ve progressed in one year.”
In addition to the youth mentors, the Bomber Buddies program is expected to be back up and running in the near future, Veitch said.
This program sees members of the Flin Flon Bombers spend an average of 15 hours a week at Ruth Betts and McIsaac, helping with activities and acting as big-brotherly role models.
Veitch said it looks like Ruth Betts and McIsaac will each have four Bombers this year.
Expenses and hiring
Trustees voted to approve two unbudgeted capital projects and hire several employees.
The board will spend $20,000 on switches to ensure Internet service is maintained at the schools. Another $6,000 will be spent on covering for the metal trim on the stage at McIsaac.
Both expenses will be funded with surplus dollars.
Trustees then approved the hiring of Courtney Lycan as the new community connector at Ruth Betts effective this week.
The board also approved substitute-teacher agreements with certified teachers John Belfry, Holly Bryson, Gerry Clark, Arlene Collins, Pam Ryan and Susanne Westhaver, and non-certified teachers Ray Biberdorf, Heather Chrupalo and Linda Clark.
