Michael Bannerman

• Has lived in Stratford for over 25 years with his wife Christy and four children (Caleb, Meagan, Nate & Zachary)

• Over 20 years experience working in the Mental Health field as a Psycho-SOcial Rehabilitation Specialist

• Previously served as a School Board Trustee for the Avon Maitland District School Board (2010 - 2014)

• Additional board/committee experience including, nut not limited to S.E.A.C. (Special Education Advisory Council). Stratford Police Services Board, Huron-Perth Legal Aid Board, The Larry Bannerman Foundation and the Huron-Perth Canadian Mental Health Board.

• A passionate supporter of the arts, the trades and athletics in our school system

• A strong advocate for kids struggling with mental health concerns, learning disabilities and other challenges

1. What will be your unique contribution as school board trustee?

In all honesty all of the individuals running for School Board Trustee are decent, intelligent people that could do a good job with the roll. However, I think what I bring to the table that might be considered unique (or set me apart) is my experience. There are not a lot of experienced school board trustees seeking re-election in the Avon Maitland District School Board.

I have actually served as a School Board Trustee before (2010-2014) and know how to do this job. I have also served on other boards and committees including the Special Education Advisory Council (S.E.A.C), The...[]

2. How will you encourage schools in the board to respond to climate change?

This is a great question. I take environmental issues quite seriously and am always working hard to try and improve on lessening my own environmental footprint. I think as a school board trustee one of the ways that I have done this in the past was to always take into consideration environmental concerns during the tendering of different work projects. I was always asking questions around the environmental records and philosophies of the different companies and contractors that we used to work on various building projects. I wanted to know about the various materials, products and supplies that were being...[]

3. How would you support student lead projects?

In the past, as a trustee I was always a huge supporter of student lead projects. From the yearly project that our student senators (that worked with the board) would put on to the individual projects that students would come up with at the various schools. My philosophy on this has always been the "Home Depot Approach" or basically... "You can do it, I can help". :-)

When I am made aware of what different students are up to, I love to come along side as a cheerleader and ask what is needed to help the students reach their goal?...[]

4. How would promote a safe and equitable learning environment for LGBTQ+ students?

Great question. I think for me it starts by listening. I'm always asking questions and trying to better understand the experience of our students. So I guess I would say that I would start work to promote a safe and equitable learning environment for LGBTQ+ students by creating and maintaining an open dialogue with them about their needs and experience - and then do my best to help in meeting these needs. In the past, as a school board trustee I was a supporter of LGBTQ+ "clubs". I will also continue to work hard to make sure that our board...[]

5. How would promote a safe and equitable learning environment for BIPOC students?

So this is an issue that is very important to me. As a white male I think it begins by simply being aware of my own white privilege and how this impacts or has impacted much of my perspective on life. It also (like my answer above) begins with a lot of listening to the BIPOC community and better understanding how I can best support them. I have spent a lot of time recently to educate myself better on this area of education and really hope to be a strong ally of the BIPOC community. In the past, as a...[]

6. How would promote a safe and equitable learning environment for students with learning disabilities?

So as someone that was diagnosed with a number of learning disabilities myself, I am empathetic to individuals that deal with learning challenges. School was not always easy for me and honestly there were several times along the way that life could have gone quite differently for me if I had not had the right supports and opportunities along the way. So how would I promote a safe and equitable learning environment? I think it begins (like many of the questions here) with a conversation. Learning disabilities are so different and unique to each child. It is important to understand...[]

7. How would you support students who are living in poverty and tackle child hunger?

So I think we need to seriously consider our student fees for things like school trips and joining sports teams. My understanding is that it was nearly $200 this year to join the basketball team. That's a lot of money to a family that is struggling, and yes I'm sure that somewhere out there in our system there is support for students who come forward and ask for it... but honestly, most of the families I know that have struggled with poverty would not do this. The same with school trips to places like Europe or even just Canada's Wonderland...[]

8. What is your plan to better politically engage youth in Stratford?

So again, I think this starts with a conversation. Youth (like most people) are engaged when they are passionate about the topics being discussed. They also need to know and believe that engagement actually makes a difference. So how to you get Stratford youth more engaged? You create more opportunity for them to speak to the issues that they are passionate about and you listen and act on those conversations. I believe that there are lots of ways to do this, but one that I have found most effective in the past and plan to keep using in the future...[]