I am passionate about Catholic Education and the gift it is to our families and community! I have served in Catholic Education for 25 years and have a wealth of experience that would help me in the role of Catholic School Trustee. I vow to do my best to ensure that the students we serve receive the highest quality Catholic Education possible. Please read more about me on this page.

My Story

After retiring, my wife Yvonne and I relocated to Medicine Hat 4 years ago. Our son Drew and his wife Jaimie live here with our 4 lovely grandchildren; Emma(9), Sloan(6), Laila(4) and Luke(2). We feel blessed to be able to live closer to them and spend lots of fun time together! We moved from North Battleford, Saskatchewan where we had lived for 25 years. I was very active in our community, coaching sports teams, serving in our parish and volunteering in various community organizations. After finally feeling settled in our new community, I feel it is time to become more involved here. Two of our grandchildren attend St. Michael's Catholic School and the other two will attend when they are old enough. My son also teaches at St. Louis Catholic School. I am very interested in doing my part to ensure that our Catholic School system continues to be the best it can possibly be to meet the ever changing needs of the students in this community.

Platform

Given the many issues and challenges our students are bringing with them to school it is very important that we provide a wide variety of student supports especially in the area of student counselling services. The mental health and well being of our students must be a primary focus particularly during these difficult and challenging times of the pandemic.

Continue to look for innovative programming opportunities for students such as the Fine Arts focus at the Elementary School level and the Sports Academy in St. Francis Elementary and Notre Dame School.

Continue to explore the expansion of programming such as the proposed new theatre and physical literacy facility at Monsignor McCoy High School.

I would work diligently to ensure a continued strong Catholic focus on all that we do. I believe that Catholic Board members need to uphold and protect the Catholic identity and mission of our schools by ensuring that our Catholic teachings are permeated in all that we do within the school division.

I have a strong commitment to building community including supporting a continued commitment to the partnership of home, school, parish and community.

As a Catholic trustee I would have a keen desire to support the building of positive relationships with all partners within the school division especially staff relations.

I would advocate for adequate funding for Catholic Education and in particular to ensure that our staff members are provided the faith development they need to be positive witnesses to the faith.

I would support the provincial Catholic Education community in promoting publicly funded Catholic Education. I believe that it is essential that we have a strong unified voice to promote Catholic Education in the province of Alberta.

WHY ELECT ME

• I possess a strong passion for Catholic Education grounded in 25 years of experience in Catholic Educational Leadership.

• My active involvement in Catholic Parish life and commitment to ongoing faith development help me to be a positive faith role model.

• I possess a significant understanding of how Boards operate, with many years of experience serving on various volunteer Boards and spending 10 years supporting all Catholic Boards while serving as the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association(SCSBA).

• My experience and positive attitude will support me in developing strong relationships with all partners. I firmly believe that Catholic Education must focus on the vital partnership of home, school, parish and community.

• Given my professional background and variety of relevant experience I have strong mediation skills with a desire to support people working together to find the most appropriate solution to the challenge or problem.

• I am a positive, open minded person who is an excellent problem solver with the ability to see the “big picture” while maintaining the focus on the problem at hand.

• Although I vigorously support quality Catholic education for every single student within the school division, it is indeed very personal for me wanting to ensure that my grandchildren receive the highest quality Catholic education possible.