BY DARRELL HOOKEY
When something as important as our children's education is so subjective, you would think Christie Whitley's job would be stressful.
The assistant deputy minister, with the Public Schools Branch, is actually enthusiastic about her job.
She apologizes about once every 10 minutes for getting carried away when discussing the School Growth Planning Process.
“Parents are a rich resource,” she says. “Bring that into the schools and you have magic.”
Not just parents, but principals, School Council members, staff, First Nations and other community members. In some cases, even students.
These teams concentrate on the learning that happens in schools; they bring ideas to the table and, eventually, monitor the results.
Whitley says it is just one more way to get the community involved in what's happening in their schools.
School council members already spend hundreds of hours a year on such things as staffing, working with budgets, administering facilities and school year planning.
The School Growth Planning Process is a place for those who consider the many ideas behind learning to be the most exciting way to contribute to the work of community schools.
For instance, says Whitley, there are now Southern Tutchone language and culture programs (in Haines Junction's St. Elias Community School) that the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations had wanted.
Now, First Nation and non-First Nation students, from Kindergarten to Grade 2, will receive this training and take it home with them in hopes that the the culture will be strengthened in the entire community.
Making such a program possible is the Yukon's Education Act, which allows 20 per cent of the teaching semester to be locally developed courses of study.
The education minister can deny such a program, but it must be done within 30 days and with reasons stipulated in writing.
Whitley says she hasn't seen an education act that has such mechanisms to allow input from the community.
“School councils in the Yukon have huge input into the schools,” she says. “It is very unusual.
“With such a diverse population, including 14 First Nations, it's important.”
School Growth Planning Process teams have the ability to seek out best practices and the many clever ideas to find out if they can make it work in their schools.
Perhaps they want to bring more art into their school, or concentrate on the Three Rs, these teams can work on it without being sidetracked by meetings and paperwork – the usual business of school councils.
Whitley says she has seen the potential of getting the community more involved in the schools. As the former principal of Jack Hulland Elementary School, she had 200 volunteers helping with a school population of 550.
“I called them, 'My Shadow Staff',” she says today. “They did amazing things.”
There was work with soup kitchens and helping out on the playground, along with the usual parental duties of fundraising and driving for field trips.
“When you hear a parent say, 'He doesn't have what my kid does ... what can I do to help?', then that's the best.”
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