Medicine Hat Public Board of Education's new superintendent Tracy Hensen spoke to reporters Tuesday following the announcement of her appointment to the role effective in the new year.--SUPPLIED PHOTO
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Tracey Hensel, a longtime educator and school administrator in the Hat, says she is all heart, while emphasizing the importance of collaboration, supporting students and maintaining best practices as she prepares to take on the permanent role of superintendent.
“The heart is part of the work that I do,” says Hensel, acting and soon-to-be-permanent superintendent for the Medicine Hat Public School Division. “I really believe that I’ve been invested as a teacher from the moment I had my very first class that I would have taught my very first class of students.
“For me, it’s about the relationships you create and you maintain, and to see students be successful and thrive and see where they take their education, is really cool to me.”
After graduating from the University of Lethbridge in the 1980s, Hensel began teaching at a school in Taber and would later move to Grande Prairie.
Five years into her teaching career, in 1991, Hensel moved to Medicine Hat where has worked for more than 30 years in several roles, including classroom teacher, administrator at both the school and division level, as well as associate superintendent over the past eight years.
Hensel says the role as superintendent represents a full-circle moment in her career as a longtime educator in Medicine Hat, who has been able to watch numerous students grow and find success after graduation.
“It really is because you get to see students who you’ve taught and students that come back with so many different experiences, it’s so individual to every single student,” she says. “So, giving our students the opportunities to really engage with what they love and to be the best that they can be, that’s lifelong learning that takes them down the road.”
After previous superintendent Mark Davidson announced he would be switching leadership roles to become superintendent at a school division in B.C. in June, Hensel stepped into the interim role and made the transition a smooth process while maintaining steady leadership over the past six months.
“It really is the shoe fitting,” explains board chair Catherine Wilson. “I mean, from the start she just grabbed it and just ran with it.
“She works well with other people, she has a real knack for building relationships and strong foundations in those relationships, and that is what we were looking for because relations are key in making anything successful. She’s approachable and highly respected.”
In their search for a new superintendent, the school division hired a third-party consultant and spoke with a diverse range of stakeholders who were invited into the consultation process, including the division’s executive leadership team, school principals and vice-principals and the teachers association.
In total, eight groups of stakeholders were in support of Hensel assuming the new leadership role.
In her new role Hensel will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations and long-term planning for the MHPSD, as well as collaborating with the school board to set goals and expectations for the division.
Hensel’s new role as superintendent becomes effective Jan 1.
