Catherine Wilson hopes to continue her work on the Medicine Hat Public School Division board with eight-plus years of experience already under her belt.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
Catherine Wilson hopes her experience as a school board trustee will win her another term with the Medicine Hat Public School Board.
She has spent two full four-year terms as a school board trustee, as well as serving the last seven months of her late father’s term.
When her children were in school, Wilson became involved with school councils.
“Let’s face it, not every child has an engaged parent so I was really supportive in seeking those kids out that we could offer the extras to so that they were welcomed at school and they felt that they had a purpose,” said Wilson.
She says her passion to help kids helped her decide to run in the byelection when her father unexpectedly passed away.
“Thank goodness I got that opportunity because it has changed my life and has given me an amazing amount of purpose in giving back to this community.”
Wilson says an effective school board is made up of many different voices.
“You need that retired teacher, but you also need a variety of other opinions, because the blending of those opinions is what brings the deep, rich conversation at the board table,” said Wilson.
Wilson will continue to advocate for public schools so all kids have the same opportunities.
“We really need to continue offering the services we can to our kids without having these funds taken from us,” said Wilson. “I know it’s always about the core subjects, but there’s so much more to school so I want to promote public education.”
She will continue to voice her concerns about the new curriculum.
“My goal is to continue advocating to have the curriculum re-written. It was not written with the engagement of the ATA and they should be at that table … This government really believes that this curriculum is a great thing for the future of our kids education and it’s not.”
Wilson says having new opinions at the table after this election will be exciting, but also hopes her experience helps Hatter’s decide to give her another term.
