The end of the school year is always a time of reflection.  It gives us an opportunity to look back and say what went well, what didn’t and what do we need to work on.  This year is no different as May and June have been a flurry of activity with graduations, year-end celebrations, and partner events.  The common element though has been students, a reminder to all of us of what is really important. 

Education is the core of our work and our values are the fundamental beliefs in which guide our work at the Calgary Board of Education.  Putting students first, knowing that learning is our central purpose and that public education serves the common good, provides focus for each one of us regardless of our role.  Because the cool thing is, we all have a part to play in public education and we are all in this together. 

From the dedicated staff in facilities who ensure safe and caring schools, some of whom have been with CBE for over 35 years (WOW), to our kind lunch room supervisors and our caring education assistants who support our students, to our specialists in planning, transportation, Human Resources and Technology who without their support our massive organization may just grind to a halt.  All these folks work tirelessly to ultimately support the work of our teachers and here is what I know; teachers are a rare breed.  They are hardworking, selfless, caring, role models to our students who put in countless hours to ensure that our students are engaged and successful.

However all of this would not be possible without our partners, over 350 corporate and non-profits who provide programs, services, supports and financial aid because they also care about student success and  making this world a better place.

Everyone has a stake in Public education and the stakes are high, as we strive to meet the demands in an ever changing world.  Dealing with change, difficult decisions that result from change and often scrutiny can be stressful and demoralizing for those intimately involved in education who have devoted their lives work to making this world a little better.  But here is the thing, we are all human and sometimes we make mistakes and we need to learn from those mistakes so that we can be better for our students and that is why we need to reflect.

CBE 182 has given our staff, students, parents and stakeholders an opportunity to share the great work that is happening each and every day in our school.  We are able to hold our heads a little higher and to showcase to the world that at the Calgary Board of Education we are determined, resilient and committed to student success. 

To everyone who is involved at the Calgary Board of Education, Congratulations for a great year, Thank you to each and every one who contributes to our organization and hears to moving forward together.

Joy Bowen-Eyre ( @JoyBoweneyre and  Joybowen-eyre.ca ) is Trustee Wards 1 & 2 with the Calgary Board of Education.  She loves running and traveling and is the proud mum of 3 #yyCBE students.

A few weeks ago, my granddaughter, Stacy, and I were eating dinner when she told me that she failed level 2 of swimming. “What happened?” I asked.

“I couldn’t finish my distance swim - but it’s OK, I can just go to level three,” Stacy responded.

I wanted to tell her that it was no big deal - she could just move on to the next level. She failed to meet only one requirement. However, this was an opportunity to talk about something important: the need for perseverance.

“Stacy, you shouldn’t go to level 3.” I said. She looked crestfallen.

I continued, “in our family, we do things that are hard. Sometimes, they’re so hard that we fail. When we fail, we try again until we succeed.”

I asked her how many times she fell off her bike when learning to ride. Then I asked her how she felt when she could stay upright all the time.

“Proud,” she said.

“I want you to have that feeling, Stacy, and sometimes you have to struggle to get it.”

The we watched a video and talked about Diana Nyad.

Two weeks later, Stacy started climbing lessons. Her first three attempts to climb the entire height of the wall were unsuccessful. On her fourth she made it.

She came off belay and bounded over to me. We shared a high five as she grinned at me and said, “that was HARD!”

I smiled and told her that I was proud of her.

Angie Tarasoff (@angietarasoff) is a Senior Manager with the School Technology Branch in Alberta Education. She believes that it’s better to do hard things and fail than it is to do easy things and succeed.

If Something Isn’t Working

A class that I work with is creating life-size wooden puppets for an original production at their school. The students are using scraps of wood and metal as their materials.

This week I noticed that the limbs of the puppets had been carved down significantly – in fact about half of the original wooden leg had been cut out and sanded down. I asked Jordan who busy re-attaching the bottom portion of the leg to the knee component, why he had changed the legs and arms so significantly.

He replied, “Well, it wasn’t working. We did a trial run of attaching the puppet to the puppeteer and he couldn’t move himself or the puppet. It is supposed to look realistic. Not really realistic, but you know, suggest at being realistic. So then Yazi (the puppeteer), and the other puppet maker and I figured out that it was all because we hadn’t thought about how heavy all the pieces together would be. It just wasn’t working. So, if something isn’t working, you change it, right?”

In just a few sentences Jordan very simply explained how he, having criteria, having peers to think through his problem, and the power to make decisions about his learning and the product of his learning, was able to adjust from something that wasn’t working for him, to something that would.  Jordan reminded me that as an educator, sometimes it isn’t about getting it right, but about having the courage to change something that isn’t working.

Erica, @eboycegraham is a learner, a teacher, a lover of adventures and a drifter of the fine classrooms and schools of the CBE.