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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
With October school board elections looming, Yellowknife Education District No.1 has some familiar faces tossing their hat into the electoral ring.

At this early stage in the election, six candidates have come forward as potential trustees for the seven-person board. Incumbents Terry Brookes, Mira Hall, Blake Lyons, John Stephenson, and Allan Shortt will run for re-election, while other board members Duff Spence and Reanna Erasmus have yet to announce their intentions.

Brookes has been on the school board for 17 years and is a member of several professional organizations and community support groups.

Hall is dedicated to social justice issues and volunteers with a number of community based organizations. Fellow candidate Lyons was a former city councillor for 18 years while Stephenson spent 30 years as a public servant with the territorial government in administration and policy before retiring two years ago. Current board chair Shortt volunteered as the logistic co-ordinator for the 2008 Arctic Winter Games and was the past vice-president of the Yellowknife Elks Club.

Jay Butler is the only non-incumbent so far to announced his intentions to serve on the public school board. He lost in his previous bid in 2009.

"I want to see more willingness to use new technologies in the classroom, such as Coursera.org and Khan-Academy," said Butler, who served one term as trustee in 2007. Khan-Academy is a student self-guided program being used in American schools to teach children math and science. Coursera.org has online courses where students can study the humanities, sciences, and math at their own pace.

Yk1 school trustees oversee the educational and administrative direction of eight schools with approximately 1,900 students. Hall, Lyons, Spence, and Butler stated the district is doing a great job and that this current board has done well.

"My last term was my first term. I would say it was a fantastic learning experience and I felt we worked together and we did a fantastic job," said Hall.

Voters wishing to cast a ballot for this election should note that there has been a change from previous elections, because the school boards will no longer share the same ballot with municipal election candidates. While the polling station locations, times, and date will remain the same, there will be two separate lines for voting - municipal and school board. According to Bill Gilday, returning officer for YK1, the city felt dividing the ballots would decrease staff work times.

"It's a way to get (staff) out quickly (after the polls close)," said Gilday.

All candidates have until Sept. 17 to announce their candidacy for the board with elections taking place Oct. 15.

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