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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The board of trustees for Yellowknife Education District No. 1 took time out of the monthly meeting last week to honour two trustees who chose to step down rather than run for another term on the board.

Both Reanna Erasmus and Duff Spence decided not to run for another term on the school board after serving nine years each. Both served as chair of the board for one three-year term, Erasmus from 2003 to 2006 and Spence from 2007 to 2010.

The only trustee who has served on the board longer than Erasmus and Spence is Terry Brookes. During the school board election in 2003, he was the only incumbent trustee to be re-elected.

"They came on the board on a wind of change," Brookes said of Erasmus and Spence. "There was a whole shakeup on the board at that time."

During her time on the board, Erasmus pushed for better aboriginal education, although that was not her only passion, said Brookes.

"I don't think we achieved all the things that she wanted to happen but I think we've made the path to get there," he said.

Spence's knack for asking excellent, and sometimes oddball, questions will be missed, said Brookes.

"Being a trustee is not so much about having all the answers but asking good questions," he said. During a statement made during the Oct. 10 board meeting, Erasmus said she had learned a lot during her past nine years with Yk1, and planned to take what she knew with her to Ndilo once a separate education authority is approved there.

Erasmus said nine years ago, she had three goals that she wished to accomplish: seeing a new building for K'alemi Dene School, improving aboriginal education in the district and eliminating systematic racism in the school system. She also had three recommendations to leave with the board: reserve one trustee seat for an aboriginal person, continue to teach Yk1 teachers about aboriginal peoples and work to increase the number of aboriginal teachers in the school district.

Spence had made his decision to leave the board at the end of this term earlier and made his statements during the September board meeting.

Improvements to schools' sports facilities

During the maintenance report given to the board Oct. 10 by Elvis Beaudoin, supervisor of facilities and maintenance, trustee Terry Brookes inquired about plans to re-sod the soccer pitch at Range Lake North School.

There are plans to re-sod the field in two years, said superintendent Metro Huculak. Also, the soccer pitches at William McDonald Middle School will be re-sodded next year. Other improvements are in the planning stages at Range Lake North School, such as a basketball court on the south side of the school and improvements to the parking structure, said Huculak.

High school trip to Mexico planned

The school board approved Sir John Franklin High School's international field trip planned during March break in 2013.

Students, teachers and chaperones plan to travel to Cozumel, Mexico.

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