YK1 School board briefs
French teacher receives award
Candace Thomson
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 11, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A prestigious award among French immersion teachers has been given to Jean-Marie Mariez, supervisor of instruction for French programs at Yellowknife Education District No. 1. The award is given to one member of the national French Immersion Teachers' Association each year.
During Tuesday's board meeting, Yk1 chairperson John Stephenson said he was proud to work with Mariez in the district's French programs.
"The list of Jean-Marie's accomplishments in secondary education is huge," said Stephenson. "Since 2003 he has been the facilitator, the co-ordinator, the coach, and the cheerleader for the development of French second-language education in our district."
Mariez was nominated by members of Yk1 staff and the board of trustees. He will accept the award at the association's AGM in Calgary in late October, accompanied by a few Yk1 board members.
Safety first
Superintendent Metro Huculak told Yellowknife Education District No.1 trustees he met with staff from the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC)to look at the development of a workplace safety policy for the district.
"We will be conducting a safety inspection of all of our schools over the next few weeks so we are in compliance with (occupational, health and safety) regulations," Huculak stated in his report.
Huculak said the board would also be creating a safety handbook which will be distributed to schools and maintenance staff once it gets approval from the trustees. Staff from WSCC will also be visiting schools with Elvis Beaudoin, supervisor of facilities and maintenance, to look at areas where the schools need to improve on safety.
"It's good for us because we can have a record of things that need to get done, and then get those things done," Huculak said.
Troublesome janitors and behind-the-scenes jobs
Elvis Beaudoin, supervisor of facilities and maintenance for Yellowknife Education District No. 1, was at Tuesday's meeting with a list of updates from his committee. He spoke on the issues that were keeping his maintenance team of four workers the busiest.
He said his crew had been taking care of maintenance issues that everyone can see, but the things they can't see such as pumps shutting down, pipes leaking and boilers needing to be cleaned out were starting to pile up.
"What I've done is taken two guys and put them on those jobs while the other two handle day-to-day work orders," he said. "We're going through each school and knocking off the things that really need to be taken care of."
Aside from that, Beaudoin said at least 75 per cent of his day goes to dealing with janitorial issues.
"All the issues are with janitors, whether it's them not showing up for work and us having to find someone to cover them, or issues in the schools with them," Beaudoin told trustees. "It's taking up a lot of time ... hopefully we'll iron some of that stuff out."
Outside support for mental health coming to schools
Superintendent Metro Huculak and assistant superintendent Bernie Giacobbo are working with Yellowknife Health and Social Services (HSS) to improve mental health services for Yellowknife Education District No. 1 students.
"We're going to work with HSS to provide more support in our schools," said Huculak. "Kids who need support aren't going to stand in a line or a waiting room at HSS, so we'd like to have counsellors come to the school which will give students a safer, more comforting place to speak with them."
Huculak said counsellors from HSS are experienced in dealing with mental health issues while counsellors currently at the school aren't as well trained. He said students really struggle with mental health issues and the schools need more support than they're able to provide.
"We've had an excellent meeting (with HSS) and they're willing to try and support us all they can, and work with us in getting these services into the schools," Huculak said.
Firm details about how often the HSS counsellors will be at the schools still have to be worked out, and Huculak said there are a series of meetings planned in the coming months to iron everything out.
