YK1 School Board briefs
Yk1 'Super' signs on for one more year
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, May 13, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The superintendent of the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1) has postponed retirement once again and has signed on for one more year.
Metro Huculak signed a one-year contract at the end of the regular school board meeting on Tuesday night. He said he was supposed to have retired three years ago but will now stay at the helm of Yk1 and steer the board until September 2017.
Trustees voted unanimously to approve his new contract.
"My wife - she still has to work a while - so we had a talk and she said if you want to stay on you can stay on for one more year," Huculak said. "It's a great place to work. I have excellent people here, great staff to work with. The community is also great. I walk the streets and everybody says good morning or good afternoon. Everybody knows my name and I feel very safe here."
Huculak assured Yellowknifer that come September of next year, that's it, he will be retiring once and for all.
"It will be time for somebody else. Hopefully it gives somebody else a chance, maybe somebody who is now in the office, to move up," Huculak said.
Huculak came to Yk1 as superintendent on Aug. 1, 2005. He had worked in the school system in Alberta for 35 years as a teacher, principal, deputy superintendent and superintendent. The financial details of his contract have not been publicly released.
Trustees discuss safety concerns
A number of child safety issues were raised at Tuesday's meeting. Trustees heard that a potentially dangerous parking situation at J.H. Sissons School exists where there had apparently been a "close call."
No details of that were provided but it was pointed out that students have to cross the parking lot in order to get into the school. Superintendent Huculak said the board is looking at the situation and it may mean that a staff member will have to be out in the parking lot before and after school to make sure drivers are aware of the young students making their way through the parking lot.
Meanwhile, trustee Allan Shortt expressed concern that the outdoor fire alarm at Mildred Hall School wasn't working.
He said it has to be fixed because the last thing you want is a student coming into the school from outside while a fire was burning inside the school.
William Mac needs new roof
Trustees' eyes were wide when they took a look at the estimate for fixing the roof at William McDonald School. With the project still in the bidding and procurement stage, the amount of the estimate was not shared publicly, but judging by the reactions, it is substantial.
Elvis Beaudoin, director of facilities and maintenance for the board, told trustees that they were able to fix a roof leak in the gym in the nick of time in order for a recent soccer tournament to go ahead. But he added that all or part of the roof is eventually going to have to be replaced.
Serenade for trustees
Trustees and staff had a little dinner music to go with their meal before Tuesday night's meeting. They always dine on perogies and other delicacies prepared by superintendent Metro Huculak before their regular meetings, but this time they were entertained as well.
Students from Sir John Franklin School's fine arts programs played instruments and sang for the board before staff got down to business. Teacher Sean Daly was responsible for putting the show together.
"Putting on shows is something I do all the time. But putting on high school shows and having the facility of NACC (Northern Arts and Cultural Centre) at Sir John is great," Daly said.
He is relatively new to the role at the school as he covers for iconic drama teacher Landon Peters who has taken a one-year sabbatical and is expected to return to the school in the fall.
"I've been 10 years doing music, arts, drama and dance at N.J. Macpherson School. I was able to catch up with some of my former students which was great. It was good to see them at another age and stage as we take it to the next level.
"A lot of the students have been well-trained. They are older and they can take more responsibility for things like making the props. I have some new ideas too ... but they've said let's accept the new guy and show him how it's done."
Daly directed the Addams Family musical comedy starring Sir John students earlier this spring. A trio of performers from that show sang songs from the musical and other numbers for the trustees and staff. Singers Terrence Leopoldo, Chloe Duval and Lyn Estuye refer to themselves as TLC. They followed Sir John's Semester One or S-1 four-piece horn band, made up of William Parrell, Ida Fells, Brian Liang and Kennedy Prince.
Daly said the fine arts program enriches students' lives and creates more well-rounded teenagers as they enter adulthood.
