I had the privilege of sitting in the Ontario legislature this morning followed by a brief conversation with Minister of Education, Lisa Thompson. I look forward to our first formal meeting soon.

Board Meeting: There was a presentation tonight about the board-wide identity survey. I know there have been concerns raised within our local schools. I now have several resources at hand and can try to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to get in touch via email: contact@colincarmichael.ca

from Colin Carmichael: AMDSB Trustee https://ift.tt/2QHNdRR via IFTTT

I had a great visit to Goderich Public School this afternoon with AMDSB Director of Education Lisa Walsh. Principal Goos showed us all of the wonderful things happening at the school as well as some of the challenges the school faces. I was very impressed with all that I saw today – too many great things to list here – I look forward to working with the vibrant GPS community over the next four years!

from Colin Carmichael: AMDSB Trustee https://ift.tt/2PeslVM via IFTTT

As the Avon Maitland District School Board marks Veterans’ Week, I would like to introduce you to my great-great uncle. William Padfield was born the 5th of September, 1888 on the family’s Orange Hill farm near Gorrie in Howick Township, Huron County, Ontario. The youngest son and eighth of nine children born to George Cox Padfield and Sarah Ann Hassard, William followed three of his sisters into the teaching profession. He was actually taught for a time by his elder sister Mary – my great grandmother. Upon completion of his teacher training at Mount Forest, William moved to teach at Colpoy’s Bay Public School near Wiarton in February of 1907. One can only imagine the journey that must have been – he was only eighteen. By 1911, William had moved west to the Prairies (as had nearly the entire Padfield family) and was teaching in Humboldt, Saskatchewan when war erupted in Europe. In March 1915, at the age of 26, William enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was eventually deployed to France. On September 26, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, William was killed during the campaign to capture Courcellette. His body was never recovered. I am a moderate pacifist, careful not to honour violence for its own sake or to declare as heroes those who did as was expected of them – terrifying though it must have been. But I do think of William as a hero, along with his sisters, in the war against ignorance at the dawn of public education in Canada. They were pioneers – literally and figuratively – on the front lines of intellectual progress. The Padfields of Howick provided a public service (as long as you were a European settler) that we now take for granted. In their classrooms, Mary, Sarah, Maggie, and William brought literacy, numeracy, and critical thinking to hundreds, if not thousands, of children over their careers. William Padfield never married and had no children. There are no descendents to mark his sacrifice every November. I wonder, though, about the lives he changed in the classroom. How many of his students remembered Mr. Padfield – their teacher – never knowing what became of him. This week as we remember them, I will remember him.

from Colin Carmichael: AMDSB Trustee https://ift.tt/2Pexxco via IFTTT

Director Walsh presented this excellent “road map” to successful AMDSB grads as part of the “Director’s Work Plan” for 2018/19. What jumps out at you as significant from this illustration?

from Colin Carmichael: AMDSB Trustee https://ift.tt/2NXIcT3 via IFTTT

With the legalization of cannabis coming into effect today, I’ve had a few questions about the impact on our school communities. While the long-term societal effects cannot be predicted, in the short-term, there are a few provisions in the new laws in Ontario to protect our students from undue exposure: 1) no-one under the age of 19 may purchase or consume cannabis. This differs from our tobacco laws which prohibit the sale but allow consumption…

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