A diverse array of voices and experiences can be important around a board of education table. Saskatchewan Rivers School Division trustee candidate Heather Carter feels her mix of education and experience at the classroom level make her an excellent candidate.
Carter believes in the Saskatchewan Rivers mandate of Excellence for Every Learner.
“I think that education, along with my experience as a classroom teacher in Saskatchewan and in Prince Albert specifically, gives me a really practiced starting position to help support those teachers and to help create opportunities for the school board to offer support to the division as it moves forward in that mandate,” she said.
“I think that they are very sincere in that mandate.”
She has been a teacher in the classroom in Saskatoon, Harris, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert since 2008 and this also offers her some perspective as well as some knowledge of what it is like in the classroom.
“I have really found that although different socioeconomic backgrounds in different places in our province and one constant is that teachers always need support to meet the various needs in their classrooms and school divisions are always looking for opportunities to grow the programming that they offer and already have in order to support those teachers,” Carter said.
Carter continues to be employed in the adult education sector in the city.
Her education background, which she also considers a strength, includes a B. Ed. in 2008 and, in 2019 and Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Leadership for Inclusionary Practice and Indigenous Pedagogy from the University of Regina.
“Along with my teaching experience, I also bring that Indigenous epistemology to leadership and incorporating those other ways of knowing and ways of understanding learning and leadership as well as the more common ways that are currently used in the school division,” Carter said.
Carter explained that as a Métis parent of children who are currently in the system she will also bring knowledge from these perspectives.
“I think that those things together really add up to a fantastic combination for our school division because we have so many Indigenous students and we have so many newcomer students we need to diversify the way that we look at and approach these challenges that students and teachers are facing,” she said.
Another strength she brings is her volunteer experience. She has served as the director of recreational programming for the Prince Albert Aerials Gymnastics Club among other organizations.
“I’m on numerous other volunteer councils such as the Prince Albert Metis Women’s Association, the Prince Albert Council of Women and I serve there because I believe that we all have to contribute to keeping our community as it is and improving our community as we move forward for the next generations of children and leaders that we are bringing up.
She explained that her volunteer philosophy and education philosophy line up.
“I think that experience as well really shows me to be a very well rounded candidate with a lot of energy and excitement and passion for our community,” Carter said.
