After 12 months marked by the termination of Supt. Egbert Stang on Dec. 4, 2011, and the death of chairman Doug Fleming on Jan. 16, 2012, Pembina Hills school division has a different look about it. Supt. Colleen Symyrozum-Watt sees the coming school year as a chance for a new start. Here she talks of PHRD’s goals and the challenges ahead.
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Colleen Symyrozum-Watt knows about rural life and what it offers – peace, wide open spaces, incomparable beauty, and the sense of getting away from it all.
Living on a local acreage and supporting her daughter Hayley’s passion for riding horses, she celebrates that lifestyle. Yet as an education leader she recognizes the challenges it brings.
Declining enrolments and difficulties in transporting children to school in timely fashion … it is a nationwide dilemma facing rural communities. And PHRD is far from immune.
The 2011 closure of the senior high school program at Fort Assiniboine testifies to this and raises concerns that other small schools may also be on the radar screen.
“The challenges and the celebrations of living in rural Alberta are really the same,” said Symyrozum-Watt, who was appointed superintendent in May. “It is something we as a board are addressing.”
One way PHRD is meeting the challenge is through the Westlock North Task Force, which is focusing on three schools: Dapp, Jarvie and W.R. Frose.
The group is sifting through data with a view to bringing recommendations to PHRD trustees about the future of the schools.
“We are very excited about the establishment of the task force as we seek to provide education to declining population of students in the whole Westlock north area,” said Symyrozum-Watt.
“What we are doing might make a model for other communities with declining enrolment. The task force is doing very, very good work. Its members are hunkering down to tackle very difficult problems.”
Symyrozum-Watt said the future of Alberta Distance Learning Centre, which is based in Barrhead, was another challenge.
“This year Alberta Education has undertaken a distance learning review and we are hoping that the results of this review will enable ADLC to continue to provide distributed learning to the standards of this province,” she said. “We are confident that the education services and 21st century learning that ADLC provides will be recognized in the final report.”
While recognizing the challenges, Symyrozum-Watt said she and the board were viewing 2012-13 as a new beginning.
“We are looking forward to the new year with great anticipation and excitement,” she said. “Some of the changes in the last year were driven by circumstance, others by us in a continued effort to improve learning for students.
“Some of the results include new organization charts, a new logo, refined education strategies and goals, new faces in new places, some familiar faces in new places, an established Westlock North Task Force, AISI (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) Cycle 5 and new board leadership, to mention a few.”
Symyrozum-Watt likened the work at PHRD to the excitement of Lego, which marked its 80th birthday in 2012.
Lego’s appeal lies in what can be created when individual pieces are combined, she said. The variety of possible arrangements for bricks is limited only by imagination.
In PHRD, a new overall shape had emerged from moving foundational pieces around and adding new ones.
“All this creates the basis for the 2012-13 school year, and a new beginning,” she said.
“Remember how important the pieces of Lego brick are? The style, history and integrity of each piece contribute to the quality of the structure. If you take away just one piece then you have changed the overall organization and perhaps even the integrity.”
Symyrozum-Watt said one of her inspirations is Mahatma Gandhi who uttered the immortal words: “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
It was this ethos which she wanted to become ingrained at PHRD and in her leadership as superintendent.
“How will we move forward? Like we always have – with focus and dedication to improving learning for and with our students. This year will be a year of living and being the change that we want to see in Pembina Hills.
“Our new shape will provide greater opportunities to engage students in their learning.”
On a personal note, Symyrozum-Watt said she was enjoying her new position. Previously she had headed up the Human Resources Department before a spell as acting superintendent.
“It’s a voyage of discovery as I think about how we move forward and provide the best possible education for our students,” she said. “The job has changed my life. I have a different focus now, a broader responsibility for governance and education of the whole district.
“I am really two CEOs – a Chief Education Officer and a Chief Executive Officer.”
Symyrozum-Watt expressed confidence in the board of trustees and administrators.
“We have the right people in the right place,” she said. “My core is people. If we can inspire people to do the job to the best of their ability that is going to cascade into great things for our kids.
“Our way forward lies in the people working for us and with us. We are well positioned for the year ahead.”
