WEYBURN - Whitney Paul-Joseph is now in her fifth year as president of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ East Cornerstone Teachers’ Association (SECTA).
It’s the third term in that office for the Redvers-based educator who is given a half-time schedule for classroom duties and half-time allocation to carry out the various presidential duties and visitations.
Paul-Joseph met with Cornerstone board members on Oct. 15 in the division’s head office in Weyburn during the monthly public meeting.
Paul-Joseph outlined various action items on her agenda that included face-to-face visits in schools to continue engagement with division instructors. She noted this “will always be a top priority since the teacher’s voice is the foundation for the work we do.”
Supporting the release time to do this work is appreciated, she told the board.
Advocacy is another big part of what she and her committee do and they face a lot of obstacles, she said, noting the changes she has observed over her 16-year teaching career.
“Last year was one of the hardest I have experienced as a local leader and I think our SECTA executive will attest to that. However, it was also one of the most humbling and uplifting, from what we were able to learn and experience alongside others. I am so proud of our teachers and I hope you are too,” she said.
Paul-Joseph said support for members was at an all time high, “as we navigated sanctions. Not being in our classrooms was extremely difficult, but the strength of being together, surrounded by not only fellow co-workers but students and families was a feeling like we had never experienced before,” she said, referring to the brief job actions and government sanctions placed before the group as teachers sought a new contract and some answers regarding classroom complexities.
The SECTA met with local MLAs and it was a strenuous endeavour, but enlightening, she said, noting that she felt quite sure the board understood the situation based on their own advocacy efforts.
“It also shows who has an understanding of the needs of our schools and who could use a little more education in the realities of today’s classrooms,” she added.
The world of education has evolved and schools need to support that scenario, she said, and that is why conversations with the MLAs and board members is so important.
Paul-Joseph said having the opportunity to attend several legislative question periods opened her eyes even more acutely, and being included in the budget-day experience was another that she could not take for granted because it “allowed me to bring awareness to the issues and struggles our teachers face and how we can better advocate for education.”
The teacher/president also noted how the SECTA social media presence on Facebook and Instagram took off last year after a few years of experimentation. Managing the website is difficult and time consuming, not only with the technology but the numerous ways of keeping tabs on engagement levels while promoting education and engaging with followers.
She thanked Scott Kirkness, the SECTA social media chairman, for the hours he put into the process that showed that their posts reached over 91,000 and post engagement was almost 16,000.
Communication with school staff representatives (SSR) and school staff liaisons (SSL) was another vital job for the president, she pointed out. The SSRs met in Carlyle for their first talk and task session that provided a format to talk about needs at local levels while interacting with teachers in nearby schools and the SECTA executive.
Reaching a local agreement with the board was a positive experience, she said, because of the respectful and transparent relationship they shared.
In conclusion, Paul-Joseph said: “I wanted to showcase the incredible things that were happening for and with members, despite the obstacles we were facing in provincial negotiations. As teachers we will always stand up for education and for what our students and schools deserve.”
She ended her presentation by saying “things got hard last year, really hard, but everyone rallied together to get the work done, to advocate and to educate. We, as a local association are pretty darn proud of that.” With that said, she thanked the board for their support and was thanked in return by board members and chairwoman Audrey Trombley.
