Welcome to March everyone!
The taunting of Spring is here and the smell of this fresh season is so welcomed! I would like to begin with a thank you to the teachers who donate their time to coordinate and plan for GETCA! The first (ever) virtual convention was a hit and we are so fortunate to have this opportunity to embrace professional development of our choosing albeit in this strange pandemic year! I hope that you enjoyed “popping” in and out of sessions and making the best of GETCA’s fruitful offering of sessions. As convention came and went, we marked the one year anniversary of the March for What Matters. Thinking of this day still fills me with pride and exhilaration for what we, as civil servants were able to speak so loudly through our presence at the Legislature that day. Since then, we have seen our world change even more and we have seen that fully funding our schools is not something that is of interest to our current government in their efforts to budget four provinces changing face of industry. But, what is not changing are the needs of the student sin our classrooms, the enrollment increases year over year or the demands on teachers to fulfill our professional duties in a manner that we can be proud of. Alberta has a world class education system that we should all be proud of and this is something worth defending. Do not worry, this is in our plans as we will never stop fighting for this.
The Association finds itself in rough waters with beginning negotiations with this government as well as combatting the concerning realities of the imminent curriculum roll out (without the voice or consultation of teachers), continued changing COVID protocols and the fact that education staff were disregarded in the provincial vaccination roll out plan. As such, communication with Local Presidents has been forthright and valuable and I am doing my best to share messages via the Council of School Representatives and our Social Media applications. Please take time to follow along there as we share key information with you all.
Again, we thank you for continuing to take the time to check out our website (www.ectlocal541stg.wpenginepowered.com) as the weeks ahead are busy with many interesting events and offerings at the Local. A Q & A session with our District Representatives, a visit to our book club by Author Jesse Thistle, contests and giveaways galore as well as a chance to order more #RedforEDAB Swag!
On behalf of the Local I thank you for all that you do and for your passion to keep our classrooms (of all varieties) such an amazing place for Albertan students. We have a lot to be proud of so do not hesitate to share your pride with your community. What you do matters!
With sincere gratitude,
Sandra