After nearly a 35 year career in education, I retired as the Superintendent of Schools in January 2020. While in the role as superintendent, I sat on two national committees, ERDI and C21 and also was an adjunct professor for Gonzaga University. I now work as a leadership consultant supporting the work of school boards, system and school leaders.
Chris Smeaton
Author's posts
Jan 06
From the Desk of the Superintendent- January 2017
Wow…January 2017! I’m having a hard time realizing that it is already the month of January (almost mid school year) and we are now in 2017. We are 17 years into the 21st century. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing in the year 2000? I was in Taber at the …
Jan 04
Teaching Grit
As an individual who grew up in a highly athletic environment, grit and/or mental toughness were almost natural byproducts. You played and worked hard, you didn’t quit and you earned what you deserved. I can’t ever recall just showing up and automatically winning a prize! But I also recognize that the attributes of grit and mental …
Dec 22
From the Desk of the Superintendent- Christmas Message
It is hard to imagine that we are about to start Christmas vacation. Although, given the excitement of our students and probably some staff (me included), this last week has seemed to drag on! But it is here! The first four months of the school year have flown by and when we meet again in …
Dec 11
Keep it simple!
I grew up with a friend who was absolutely brilliant and he had a vocabulary to match. You almost needed a dictionary to understand the words he used on a fairly regular basis. When I did understand his vocabulary (which was usually rare), I would often tease him by rephrasing his statement in common and …
Dec 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- Advent 2016
November has come and gone and now we enter the Advent season. On Monday at our opening prayer at St. Basil Catholic Education Centre, I began with this message from Creighton University Online Ministries: As we begin Advent, we light one candle in the midst of all the darkness in our lives and in the …
Nov 30
Why Change Curriculum?
The following blog post was published in the Lethbridge Herald on November 30, 2016. Alberta Education is undergoing the aggressive task of updating the curriculum currently being taught in our schools. While it may seem that curriculum changes are always occurring, the truth is that Alberta’s curriculum actually ranges in age from eight to thirty …
Nov 27
TRUST
Last week, my good friend and colleague Michael Chechile, Director General for Lester B. Pearson School Board sent out a tweet that asked Michael Fullan to summarize his day/ presentation/ approach/ strategy/ deep learning/ in one word to make it happen. It really should come as no surprise that Fullan’s one word was TRUST. One word, …
Nov 12
Alignment counts!
This week our senior administration completed our school continuous improvement plan reviews with all of our school leaders. The process is fairly simple in that each school administration team comes into the board office and shares their plan with our senior education leaders. While I understand that it can a little intimidating for our newer leaders, it is meant …
Nov 06
From the Desk of the Superintendent- Catholic Education Sunday 2016
The following message will be read at all parishes within the boundary of Holy Spirit Catholic School Division. during the weekend of November 5 and 6 to celebrate Catholic Education Sunday! Holy Spirit is a regional division that serves students in Bow Island, Coaldale, Lethbridge, Picture Butte, Pincher Creek, Taber, and surrounding communities. Today, we …
Oct 31
From the Desk of the Superintendent- November 2016
Two months into the school year already and what an eventful two months! I want to begin with a bit of a reflection on our Division Wide Professional Day. Our school leaders would be the first to admit that I “got” literacy and numeracy at the elementary level, but was less confident about how they …