Oki! Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. It is always a pleasure to come to Pincher Creek and celebrate the graduation of our students from St. Michael’s. Congratulations to our St. Michael’s Graduates of 2019. What a great theme you have chosen for your graduation this year, “Shine your Light; Follow your Path.” I want to …
2019 archive
May 11
“Place I Belong”- Graduation Address for Catholic Central High School 2019
Oki! Bonjour Mesdames et Monsieurs and Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen and a warm welcome to the stars of the weekend, our 2019 Graduating Class of Catholic Central High School. I want to begin by thanking the grads for choosing a song, Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver, that I can play on …
May 06
From the Desk of the Superintendent- Catholic Education Week
Good morning, Today we begin celebrating Catholic Education Week throughout Canada. Later this month, on May 30th, we will also recognize World Catholic Education Day. I’m also pleased today to release a video on Catholic Education in Holy Spirit. This video was a joint project of the Holy Spirit ATA Local and the Board of …
May 02
From the Desk of the Superintendent- May 2019
I’m a day late in sending my monthly message out but I did this purposely, since I wanted to complete our Team Continuous Improvement Plan Reviews first to able to share some of my perspective. Over the last two days, teams of three schools came to the St. Basil Catholic Education Centre to provide year-end …
Apr 28
Enhancing leadership capacity
One of my core beliefs as a superintendent is to provide support and build the capacity of our school leaders. While somewhat of an over exaggeration, in many cases, “how goes the principal is how goes the school.” This doesn’t mean that everything good or bad needs to be laid on the lap of the …
Apr 03
Shifting our Focus
The following blog post was written for the Lethbridge Herald, April 03, 3019. Sometimes it is very difficult to let go of the past. It is comfortable, even though we know that it is likely remembered far better than it was actually lived. Similarly, we often hold on to our traditional beliefs about schooling and …
Mar 29
From the Desk of the Superintendent- April 2019
Usually, I begin my monthly message a couple of days before the end of the month. However, my ideas began to percolate after listening to Sarah Hart at our annual Spiritual Development Day and continued while attending the Religious Education Congress. Therefore, most of this blog post was written much earlier than usual and can …
Mar 24
3 tips for becoming a more relational leader
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a fairly harsh blog post entitled, “If you can’t get along with people…don’t be a leader!” Demonstrating honesty, integrity and trust are all key characteristics for getting along with people. But what else? No matter where you are in your leadership journey, improvement or honing your skills should …
Mar 08
If you can’t get along with people…don’t be a leader!
I’ve always been a strong believer in the importance of fostering effective relationships in the workplace. There is good reason why it is the first competency stated in all three standards; Superintendent, Leadership and Teacher. But some of the best lessons regarding the importance of relationship building have come from the business world. In other …
Mar 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- March 2019
February is the shortest month of the year…right? Given this nonstop cold snap, it has felt like the longest month of the year. I know that when Donna and I eventually move to Red Deer, I’ll expect a longer and colder winter but until then, I’m still looking for the break that comes from a …