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Student trustee sworn in

SD46
Student trustee
New student trustee Kailyn Pritchard takes her seat at the school board table for the first time on Oct. 14.

New student trustee Kailyn Pritchard was sworn in during the Oct. 14 school board meeting.

Pritchard is in Grade 12 at Elphinstone Secondary School and was elected to the position of student trustee by members of the District Student Leadership Team.

Pritchard replaces Maya Treuheit who graduated from Chatelech Secondary School last year.

“I feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to represent the students of our district for the coming year,” Kailyn said. “I am very excited to be able to bring students’ ideas forward, where they have the ability to make tangible positive change. It is important to me that students of School District No. 46 feel safe and respected as they grow and learn, and that they know their opinions are being heard and taken into consideration.”

Gibsons Elementary

Secretary treasurer Nicholas Weswick gave an update on the Gibsons Elementary School construction to the board, noting the old school is now completely demolished and the debris is being cleaned up.

The new school is partially open now, but Weswick said that as more areas of the school are deemed useable, SD46 will be “expanding our partial occupancy until the full school is ready to be occupied later this month.”

He also said he expects the “civil works on site are going to be happening toward the end of December.”

Crosswalk concerns

Some progress is being made to address crosswalk concerns near Gibsons Elementary, the board heard Tuesday.

Weswick said staff has recently met with the Ministry of Highways and that a concept drawing has been produced that could fix the odd angle of the roads converging outside the elementary school.

Board chair Betty Baxter noted changing the intersection necessitates the involvement of the Ministry of Highways, SD46 and the Town of Gibsons, which makes things “challenging.”

“We have three different jurisdictions and three different agencies’ priorities and budgets and they all have to line up with the stars at the same time,” Baxter said.

“So we’re working on it and we’re hopeful. It sounds like we’re  making some small steps.”

We Day

A large contingent of students from the Coast will attend We Day in Vancouver next week, superintendent of schools Patrick Bocking reported.

We Day is described as a global movement. It involves a series of stadium-sized events where world renowned speakers and performers inspire and encourage youth to get involved in one local and one global action.

We Day takes place on Oct. 22 in Vancouver this year and a total of 72 interested high school students from the Coast will take part, Bocking said.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for students to really be inspired to make a difference in the world,” he noted.

“So we’re really excited about that.”