THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
My name is Barbara La Pointe and I ran for CBE School Trustee in wards 6 & 7 in the 2021 election. While I did not win this election, I am proud of the conversations and connections I made in my beloved community.
As a longtime resident of Calgary, with children in local schools - I remain deeply committed to collaboration, advocacy and supporting my city.
Gratitude to those that walk along side me.
The Platform
Why did Barbara run as a candidate for SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE?
Our children deserve an education that prepares them for our ever-changing world. Where they are taught life-long skills and strategies
that will give them the tools to adapt and learn. Where they are empowered to thrive.
Where no child is left behind - in practice, not just in theory.
Our school board needs to be accountable to the families they are responsible for teaching. To follow-through on their key pillars.
My platform is driven by these truths.
Together we can meet the vital and critical education issues with passion, integrity and strong leadership.
EMPOWERED TEACHERS, EMPOWER STUDENTS
Every child is unique. In an ideal world each student would have their own learning plan that was implemented with excellence. The reality is we are a school board with immense diversity and not enough support. We need to increase our HUMAN resources in the classroom, supporting our teachers. They feel successful when their students are thriving. With class sizes increasing and resource specialists being cut, we are moving backwards and creating burnout. What if Professional Development days were dedicated to increasing resource tools + learning support for our teachers? What if we follow the money to see where we can hire more support staff or had smaller classes?
FINANCIAL LITERACY
Math is important. Applicable math is essential. Understanding money management is crucial. We live in a time where our personal debt-load is at an all time high. Where entrepreneurship is an opportunity available to anyone with a great idea. Yet most students graduate from high school with no idea how a credit score is calculated, how to live on a budget or to file a simple tax return. In fact many graduates struggle with how to calculate the GST on a purchase or feel confident they got the right amount of change back when they pay with cash. What if financial literacy was built into each grade's math curriculum? Imagine the long term benefits to our economy.
INDIGENOUS INSPIRATION & EDUCATION
Our indigenous connections are not just about acknowledging & understanding our history ... but also embracing the way we can weave culture and community into our present teaching through traditional oral-history and the arts. What if we provided leadership opportunities for our Indigenous Youth to create programming that they can relate to, that celebrates their ancestors? And that can then inspire the rest of the CBE student body.
There is an increasing ratio of indigenous youth within the at-risk population. We can create meaningful change.
CRITICAL THINKING + 21st CENTURY LEARNING
Critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating and collaborating: these are essential life skills. The foundation in which all NEW curriculum should be based. It should not be about memorizing and reiterating. Being able to analyze information, ask questions and actively listen is paramount to understanding. What if our children approached their
learning with these questions:
- What is the issue and the conclusion?
- What are the reasons?
- What are the assumptions?
- Are there any fallacies in the reasoning?
- How good is the evidence? What is the source?
THE DRAFT CURRICULUM
The draft curriculum for Alberta is regressive, and it is placing the future of the province’s Public Education in jeopardy.
Is the draft curriculum, designed for students from Kindergarten to grade 6, disguised as one that offers a comprehensive education? The answer is yes. Will its proposed materials provide children with the opportunity to grow both academically and personally? The answer, many concerned parents would agree, is a resounding no. It is clear to many that there are few positives in the draft and that it is essential to head back to the drawing board. As your school trustee in Wards 6 & 7, I will use my passion, my conflict resolution skills, and my moral leadership to advocate and publicly champion a RE-DO on the current draft curriculum.
Why is a RE-DO the best path forward?
Minor modifications or changes are not sufficient: the curriculum is fundamentally flawed across the board.
“The draft curriculum does not measure up. It is not what Albertans deserve and have become accustomed to over the previous decades. Further, it will not serve Alberta’s students in preparing them for an uncertain future or equip them to respond to the economic, social and technological challenges ahead.”
-ATA president Jason Schilling.
What can we, as concerned Albertans, do to amend this curriculum?
I believe that the education minister cannot ignore members of the public who are seeking to engage in a constructive and meaningful conversation. We need to make our concerns known and to intensify public engagement. Each of us has the opportunity to take the following steps:
- Write our concerns to our MLAs;
- Contact, write, and support our school trustees;
- Leverage and involve our school councils;
- If our concerns go unheard, maintain pressure on our MLAs to act; and
- Unite our voices as concerned parents and members of society.
As your incumbent school trustee, I encourage everyone to speak up and to stand up as a voice for public education. Even if you don't have children, remember that we all have a stake in the legacy of public education. The next generation deserves the best we can offer.
Here is a list of helpful links to learn more:
Alberta School Board Responses to Draft Curriculum - Google Drive
General – Alberta Curriculum Analysis (alberta-curriculum-analysis.ca)
Alberta Curriculum Comparison 2021 (curriculum-comparison.com)
The Draft Curriculum And Our Indigenous History
“As a proud Métis and mother of two Métis children, I am offended by the lack of representation of our rich cultural heritage in the draft curriculum. Métis and Indigenous history in Alberta is unique to Canada, and we cannot allow it to be bypassed.
Furthermore, it is abundantly clear to me that it is time for Canada and the Alberta curriculum to tell the entire truth about truth and reconciliation. Our next generation of learners deserve the truth. It saddens me that in this draft curriculum, the Reconciliation Act is essentially ignored.”
-Barbara La Pointe
CORE VALUES OF EDUCATION
RESILIENCY • CRITICAL THINKING • LEADERSHIP • CREATIVITY
PROBLEM SOLVING • ACCOUNTABILITY • HOPE
Copyright © 2021 Barbara La Pointe - All Rights Reserved.
I live and work in Calgary, located within Treaty 7 and the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi from the Blackfoot Confederacy, including the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai Nations; the Îyârhe Nakoda of the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley Nations; and the Dene of the Tsuut’ina Nation. Southern Alberta is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3.
I acknowledge that we have ongoing responsibilities to protect and honour all of life within our shared reality as treaty people.
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