Editor,

As the end of my term fast approaches, I would like to express my thanks for all the support and encouragement I have received during my 18 years as your school board trustee. It has been a pleasure to represent Owen Sound on the Bluewater District School Board. Much has changed in education since I first started, and I have learned much on the way.

What I have enjoyed most as a trustee is the proximity to the younger generation and the opportunity to watch them as they progress from kindergarten to Grade Twelve. Our young people are amazing, continually surprising me with their talents and abilities when they come to a school board meeting with their teachers to show off what they can do. Their teachers, too, are amazing as they bring out the best in their charges. I have enjoyed particularly having Grade Eleven and Twelve student Senators and Student Trustees joining us regularly at meetings and learning as they listen and contribute to board and education issues. Many have gone on to do good things in their careers or communities, a recent example being Riel Warrilow now a candidate for Owen Sound Council. I wish her all the best.

I would also endorse Jennifer Miller as a laudable candidate for Trustee for Owen Sound. She has already contributed to the Bluewater board as a member of one of our committees and chair of a school council, and I know she has much more to contribute.

Again I say thank you to all who have supported me in any way – I have very much appreciated that support. As I say good-bye to the Bluewater District School Board, I thank all involved, from Director of Education to board staff to Superintendents to Principals to teachers to students – you have all been part of my rewarding experience as a trustee. And so I pass the torch to the soon-to-be-elected new trustee for Owen Sound.

Margaret Gaviller
Owen Sound