Greetings colleagues,

Good news! Thanks to last week’s rain, and the herculean efforts of the BC Wildfire Service, the residents of the community of Hudson’s Hope in SD60 (Peace River North) can return to their homes. The evacuation order has been lifted. To quote Principal Derrek Beam:

“Well Hudson’s Hoper’s, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but we are off and running!”  

Congratulations to Derrek and his team for getting things up and running, while the rest of us are well on our way to establishing normal school routines.

Last week, our Executive Director Kevin Reimer and I represented the BCPVPA at the UBCM (Union of BC Municipalities) annual meeting in Whistler. It was an amazing opportunity to connect with MLAs, government officials, local government leaders, and many partners in the sector and beyond. We are in the early days of introducing our Association on provincial stages such as these – more than one MLA we met had yet to hear about the BCPVPA – but we were very pleased to have the chance to showcase the work of our members.  Explaining the essential role of Principals and Vice-Principals in the leadership and effective operation of schools is on-going and ever-evolving work. Our participation in these events offers the opportunity to explain to the world who we are, and what we do. Just as it is important for the Principal to be visible in school leadership, it is important that the BCPVPA is visible to our partners and the sector. We must be seen to be heard (and remembered), as we compete for attention in today’s crowded and media-saturated world.