Johnnie Day is running for school board trustee in Maple Ridge.
The 20 year resident of Maple Ridge is seeking her first term on the board and is running under the elector organization ParentsVoice BC, a group backing independent candidates for school board trustee that they say, “put the needs of students and families first”, and support “independent, families-first values”.
Day believes the educational system is being “eroded away”, by “the corruption of special interest groups and their agendas”.
“We need to take back our schools. Return the responsibility of our children’s education to the parents. Ensure community values be reflected in their education,” she said.
She said trustees need to represent and support both parents and “community values” and allow “(openness) and availability of school curriculum”.
Day details how she grew up in a tightly knit farming community in South Langley where four generations lived under the same roof.
She says she was taught how to appreciate and value her “unique family life”. She enjoys all kinds of music, books, nature and outdoor activities.
Day has a BSc in nursing and a minor degree in psychology. She worked in a hospital setting and also managed a specialized medical office. In her later years she worked in the film and television industry as an actress.
After becoming a widow and single parent, she says, she enjoyed raising her daughter Emma – participating in the Parent Advisory Council, school fundraisers, school trips, and helping out in the classroom. She was also involved in her daughter’s extracurricular activities like Brownies, Girl Guides, and Candy Stripers.
She moved to Maple Ridge to be near her daughter, who is now married, and her two grandchildren, Elijah, 15, and Eva, 6, who are both on the autism spectrum.
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“I take an active interest and role in helping to raise them. As well as being involved with their unique educational needs,” she said, adding that they spend a great deal of time together cooking, reading books, playing music, sports, nature walks and taking long drives in her older red mustang with the windows down and the music cranked up.
“I find doing these things to be pleasurable and joyful,” she said.
The Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows Board of Education is made up of five trustees representing Maple Ridge and two trustees representing Pitt Meadows. They are elected every four years at the same time as the mayor and city council for the two municipalities.
The election will be taking place Saturday, Oct. 15.
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