Name: Michelle Neale Larose
Age: 44
Occupation: realtor
Q1. What experience do you have in public education?
1: After moving to Maple Ridge I gave up a corporate career in logistics management in favor of working in the community and supporting my daughter’s education. I have volunteered in the district for the past 10 years, including the past three as District Parent Advisory Council chair. That has provided me with a good understanding of the complexities of the school district and the issues facing our community. Having a daughter in Grade 9 also provides me with important insights into today’s student.
Q2. Why should you be elected to the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Board of Education?
2. My motives are pure as demonstrated by a decade of volunteering and I have a vested interest with a daughter at Maple Ridge secondary. As DPAC chair, I have a proven ability to engage partner groups in positive and meaningful communications around issues and opportunities within the district. My involvement in the district, combined with 15 years of experience in logistics management, provides me with an excellent foundation for the position.
Q3. What do you feel are the most important issues facing public education, and how do plan to address those issues as a school trustee?
3. How to make education relevant for today’s student. Collaboration with students and partner groups locally and globally is important to engage students and provide the right education for the future. Technology continues to replace people in the work force, so we need to look what skills will be valued, like divergent thinking.
Funding, overcrowding in some schools and declining enrollment in others are also important issues. To address them: governance through informed decision making that reflects the community’s needs and wishes; responsible fiscal management is critical in lobbying the Ministry of Education for more funding and maximizing education quality; help parents to advocate at different levels of government.
Also, how to safely incorporate technology into student learning: teaching children personal safety and how to validate information on the World Wide Web are skills we need to teach our children today.
Our school PACs raise phenomenal funds for resources that are under-utilized or going to waste. We need to incorporate PAC funded resources into the district’s plan to provide visibility, maximum support and training.