One More Sleep… What to do?

Move signs?  Send out emails?  Knock on doors?  Nope.  A nice quiet evening at home with the family seems like the best thing to do tonight.  Tomorrow is the CIVIC ELECTION.  From 8 to 8, I am hoping everyone in BC participates.  In the District of Sechelt, the Advanced Polls on November 9th and 16th combined had almost doubled the 2008 turn out.  Impressive.

To the District of Sechelt residents… Get out and vote for 1 Mayor, up to 6 councilors, and up to 2 school trustees… in addition to voting YES or NO in the non-binding referendum regarding Target Marine… Polling stations:  West Sechelt Elementary, Davis Bay Elementary, and Senior Centre. 

For more information about the SD46 Trustees, read All-Candidates Meeting for SD46 Trustees.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT.  I love the Sunshine Coast.  I love public education.  I love advocating for kids and their learning.  In less than 24 hours, we will all soon find out if I will have the greatest opportunity to serve the residents of Sechelt as school trustee.  Tomorrow marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.  Looking forward.

35 More Hours… Who’s Counting?

Well… the Municipal Election is happening 35 hours from now.  On Monday, I was participating in the SD46 All Candidates Meeting for School Trustees.  On Tuesday, I attended the FABS Table Talks with the ‘new’ councilor and mayoral District of Sechelt candidates.  On Wednesday, I was out of town attending 2 wonderful presentations by Nel Noddings at SFU.  Today, I have been tutoring, delivering the last few flyers I had, and brought my daughter to swimming lessons.  After I blog, I will engage in the night-time routine, read with my daughter, and hopefully clean the house.  It may be another late night as I have to do some work for SFU as a site assistant for one of the MEd cohorts and do some revisions on my 3 chapter proposal (again).  What Friday has to bring is one tutoring session, my daughter’s swim club, and more work on my doctoral studies.

Every minute has been accounted for.  I could considering distributing more YH Handouts or knock on a few doors… but it seems to me that the YOUNGHUSBAND CAMPAIGN has taken a life of it’s own.  People have sent me emails expressing their support, some have approached me face-to-face to ask how my campaign is going, and others wish me the best of luck on Saturday.  I don’t want to over think the situation and honestly, the people of Sechelt will decide who is best fit for school trustee.  My small and modest campaign could not afford the large newspaper ads or an unlimited supply of campaign signs.  I had 9 large sign (now 7) and 48 little signs (now about 30).  I distributed about 500 mini flyers and I have maintained my blog, Twitter, and campaign website.  I attended a couple of FABS events and All-Candidates for Sechelt Mayor and Councilors.  I did a few profile write ups for School District No.46 Website, the Coast Reporter, the FABS (For a Better Sechelt) website, and the SCTA (Sunshine Coast Teachers’ Association) website.  That’s about it.

What my campaign is relying on is word-of-mouth, my performance during the All-Candidates for Trustees, my reputation as a public school educator, and the belief that I can do the job.  Will this be enough?  Who knows.  What I do know is… I am officially stepping back at this point in time from campaigning and taking tomorrow evening off.  Saturday, I will be getting the house in order, maybe grocery shopping, and possibly checking out Target Marine (the hottest topic of this year’s Sechelt Municipal Election).  That evening will wait patiently for the final count of the election.

Nel Noddings at SFU

With a few days left of campaigning, I have opted to return back to my graduate student lifestyle and commuted to the Lower Mainland from the Sunshine Coast to see Dr. Nel Noddings, PhD at SFU.  She is speaking twice today, once at the Surrey Campus and the other in Burnaby.  I signed up for both events.  Nel Noddings is a guru on the “ethics of care” and education.  I learned this morning that she had started her teaching career as a mathematics teacher.  This caught my attention.  This morning’s session was designed for students enrolled in the Professional Programs of the Faculty of Education.  Nel spoke about her new book about the love and hate for war.  This afternoon’s workshop will be about the “ethics of care” addressed to graduate students and faculty.  I am looking forward to listening to her speak again.  She has clear ideals and vision for education. I appreciate her passion and the work she does as an emeritus of Stanford.  Nel is someone to aspire to.

In the meantime, I am waiting for the second session to start.  I’m sitting in the lobby of the Halpern Centre at SFU-Burnaby with my Educ 809 buddy, Harri.  We met at the SFU-Surrey Campus this morning, had lunch together at the Surrey Central food fair (thank you Harri), and took Skytrain to the Burnaby Campus.  I got the chance to drop off my application to the Faculty of Education and engage in a bit of used book shopping at the AQ.  I bought 2 books for $4 that relate to my dissertation.  SCORE.  Very happy with my purchase and excited to be here as a learner to hear more about Nel Nodding’s views on education, conversation, and caring.

Today could not have happened without my awesome family.  After staying up all night to work on my SFU application package, I had planned to catch the 5 am bus at West Sechelt to catch the 620 am ferry from Langdale.  It was 5:22 am and there was no bus.  I started to panic.  Where was the bus?  Did I read the schedule wrong?  I did not understand what was happening with the Sunshine Coast transit system, but I was stuck.  I called my husband and he did not hesitate to come get me to drive me to the ferry.  What a guy… best of all, my daughter woke up to come for the ride, and my dog came along too.  It was a family morning adventure and I am truly grateful for my family.  What a sacrafice… What love.  Aside from feeling really tired today and spending time with my 809 buddy, the best part of the day was my family picking me up at the bus stop so early in the morning.

Thank you Randy, Zoe, Sally, and Harri for making my day at SFU x2.  I had a great day.

4 More Days

It’s 4 more days to MUNICIPAL ELECTION DAY 2011, November 19th.

I participated in my first and last All-Candidates Meeting for School Trustees on the Sunshine Coast, School District No.46 for the 2011 Elections last night at the Seaside Centre in Sechelt.  If you missed this event and would like to know more about your local trustee candidates, Sunshine Coast residents can watch the SD46 All-Candidates Meeting on Coast Cable 11 at 7pm tonight.  BE INFORMED.  Vote.

BTW:  I love this picture.  I am on my pedagogical journey with an underlying theme of STUDENT LEARNING.  For some, it may be difficult to understand some of the choices I have made.  For others, it all makes sense.  For me, it is a journey that I look forward to engaging in and discovering what I am suppose to learn and who I am meant to be.  I am an educational leader and how that looks will vary over time.  In 4 more days,  I hope to be known as SCHOOL TRUSTEE YOUNGHUSBAND representing the District of Sechelt who advocates for student learning, and creates active learning communities, and promotes safe learning environments.

Reflections on the SD46 All Candidates Meeting

Whew.  That was my first All-Candidates Meeting as a school trustee candidate.  It was an awesome experience to be amongst so many great SD46 candidates.  There were 14 of us.  Candidates were from Area 2, the Town of Gibsons, and the District of Sechelt.  Even the acclaimed trustee incumbent from Area 1 attended the event.

The All-Candidates Meeting was in Sechelt at the Seaside Centre from 7-9pm.  I believe I did OK with the 2 minute intro and 1 minute close.  Answering questions on-the-fly was challenging.  I had a slow start, but got better over time.  My overall self-assessment on my performance is VERY SATISFIED. 

Thank you to the organizers from the Coast Reporter and Coast Cable 11 for making the event happen for the SD46 trustee candidates.  School trustee candidates from Gibsons and Sechelt had very few opportunities to public speak, unlike those from Area 2.  I am truly grateful to have participated, to have my voice heard, and to be amongst so many great people.

If you were unable to attend the SD46 All Candidates Meeting and want to get to know more about the school trustee candidates, the meeting can be seen on Coast Cable 11 at the following times:

Finite Campaign Materials

5 more days until the municipal election on November 19, 2011.  Late last night, I drove around the Sechelt Area re-situating most of my small campaign signs to capture a new audience or remind others to get out and vote.

I purchased 9 BIG signs, 48 (really) small signs, and some photocopying for flyers.  I have a FINITE set of CAMPAIGN MATERIALS.  My blog is free, campaign website is free, Twitter is free, and my Facebook page is free.  I have a modest campaign budget.  With contributions, I am breaking even… a balanced budget.

Tonight at the SD46 All Candidates Meeting at the Seaside Centre, I will be distributing the last bit of flyers and doing the best I can to represent myself in public forum and on local television with my political platform as school trustee.  What I say and how I respond to questions matters.

Above is a picture of me with one of my BIG campaign signs and my first “Younghusband Campaign” cheque I wrote to pay for the signs.  I love these signs.  The small signs I like too, but they seem really, really small when standing next to 15 other campaign signs in Sechelt.  With finite campaign materials, every sign, flyer, and hand shake counts.  To my disappointment, I am down to 7 large signs and about 30 or so small signs.  One big sign disappeared in Wilson Creek, another sign has a fallen tree on it in Davis Bay.  As for the small signs, I’m thinking that people just want one for a souvenir.  I’m not sure what happened to them.  All that I know is, I will not be replacing them.

If you are a Sunshine Coast resident, I look forward to seeing you at the All Candidates Meeting tonight from 7-9pm at the Seaside Centre, or look forward to seeing me on Coast Cable 11.

On November 19th, Elect Christine Younghusband for School Trustee (District of Sechelt)

When Time Flies

You know that you are doing something you love when time flies.  I am aware that Stage 1 Job Action may agitate the educational system to encourage provincial bargaining.  After today, there is no doubt in my mind that students know how they are doing in school.  First, I know as a parent that my daughter is “meeting expectations” in mathematics and science.  And, I am confident that she is also “meeting expectations” in her other courses.  She is in grade 3.  Second, I know as a math/science tutor that students know how they are doing.  I had 6 tutoring scheduled for today, in addition to a reunion drumming session to celebrate the baby wolf drums made last week.  That is 6 hours of tutoring and managing to fit in other things like reading, writing, and some campaigning.

I had a tonne of fun tutoring.  Every client I serve is phenomenal.  Not to pat myself on the back, but each client seemed like he/she had fun learning math/science.  The best part of tutoring is the AH-HA moment.  I love that.  The AH-HA’s are what I love and miss most about teaching in public schools.  Today, I tutored one Math 9 student, one Math 8 student, one Science 10 student, and three Math 12 students.  My week is completely booked.  I am also out of town on Wednesday to see Nel Noddings (the Ethics of Care goddess) at SFU, the All-Candidates Meeting is tomorrow, and the Municipal Election is on Saturday.  In the end, all I can say is… I LOVE TEACHING.  I love honing in my pedagogical content skills as a tutor to teach students math/science so that they can feel confident, competent, and autonomous with their learning.  I think I achieved that feat today.

Are you doing what you love?  Some people ask me if I will ever return back teaching.  I love teaching.  Teaching is not isolated to a classroom in public schools.  I know that I took a BIG career detour by leaving public schools to pursue full-time graduate studies, run my own educational consulting business, and participate in local politics as a school trustee candidate.  I may return back teaching.  In the end, how do you know what your potential is, unless you try?  Take the first step…

ON NOV.19, ELECT CHRISTINE YOUNGHUSBAND FOR SD46 SCHOOL TRUSTEE (SECHELT)

SD46 All Candidates School Trustee Meeting

One more week until the official municipal election day on November 19th.  Because there are 4 mayoral candidates and 14 councilor candidates (for 6 positions) in the District of Sechelt area, the 5 school trustee candidates (for 2 positions) were often not involved actively in the All-Candidate Meetings held locally in the past five weeks, except for attending the events with hopes of connecting with constituents of the Sechelt community in an informal way.  The school trustee candidates in the Sechelt area created their own campaign opportunities to spread the word that they are running for School Board with signage, flyers, newspaper ads, public appearances, meeting people in the community, or door-to-door interactions.

On Monday, November 14th, the Coast Reporter (the local newspaper) is sponsoring an All-Candidates Meeting for all SD46 School Trustee Candidates.  That is 15 candidates.  In Area 1, the school trustee was acclaimed to the Board.  As mentioned earlier, Sechelt has 5 candidates.  In Gibsons, there are 2 candidates (for 1 position) and in Area 2 there are 7 candidates (for 3 positions).  Area 2 trustee Candidates have participated in several All-Candidates Meetings hosted by various interest groups in their catchment area.  I am not sure what the Gibsons Candidates have participated in, but this All-Candidates meeting happening on the 14th will be my first and last All-Candidates Meeting I will attend officially.  I am looking forward to this event.  This is when all the cards will be played and I am curious of what each candidate will have to say and offer.

The SD46 School Board is composed of 7 trustees who will work collectively to work collaboratively with the superintendent to govern (not manage) the School District.  If you are interested in the school trustee candidates running for school board on the Sunshine Coast, come to the All-Candidates Meeting on November 14th @7pm at the Seaside Centre.  If you can’t come, the event is televised on Coast Cable TV11.  I look forward to seeing you or you seeing me on TV11.

ELECT Christine Younghusband FOR School Trustee (Sechelt)

10-Pin Bowling

Who doesn’t love bowling?  When I was a kid growing up in Prince Rupert, we had the “Rupert Lanes.”  It was 5-pin bowling and I remember going there on the weekend to hang out with friends and bowl.  The place has closed down since.  I guess that bowling is not “the thing” to do nowadays.  When I moved to the Sunshine Coast 17 years ago after graduating from UBC, there was 5-pin bowling in Gibsons.  A handful of years later, there was even a second bowling alley.  Well, today there are no bowling alleys on the Sunshine Coast.  Too bad.  My kids loves to bowl.

On this special day, 11-11-11, my little family spent Remembrance Day in Vancouver.  We had our moment of silence to remember those who gave their lives on the BC Ferries.  We are deeply grateful.  Lest we forget.  My twin brother is visiting from Toronto.  We saw him last weekend, we resumed our lives during the week, and here we are again to reunite at my parents’ condo.  We met up with my sister and her little family to enjoy a HUGE BBQ lunch at Memphis Blues on Granville and Broadway.  The food was delicious and plentiful.  We followed up this “Man vs. Food” event with an afternoon of 10-pin bowling.  At first, I was reluctant.  In the end, I had an awesome time.

The bowling alley had 48-lanes, loud music, videos, electronic scoring, and disco-like lighting.  My sister, brother, man, kid, and myself were bowling up a storm and prided ourselves when we accomplished a spare or a strike.  I won the first game with a score of 107.  My sister took the second game with 131.  My kid did not want the bowling to stop.  It was super fun.  The ego did not take a super beating.  And, my daughter had a strike and a spare.  We will definitely go there again.

Bowling today was like going back in time.  Spending good times with people you care about and love.  Creating memories and new loves that intrinsically motivates us to come back again.  I love our little family reunions.  It’s an special opportunity to step away from the routines of life and engage in something enjoyable, community oriented, and family-centered.  We ended our day connecting up with my parents and having a HUGE Chinese Crab dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.  YUM.

Love

I am so lucky.  I look back at my day and all that I feel is gratitude.  I started the day walking my daughter to school, well… she rides her bike and I walk the dog.  Back at home, I spent the day tidying up, printing out articles, updating my CV, writing in my daily edu-blog, revising my websites, virtual campaigning, and making lasagna for dinner.  Before I know it, the day is over and I’m off to go out to face-to-face campaign at the local high school.  My husband picked me up and my daughter gifts us with a small bag of gummies she bought from the gummy store.  I was so touched.  I love gummies.  I returned to my alma mater (aka. Chatelech) to see familiar faces and good friends.  That was so wonderful.  Then, I attended the Restorative Practices presentation to be followed up by the All-Candidates meeting for Sechelt Mayor and Council.  In between, all 5 Sechelt School Trustees were present to campaign face-to-face.  All 5 of us were passing out campaign flyers amongst others who were passing out flyers for other municipal election candidates.  It was an awesome experience.  Furthermore, I got the chance to see some of the meeting live and one of the trustee candidates offered me a ride home.  I was so thankful.  Back home, my daughter greeted me with love and joy.  She loved my lasagna.  I love my kid.  In the end, that’s all that matters.  My yummy yum-yum.  My daughter makes my day.  She makes me laugh.  She is independent and strong-willed.  She is full of wonderful surprises.  BTW: My man is equally awesome… once again, I am so lucky.  LOVE.