Thanks to Ms. Bev Rundell, the Provincial Keynote Coordinator, and to Ms. Aubrey Hobbs Johnson, Chair for this conference, for the invitation to participate. I understand that this is the third Innovations Conference to be held. That it is a conference about education, “A Showcase of Learners and Learning”.  I would like to thank the British Columbia Ministry of Education and the British Columbia Education Leadership Council for their sponsorship of this conference.

I also understand that this conference is about innovation in teaching methods, leadership, literacy, early learning, and middle and secondary learning. Over the past few days you have heard from nine education specialists. I trust that this conference has been of interest and of benefit to all of the participants. I have been asked to deliver a message from all British Columbians and I welcome this opportunity to join you in your dialogue about education.

First, thank you for being a part of this conference. It is through the sharing of our ideas that we can improve what we are doing in the classrooms of British Columbia. The world is ever changing. Gone are the days when a chalkboard and notebooks were the main tools of the trade. When I walk through today’s schools, I see the science labs, the computer labs, the communications and recording labs, and the list goes on and on. Teachers today compete with very powerful elements in society that are vying for the attention of our youth. Some of these forces can be very destructive. As the World Wide Web has changed forever the way we deal with information, so have the new drugs on the street altered the way that our youth must deal with their friends. The youth of today are aware of their rights in terms of discipline and so the school yard has also changed dramatically since I went to school. All of these changes have enhanced the need for teachers to find new ways to keep the students engaged and progressing from one year to the next. I believe that those of you who have participated in this conference will leave with new ideas and perhaps new resources that will benefit your students.

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to meet 20 BC teachers who have already shown great leadership and innovation in the classroom. I met Maye Davis, from Lake Trail Middle School in Courtenay, who received and award for environmental awareness. She co-founded a local stewardship and educational society, called Project Watershed, to promote community stewardship of the Comox Valley Watershed. I met Elaine Jaltema from Confederation Park in Burnaby who developed an innovative approach to teaching literature and she developed a curriculum for hundreds of novels; she recently placed all her work online for other teachers.

I was so privileged to meet these teachers. I only mention a few of them to demonstrate that BC teachers are already doing a tremendous job for BC students and coming to a conference like this can only serve to improve your already amazing abilities.

On behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, whom I represent in British Columbia, and on behalf of all British Columbians, thank you for your dedication to excellence in teaching.

LOCATION:1401 Rockland Avenue
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada V8S 1V9

PHONE:(250) 387-2080

FAX:(250) 387-2078

EMAIL:ghinfo@gov.bc.ca

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