Shelley Green’s knowledge of inner city schools and aboriginal education issues has earned her a position on the Canadian Education Association’s national advisory council.
Green, principal of Georgia Avenue Elementary School, was appointed to the council this fall and attended her first committee education symposium, 21st Century Learning: From Rhetoric to Reality, last month.
“It’s an absolutely amazing experience and I feel very honoured to be appointed,” said Green. “I’m passionate about kids and learning.”
She said the symposium was basically a "think-tank" where participants examined different learning- models from around the world and across Canada.
Green said the education system of the future will look completely different and one of the challenges educators must tackle is preparing students for life after graduation in a world that is shifting daily with new innovations and needs.
The association is a non-partisan charitable organization that has members from across Canada who are leaders in education, research and policy creation, not-for-profit and business sectors.
It strives to generate new education ideas and spread them through meetings, workshops, symposiums and the Internet to influence and transform the public education system to help students meet the needs of a global world and changing society.
“We feel incredibly fortunate to have Shelley join the CEA council,” Ron Canuel, the association's CEO, said in an e-mail. “Her tireless dedication to supporting the success of inner city and aboriginal students is an all-important perspective that we need to hear at our table and we look forward to learning from her knowledge of program development in support of these students, which will most certainly inform and influence CEA’s Pan Canadian dialogue.”
Green has been a principal for 11 years, serving the past five overseeing Georgia Avenue.
She started teaching in 1984 and has taught in various schools in Nanaimo for nearly 15 years. She has an elementary education diploma from the University of Victoria and a master’s degree in elementary leadership from San Diego State University.
Green is also president-elect of the B.C. Principals and Vice-Principals Association and will serve as president starting next July.
She’s worked in a lot of inner city schools and said many of the students come to school with high needs.
“They may come from impoverished scenarios at home and need extra support just to get to school,” she said.
That’s why community efforts such as breakfast clubs, after-school computer programs and others are important supports that help students prepare to learn, she said.
And Green believes all children can learn, it’s just about creating the right tools to facilitate the process.
reporter3@nanaimobulletin.com