Public education gave me the space to discover who I was and what I could do.
That’s why I’m running for School Trustee.
Because I want every young person in Chilliwack to have that same chance: to be seen as a whole person, supported through the hard parts, celebrated for what makes them different, and given every opportunity to build a future they can believe in.
Let’s build that future together.
“Young people shouldn’t need to become experts at navigating the education system just to have a chance inside it.”
My Story
I know what it feels like to need the system to bend
The traditional school system was not built for a life like mine, and I learned early that some students carry far more than a backpack into school.
As a former youth in care, I balanced classes with work, family responsibilities, and the challenge of getting by with very little support – navigating responsibilities far beyond my years.
I made it through by getting creative. By finding alternatives, working around barriers, and building my own path forward.
That experience shaped one of the core beliefs behind my campaign for Chilliwack School Trustee in 2026:
Every student deserves a path that meets them where they are, gives them a real chance to succeed, build confidence, responsibility, creativity, independence, and a sense of belonging.
Every student has potential
Education should prepare students for life.
A diploma matters. So do literacy, numeracy, science, history, and academic knowledge. But education has always been about more than tests and textbooks.
I was raised in both Alberta and Chilliwack with Cree, Dutch, and inter-Indigenous teachings that showed me learning can happen anywhere – while fixing something, caring for family, working with the land, solving a problem, or contributing to your community.
Those experiences build confidence, responsibility, creativity, independence, and belonging.
I want Chilliwack students to have more opportunities to learn through trades, arts, agriculture, technology, mentorship, culture, community service, and hands-on experience.
High expectations should not mean only one way of learning. Every student deserves more than one meaningful path to rise to them.
"Instead of asking why a student doesn’t fit the system, we should ask how the system can bend to meet the students needs to learn, grow, and move forward."
My Priorities
Seven things I’ll keep bringing back to the board table
Listen to students before making decisions about them.
Students should have meaningful ways to tell us what is working, what is not working, and what they need.
I will ask how students were involved before major decisions were made. I will support student leadership and accessible ways for young people to share feedback. I will advocate for consultation that happens early enough to matter.
Student voice should influence decisions, not just endorse them.
Support educators so they can support students.
Teachers and support staff should not have to choose between protecting their own well-being and meeting the needs of their students.
I will pay close attention to how budgets, staffing decisions, administrative demands, and district priorities affect people inside schools.
I will support professional trust, useful training, collaboration, and resources that allow educators to adapt. The board cannot ask for innovation while refusing to create the conditions needed for it.
Create more ways for students to succeed.
I want students to have access to strong academic learning alongside trades, agriculture, arts, technology, work experience, land-based learning, community projects, and cultural knowledge.
I want us to examine whether students across the district can actually access these opportunities.
I want more flexibility in how students demonstrate what they know.
Flexibility should not mean expecting less. Flexibility is about recognizing that competence can look different in different people.
Build schools where students can belong.
Every student deserves dignity, safety, and a meaningful opportunity to participate.
I will take bullying, harassment, discrimination, violence, and exclusion seriously.
I will also support approaches that help students build boundaries, repair harm where possible, and learn how to navigate differences.
Belonging is can’t happen when we pretend conflict never happens. It means we have to create a community capable of responding when it does.
Give young people room to explore.
Young people should not feel like every decision they make at 16 or 17 will define the rest of their life.
I want students to try things. I want them to discover what excites them, what challenges them, what they are good at, and what they never want to do again.
That exploration is not wasted time. It is part of becoming a person.
Middle school should offer meaningful exposure to different subjects, skills, environments, and possibilities.
High school should help students build a path without making them feel trapped inside it.
Connect learning to Chilliwack.
Our community is full of knowledge.
I want stronger relationships between schools and local farmers, tradespeople, Elders, cultural knowledge holders, artists, businesses, mentors, and community organizations.
Students should learn about the place where they live.
They should understand local land, water, food systems, industries, history, and community relationships. Learning becomes more powerful when students can see how it connects to real life.
Plan for the generations ahead.
Chilliwack is growing.
Our district needs thoughtful planning for school capacity, land, staffing, transportation, maintenance, programs, and long-term financial sustainability.
I will ask what today’s decisions will mean five, ten, and twenty years from now.
I will support transparent budgets and clear public explanations.
I will expect senior leadership to set measurable goals and report honestly on progress.
Public trust grows when people can understand how decisions were made.
How I’ll serve
Prepared. Curious. Accountable.
I cannot promise to single-handedly change district policy. That is not how school board governance works.
One trustee cannot independently direct staff, reverse an administrative decision, or speak on behalf of the entire board.
Change happens when trustees bring forward ideas, ask questions, build support, vote in public, approve policy and budgets, oversee the superintendent, and advocate together.
Here is what I can promise:
I will listen.
I will prepare.
I will ask questions.
I will read the reports.
I will communicate honestly.
I will respect the role of a trustee.
I will be willing to change my mind.
I will take financial responsibility seriously.
I will not reduce issues to political slogans.
I will remember that behind every policy discussion are real students, families, and staff members living with the outcome.
And I will never forget that this seat belongs to the public.
"I believe education can be different.
Will you join me?"
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Get Involved
I have seen how one small act of support can change the direction of a life.
I have also seen what happens when young people are expected to navigate impossible circumstances alone.
I am running because I believe our public education system can be structured, ambitious, flexible, creative, and deeply human at the same time. We can make decisions today that leave something better for the generations coming after us.
I am ready to bring my experience, curiosity, resilience, and commitment to the Chilliwack Board of Education.
I hope you will join me.
The lands we live and learn on are part of our education.
Chilliwack schools are located on the unceded traditional territory of the Pelhó’lhxw, Semá:th, and Ts’elxwéyeqw peoples, in the heart of Stó:lō territory — S’ólh Téméxw, “our world.”
I grew up on Treaty 6 territory in Alberta in a Cree and Dutch family, with teachings that shaped how I understand our responsibilities to the land, to one another, and to the generations who come after us.
As a Two-Spirit person, those teachings also shape how I understand identity, belonging, and the responsibility we have to make space for people to be fully themselves.
I came to Stó:lō territory as a teenager, and I recognize that I am a guest here. Being a good guest means listening deeply, acting with care, and leaving something better for those who come next.
For me, reconciliation has to mean more than a land acknowledgement at the beginning of a meeting. It should shape how we listen, build relationships, make decisions, and support Indigenous students and families.
The Chilliwack School District’s Strategic Plan is guided by Tómiyeqw, a Stó:lō philosophy that asks us to consider our responsibilities to seven generations past and seven generations future.
That kind of thinking belongs at the heart of public education. Reconciliation is not a separate piece of the work. It is part of how we do the work.
As a trustee, I would approach this work with humility, accountability, and a willingness to keep learning.
That means respecting Indigenous rights and knowledge, listening to the Indigenous Education Council and local First Nations, supporting Indigenous student success, and asking how our decisions affect culture, language, land, belonging, and generations still to come.