A well-know Cranbrook-based early childhood educator and community volunteer is running for School District No. 5 school board of trustees.

Gail Brown may be best known for her work during the past nine years as the Manager of Children First, East Kootenay Region, a community initiative to support young children 0 to 6 years of age and their families.

“I’ve spent much of the past 30 years serving families with young children in Cranbrook,” said Brown. “Now that I’m semi-retired I’d like to offer my experience to the local school board to help improve the educational foundation for our students.”

Brown brings an impressive learning background and work record to the role of trustee. In addition to achieving a Bachelor’s degree in Social work from the University of Victoria, an Adult Education Instructor’s Diploma from Vancouver College and Master’s in Early Childhood Education from University of Alberta, Brown is a past instructor at the College of the Rockies Early Childhood Education Program.  She is also the author of a long list of publications and reports on child health and development.

Brown says that if elected she would like to leverage her past experience to pursue three priorities as a school trustee.

The first priority would be to work with parents and teachers to provide strong educational opportunities for all children from K to 12.

“My special interest is the early elementary years because children’s learning during that time provides a foundation for later learning and success,” said Brown. “Our school district has a record of student success, and I want to build on that record using my experience and skills as team member and program developer.”

Brown says that the second priority is to advocate for an appropriate level of provincial funding for local schools.

“Like everyone else I’ve been reading year after to year about school boards having to cut services to balance budgets, and I understand that when money is tight you obviously have to make choices,” said Brown. “But I think government has to be constantly reminded that investments in quality public education are also a financial investment in our future citizens who can lead our city and province in the competitive global economy. I think it’s short-sighted to underfund the fundamentals.”

Brown’s third priority is working with government and community partners to build a replacement facility for the aging Mt. Baker Secondary School.

“The newly elected trustees on the board have made great strides in public consultation and laying the groundwork for a new high school as a Neighbourhood Learning Centre,” said Brown. “The concept brings together the two things I have worked for all of my life, community development and education, and I would be honoured to have the opportunity to work with fellow trustees and parents to bring this dream to a reality.”

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