A school trustee in Port Alberni was recently recognized for 25 years with School District 70 (Pacific Rim).
Trustee Rosemarie Buchanan received a gift from the SD70 board of education on Nov. 10, 2021, acknowledging her 25 years on the board.
“I want to acknowledge her hard work, her sacrifice, her care for all the students of SD70,” said board chair Pam Craig on Nov. 10.
Buchanan was first elected to the SD70 board in a by-election in 1980, after a previous trustee resigned. She was 25 years old at the time, making her one of the youngest trustees in Canada. Her 25 years on the board have been broken up throughout five decades, as she spent several years working across the border in the United States in the early 2000s.
She received a Life Membership from the BC School Trustees Association in 2018 in recognition of her 21 years on the board.
Buchanan says it’s been “a really great journey” to see the way education has shifted and evolved in those years.
“There have been a lot of changes in the way public education has to be delivered,” she told the board. “Kids are coming to school with more stress and anxiety. The face of education has changed unbelievably in these years. You can’t teach every kid the exact same way—every brain is different.”
She thanked the district’s current board and past board members for a “wonderful experience” as a school trustee.
“I would strongly recommend to anyone that if you want to learn about life in the Alberni Valley, run for school board,” she said.
Buchanan says she intends to run again in the 2022 election.
elena.rardon@albernivalleynews.com
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