After two years without a principal of Aboriginal education programs, the Okanagan Skaha School District (SD67) has hired someone to fill that spot.
Pamela Spooner comes with an extensive background in education, currently holding the position of principal at Nusdeh Yoh Elementary School in the Prince George School District, where she has been since 2015.
Prior to that, she was vice principal at the school for two years, vice principal at Prince George Secondary School for one year and a math support teacher for one year in that same district.
According to an SD67 release, Spooner has 13 years of teaching experience, teaching Math in Grades 8-12.
She is also a mentor with national Indigenous education program Indspire and is involved with the Short Course 2 program, which helps new school leaders hone their skills for the job.
“We are feeling really fortunate that we’ve got someone of Ms. Spooner’s qualifications coming into the role,” SD67 Superintendent Wendy Hyer said.
The school district also announced Princess Margaret Secondary School vice principal Sandra Richardson will move to the same position at Penticton Secondary come Aug. 1. She will succeed Andrea DeVito in that position, who was appointed principal of Uplands Elementary.
The position of principal of Aboriginal education programs was left open after the previous principal resigned two years ago to take a job in Nanaimo, and it has not been filled since.
“It’s a pretty specific skill set. They have to have an in-depth knowledge of Aboriginal education, and there aren’t a lot of people in the province who have those qualifications,” Hyer said.
“You’re looking for someone who has administrative experience and is aware of First Peoples’ cultures and traditions and has good people skills and is familiar with the new curriculum, because part of that role will be implementing all of the Indigenous education that’s in the new curriculum, supporting teachers in building capacity to do that work.”
Because Spooner is Indigenous, herself, Hyer said implementing the new curriculum will help, having her own knowledge of Indigenous issues, like residential schools and child welfare.
“I think it’s important that our Aboriginal youth see themselves when they go to school. They see themselves as having a place within our schools,” Hyer said, adding that can help boost engagement from Indigenous students as members of a marginalized community.
“The other piece is continue to close the gap between our Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal graduation rate,” Hyer said.
According to data published on the B.C. government website, the Indigenous graduation rate for SD67 in 2016/17 sits at 75.5 per cent, while the non-Indigenous rate is at 84 per cent. That in itself is a major stride over eight years prior, in 2008/09, when the rate was 48.2 per cent.
In fact, last year’s rate is 5.6 percentage points above the provincial average, which has also been on the rise.
But beyond that, Hyer said Indigenous students are more likely to graduate with credits in less intensive courses — for example, with Communications 12 instead of English 12 — and Hyer hopes Spooner will be able to help close that gap as well.
“Hoping that she can work with our communities to support students in achieving a more robust grad certificate so that when they leave the K-12 system, they can easily transition to post-secondary,” Hyer said.
Spooner is working up north for the remainder of the school year, set to start in Penticton on Aug. 1 this year.
Hyer said Spooner will likely be engaging with spots like the Penticton Indian Band, the En’Owkin Centre and the Ooknakane Friendship Centre when she first arrives.