Nominations for BCSTA officers now open
 In accordance with BCSTA Bylaws 2-5 and 16, nominations for the election of BCSTA officers for the 2008/2009 term of office are now open:
- President one to be elected
- Vice President one to be elected
- Directors four to be elected*
President Penny Tees will not be standing for re-election and will automatically take the position of past president for one year. Therefore, there will only be four director positions open for election in the 2008-09 term of office.
The deadline for receiving nominations to be included in delegate information is Monday, March 3, 2008. Please send them to BCSTA Executive Director Stephen Hansen. Additional nominations will be called for on Thursday evening, April 3 at the AGM. Nominations will then be closed. Elections will be held on Saturday, April 5.
Please note that the nomination form requires three signatures: those of the two nominators (trustees), and that of the nominee. Nominators may be from the same board or from different boards.
In addition to the nomination form, candidates are asked to submit a candidate statement (one page maximum) and a photograph. Candidate statements and photographs will be distributed to all members two weeks before the AGM. Due date: March 7, 2008.
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February’s Provincial Council opens with discussion of important issue
BCSTA’s February 2008 Provincial Council Meeting is being held at the Wosk Centre February 15 to 16. The meeting will open Friday night with an education session that will deal with an increasingly important issue: The Recruitment & Retention of Teachers and School Leaders – Challenges and Opportunities.
A three-person panel of experts will begin the session with short presentations on the current and future recruitment and retention situation in BC. The presentations will be followed by table group discussions concerning what boards of education can do to generate creative responses to the challenges of finding and keeping good teachers and school leaders.
Details concerning the entire Provincial Council program will be published soon.
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BCSTA partners with Literacy BC
 BCSTA welcomes Literacy BC, the provincial literacy organization that promotes and supports literacy and learning in British Columbia, as a partner in working toward boards of educations’ expanded mandate for literacy. Recently BCSTA Executive Director Stephen Hansen and Senior Education Director Rob Goodall met with Literacy BC representatives about supporting and strengthening literacy in our province.
Literacy BC, whose executive director is Cynthia Whitaker, consists of a diverse network of individuals and groups involved and interested in literacy in British Columbia. Its mission is: At Literacy BC we believe that literacy is a human right; that literacy is everyone's business and that we all have a part to play. Literacy BC:
- promotes literacy and learning
- supports adult learners and families
- provides training and professional development for the literacy field
- offers information, consultation, and resources about literacy
- develops partnerships
- presents a united voice on literacy issues
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March 2008 declared Education Month
 The new BC Deputy Minister of Education, James Gorman, has announced that, in honour of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Crown Colony of British Columbia, March 2008 has been declared Education Month.
During Education Month, the Ministry of Education will hold several high-profile events, including a ceremony for the Premier’s Awards for Teaching Excellence and Interactive Innovations, a provincial webcasting conference for the education community.
To celebrate Education Month, the ministry is creating a Student e-Gallery Online which will appear as part of the Celebration of Learning Online Calendar. The e-Gallery will provide students with the opportunity to share their art with an unlimited audience.
In order to ensure that only K–12 student art is submitted, students are being asked to upload a digital photograph of their art on a user-ID and password-protected extranet site. Principals and vice-principals will distribute the passwords and user IDs to teachers as appropriate.
The deadline for submitting art to the e-Gallery is noon on February 15, 2008.
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PowerPoint presentations now online
 Have you explored the trustee resources area at our BCSTA website? It contains special materials, useful links, forms and rates and now it also houses our BCSTA PowerPoint presentations.
Let us know if you have any suggestions for links or materials that could be added to this area.
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