Randi Baldwin has announced her candidacy for school trustee in School District 71 Comox Valley.
Randi and her husband have lived in the Valley for more than 35 years and just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Together they raised their daughter, who teaches in Williams Lake. Having a granddaughter who enters Grade 1 in September, Baldwin committed to seeing her and other children succeed in their education.
She feels that her combined life experiences and education have equipped her to work together with a team on the school board. Baldwin graduated from a two-year psychiatric nursing program in the Lower Mainland, and also worked as an educational assistant in the Bella Coola School District, going on to become the harbour manager for three years in the same area. Moving to the Comox Valley in the 1980s she trained as a library technician through the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and was subsequently hired by SD71 working in various school libraries for 16 years.
She decided to retire a few years ago to have more time to focus on other endeavours such as running for school trustee four years ago.
Randi and her husband are very pleased with the work they did with some 30 ESL students from abroad over a seven-year period, hosting them in their home, helping them hone their language skills, and supporting them as they adjusted to new social and cultural experiences.
Wanting to increase her public speaking confidence, Baldwin attended Comox Valley Toastmasters for two years where she acquired invaluable leadership, communication and team-building skills.
Concerns she would like to address as a trustee are the following:
• school boundaries
• environmental sustainability
• mental health issues
• Indigenous learning
• improving communication and transparency between board members, students, families, district staff and the general public.
Baldwin believes all members of the public have a responsibility to support our students because they are our future. She wants to be part of a team that works well to accomplish that goal.
She believes in a safe, supportive and caring school environment for all.
She is a lifelong learner who believes in being flexible and adaptable to whatever needs doing.
Randi can be reached at baldy2@shaw.ca