SD8 Recognized for Community Engagement Efforts

(Image provided by SD8: [left to right] CACE-ACACE President Galen Eagle; SD8 Public Engagement Manager Frances Maika; and Manager, Business Development for SchoolBundle (awards sponsor), Jacques Major.)

School District 8-Kootenay Lake has received national recognition for their 2024-2029 Strategic Plan engagement.

Superintendent and CEO Trish says the Award of Distinction 2023 BRAVO! Award is one of the highest recognitions of its kind in Canada:

“So School Districts across the country will submit and have their work reviewed against all other School Districts in the country and we were very fortunate to be recognized for our work.”

Smillie says there's a good reason:

“The bravo award comes from the Canadian Association of Communicators and Education. So it’s nation-wide and what they do is they provide awards for communicating and engaging with communities. So our award recognized our work in the development of the strategic plan and the community engagement….”

“…. Public engagement is a focus for School District 8. We support a number of communities, each of our communities has its own culture and its own priorities and we want to be able to hear them all in order to serve everyone the best we can.”

Engagement participants submitted 1882 ideas for the strategic plan, helping develop priorities like having a caring and inclusive learning culture, and allowing for career development.

SD8 engaged with close to 100 people online and hundreds in person across the region between January and April.

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