Message from the EFMA B.C. president, Doug Gorcak

EFMA B.C. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Doug Gorcak

A new school year is upon us and for the first time in what seems like an eternity, we have no job action to contend with. We only have normal start-up issues; completing construction projects, cleaning schools, setting up classrooms, and grooming our grounds. As professionals, over the last few years we have been forced to adapt to the ever-changing labour relation challenges that the system has thrown at us, but now we have an opportunity to focus on our own personal and professional growth.

This year’s conference theme will be “Building Capacity for a Sustainable Future”. Our conference will focus not only on the sustainability of the buildings that we work in/on, but also on building our personal capacity to help us deal with our ever-changing environment in which we work. We will continue to provide timely professional development courses at the conference to help our professional growth. We have an agreement in place with the B.C. Public School Employers Association (BCPSEA) to offer several manager-focused courses, starting with “Navigating your way to constructive labour relations” as one of our pre-conference Pro-D activities. Look for more information as get closer to our 52nd annual conference, held May 30 to June 3, 2016.

This year we will also continue on with our leadership series hosted by Bob Johnston. Last year we had 29 different members attend the leadership series and we will be offering it again to support our professional growth plans. The executive will also be meeting with the zone chairs this year to see what other educational opportunities we can offer to the membership through the zone meetings. In addition, we will also be reaching out to the zone chairs to give them a glimpse of the inner workings of the executive and build a cohesive team.

I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to take an active role in our zone meetings and annual conference, with so many new members it is extremely important that we share our years of experience with these newer ones. One of the hallmarks of this organization is our willingness to help those around us; through mentorship or a general sharing of knowledge, we can all build capacity for a sustainable future.

As a final note, I would like to thank the executive for their support this year. I look forward to my year as president and hope I can live up to the legacy of those before me.

Cheers!

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