Message from the executive director, Glenn Miller

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Glenn Miller

Iam very excited to be appointed to the position of executive director of the Educational Facility Managers Association of British Columbia (EFMA). I have been involved with EFMA B.C. since 1991 and a member of the executive for 10 years. I am pleased to be able to continue my journey in my retirement. The fall edition of Ops Talk magazine has in the past reviewed the successes and challenges of the past year starting from the EFMA conference in the previous June and looks forward to the school year ahead. The 2017 conference, held in Penticton, B.C., by all indicators was very successful. Attendance was excellent by both the EFMA members and exhibitors. We also welcomed 23 new members to the association at the AGM. Over the last five years, 96 new members have joined our group. We were once again pleased to have the Ministry of Education Capital Facilities Branch attend and participate in the conference. They have been an integral partner with our association for many years. The professional development program and lectures throughout the conference were interesting and most relevant for school district operations today; there was something for everyone. Thank you to the conference organizers for your extra efforts in putting together a full conference program.

This past summer was by no means ordinary or routine in facilities across B.C. During the summertime, gymnasiums and portables typically get scrubbed top to bottom and get a coat of urethane on the gym floor or wax on the floors. They then typically sit unoccupied waiting for school to open. But this year some school districts used them as evacuation places or gathering spaces for citizens displaced by wild fires in some areas of B.C. In a number of schools across the province, where computer rooms and other common spaces in schools sit quiet, this year many of these areas were busy being retrofitted and setup to accommodate an increase in student classroom space. For some cities in B.C. that are living through a construction boom, finding skilled tradespersons was challenging, and will likely continue to be challenging into at least the near future.

To really decide whether I believe it was a successful summer for facilities staff here in the Victoria area, I refer to the following witnesses…

On September 5th 2017 at 8:05 a.m. I was having coffee on the front porch of my home. I watched a group of about eight young Grade 2 and 3 students from my neighbourhood bounce past my house and happily wave as they headed for the first day of school. At noon, they were bouncing back past my place when I decided I had to ask the question about their facility (okay, school). They were eager to stop and chat and offer their feedback. It became quite clear very quickly. They didn’t notice the gym had new lines on it and a coat of urethane. They didn’t realize they had new desks in the classroom. They didn’t seem to care whether the hallway floors looked shiny. They didn’t really notice that the hallways had all new lights installed over the summer. And for the next 10 minutes all they enthusiastically talked about is the fact that they finally met their new teacher and told me at length what they are going to be doing for the school year.

Sounds like success to me. n