Michelle ("Magpie") is a local author, artist, small business owner, and a parent who calls Lethbridge home. She grew up in Lethbridge and attended schools in District 51 for most of her education, then graduated from the University of Lethbridge. Michelle is so proud of how Lethbridge has changed and grown, and is eager to support the city's future by supporting our kids.
Statement of beliefs
As an intersex queer person, Michelle sees the dangers in Ministerial Orders 27 and 29. She’s also going to fight back against segregation of disabled students, and supports teachers in their strike. She’s here to speak up for queer kids, disabled kids, immigrants and newcomers to Lethbridge, Indigenous kids, and other families experiencing marginalization. The book bans are also an unnecessary intervention, and Michelle is going to fight them.
We also have to look towards the future. That means not falling for the shiny advertising scams of Generative AI, and keeping its use out of curriculums, homework, and off school computers. GEN AI not only hallucinates and offers uncontrollable inaccuracies, it has a horrible environmental impact and has already led to teenage suicides.
Michelle also wants to see community gardens and solar panels on every school roof, and is interested in trying to get more language options available in secondary school, including the addition of Siksiká to the curriculum.
Expanding our schools with renovations and more staff offers a fantastic opportunity to bring jobs and involve community in Southern Alberta. Together, we can protect our kids’ mental health and prepare them for the changing future
Priority areas
Creating a local policy overriding Ministerial Orders 27 and 29
Banning Gen AI use locally in curriculum generation, homework, and on school computers
Fighting for more funding for educational assistants and more teachers, to help disabled students
Views on funding
The use of public money for private schools is outrageous, and school boards need to band together to call for an end to all public funding contributions to private schools. I would also like to see both staff and parental consultations to figure out what schools want and need.
This is an area of learning for me, and I’m trying to take direction from community members rather than imposing my own suppositions.
How learning conditions can be improved
We need smaller class sizes, more educational assistants, and most of all, to listen to staff and even student requests. There’s been a huge focus on parental involvement, but the opt-in forms and euphemistic ceding of control has really harmed learners, who aren’t necessarily getting exposure to the world they’ll have to live in.
I would like to see panels that actually talk to students about what they want, not just parents. It’s possible that some answers may be frivolous, but we should still hear them out. We need to connect with marginalized families, not just the ones with more time and energy to contribute to parent councils.
How trustees and school boards can best support teachers
Let’s ask teachers what they want and need, and address shortfalls in a triage manner, focusing on the biggest problems first. School boards and trustees need to be willing to fight back against the provincial government’s edicts, not just follow whatever is handed down to us.
Views on the new K-6 curriculum
I disagree strongly with the pushing of standardized tests and whitewashed of Albertan history to fit a settler-colonialist narrative. I also dislike reduced emphasis on the arts, which enrich personal development and actually represent valuable skills.
However, I would like to hear teacher perspectives on the curriculum, as my own lack their professional expertise and context.