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Catholic School Division appoints two new superintendents

Jun 18, 2018 | 12:00 PM

The Prince Albert Catholic School Division has promoted two of its employees to senior administration positions.

Charity Dmytruk will leave her role as principal at W.F.A. Turgeon Elementary School to become superintendent of education in a role primarily responsible for student support services. Robert Tessier, the division’s current co-ordinator of school operations, will also become a superintendent of education and will mainly be responsible for human resources and school operations. Both superintendents will start in their new roles August 1.

“We’re really looking forward to continuing with all the good work being done and the results we’re seeing in reading, writing, and math,” Dmytruk told paNOW. “I’m very happy to be part of a system that puts those elements, as well as student engagement and faith, as a priority.”

According to the school division, Dmytruk has 18 years of educational experience which also includes working for First Nations authorities. She was also instrumental in supporting the Beyond The Hurt Red Cross Anti Bullying System Program.

“It’s a wide approach to preventing bullying through empathy and respect,” Dmytruk said. “We’ve put a faith component to it and it speaks to kids in their own language and allows them to understand each other. It has been very well received.”

Robert Tessier will bring 20 years of Catholic education experience and an extensive understanding of the English and French Immersion programs to his new role as superintendent.

“I was a French Immersion teacher in the first half of my career and then took some wonderful opportunities at St. Mary, several elementary schools, and at Lucy Baker School for at-risk youth,” he told paNOW.

Tessier said his philosophy about the wider role of education and his attitude to all his colleagues mirrors the well-known exchange between John F. Kennedy and a janitor at NASA in 1961: when the U.S. President asked the employee what he did, the janitor said, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”

“I always use that in my work. We’re all equally important for the lives of the kids as we help them journey through their education,” Tessier said. “We’re so fortunate to help them through their faith journey as well.”

 

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertNOW