Incumbents Don MacDonald, Guido Oliveira and Leslie Tucker all retained their seats as members of the board of trustees for the School District of Mystery Lake Oct. 24.
“I’m glad that the three of us got in, so there’s some continuity,” said Oliveira, who captured 13.71 per cent of the vote and is entering his fourth term as a member of the board. “There’s some stuff that we’ve been doing for the last few years and I look forward to keep going.”
Tucker and MacDonald slightly trailed behind Oliveira’s first place finish with 13.02 per cent and 11.25 per cent of the vote, respectively.
However, these school board veterans will be joined by newcomers Michelle Tomashewski (9.76 per cent), Lindsay Anderson (9.55 per cent), Samantha Chartrand (7.74 per cent) and Saima Aziz (7.53) for the next four years.
These four women come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, ranging from community outreach to child-care to teaching at the post-secondary level.
Regardless of what brought them here, MacDonald warned these newbies not to overextend themselves at the beginning of their term.
“Don’t volunteer for five committees on your first day,” said MacDonald, who is entering his second term on the board. “There’s going to be a significant learning curve.”
Now that the 2018−2022 school board is going to meet for the first time Nov. 6, this trio of veterans said they’re eager to get to know their new members and tackle the challenges that will be popping up throughout the next four years.
“To me, the important thing is learning the role of the board,” said Tucker, who is heading into her third straight term as a trustee. “The role of a board member has nothing to do with what you think it is. It’s like something completely different.”
For more election coverage from the Thompson Citizen, please visit www.thompsoncitizen.net/municipal-election-2018.
