The following is the my opening address from our gala event on March 20, 2023. Kind Regards, Ian Fero, Principal, Lakeshore School:
Dear honoured guests, Lakeshore staff, and most importantly, students. Welcome to Lakeshore and thank you for joining us today.
Our school is built in the community of Auburn Bay, but it is important to once again acknowledge that we gather and reside on traditional Blackfoot land. I want to thank Elder Faye Heavyshield for starting things off for our school “in a good way". We are fortunate to be connected with both Elder Faye and Hali Heavyshield and and appreciate them both very much. Today, our special day falls on the spring equinox – where we celebrate renewal and new beginnings. We are committed to Truth and Reconciliation and specifically Call to Action #63 - building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
For the communities of Auburn Bay and Mahogany, the journey of Lakeshore started many years ago. The growing population had a need for schools, so it is amazing to see Lakeshore, Bayside and Mahogany schools joining Auburn Bay School and Joane Cardinal Schubert High School to create a Calgary Board of Education K-12 continuum serving deep southeast Calgary. Along the way, our students have been supported by several other amazing CBE schools, and we are thankful for their work in setting a great foundation for our school.
We are also deeply appreciative of efforts of Alberta Infrastructure and Alberta Education, and are happy to welcome Honourable Matt Jones, your local MLA, who is representing the provincial commitment to education. We are happy to have City Councillor Evan Spencer with us, and we know that our local government has been part of this journey too.
When people enter the main doors of Lakeshore they are almost always immediately awestruck. The intentional design of Oystryk and Team architecture under the lead of Monica Oystryk has provided us with a beautiful space for our students to learn and grow in. We are fortunate to be surrounded by the beauty of natural light and warm, open spaces.
For us, the journey of Lakeshore started just over a year ago. In those lead-up months, it was Mr. deBoer, Ms. Fife and myself working in a classroom out of Sibylla Kiddle School (thanks to Brad Emery and staff for hosting us before we moved into Lakeshore) along with our friends from Mahogany School.
Before staffing, we started with our initial vision work. From the beginning we wanted to create something unique. The common theme of all the research I read on middle years education was clear - that schools need to be built on the foundation of relationships. Adults at the school need to be connected with students around learning, but also invested in them as people. The daily structures of our school support our commitment to relationships, where students stay with dedicated teachers over longer blocks of time, and where the school is built around this value and not a bell schedule.
It was important that all of our students got to experience the full range of possibilities and were not limited because we were in our first year of operation. We went all-in from the start. While our main focus will always be on academic excellence, we want our artists, actors, athletes, musicians, technology leaders, and tradespeople to have a home too. We knew it was important to offer a full range of complementary courses so students could have voice and choice into areas of passion. Our athletics team also managed to get a full complement of teams in action even when we did not have our own fields and gym spaces. Our grade 9s have the chance to visit Ottawa, and our band program is fully operational and ready to visit Edmonton later this year.
Throughout the process, I have been telling everyone who would listen how lucky we have been to be supported by the incredible personnel of the Calgary Board of Education. Trustee May, Trustee Downey, Chief Superintendent Usih, Superintendents Pitman and Bretton, all thankfully in attendance with us today, I extend my sincere thanks to you for assembling such great people whose sole purpose is getting schools in the best place to help teachers teach and students learn.
To David and Arthur, thanks for getting things done and stuff into the building, and always answering the many phone calls we made. Our Tech, HR, and Planning and Transportation teams have been simply incredible.
Next, I need to acknowledge this incredible staff of Lakeshore School. There are a lot of us – 62 kind and talented people showing up to our school each day giving it their all. I am not sure if you really knew what you were signing on for when you took the chance to come and start to build something great from scratch, but your strength and resilience came to the fore almost immediately when we got the news that our new school would be delayed and that we would be starting the year at three different schools. By the way, thanks to our friends at Riverbend, Sherwood and Nickle Schools for hosting us in our initial days and getting us off to a good start. Staff, you build connections, you focus on empathy and find ways to celebrate each student for their gifts and talents. You are part of the lighthouse which guides, and you are what makes the building work. Your fingerprints are all over everything we do, including all the elements of this School Opening event. I am so proud to be part of this team.
While our capacity does not permit to have all of our parents with us today, we are fortunate to be joined by members of our School Council and Fundraising Association. This kind group of parents stepped forward almost immediately and have established themselves as an action-oriented team, willing to work with the school to support students. We know you are proudly representing all Lakeshore families today.
Students, you are the reason we are all here today. You came to us with a strong foundation of skills fostered at many CBE schools. You have brought your unique personalities and interests and have filled this building with life. You make us laugh and generally, I think we have a lot fun together in pursuit of learning and helping each other be better people. We hope you already feel proud of your school and proud to be a Lakeshore Bear.
Finally, new opportunities never happen without the support of family and the lessons we learn along the way, so thanks to my wife and two children who are with us today. I am also so happy to be joined by my mom, who came from my hometown of Thunder Bay to be part of our official opening.
It's hard to believe that we are still in our first year of operation at Lakeshore as we have already done so much and come so far. It makes me very excited to think about future possibilities.
Thanks again everyone, and I will now turn things back to our incredible MCs.
