prairie south forum-matthew jacobs

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. That's a hot mic. Again, just as everyone else said, I'd like to say thanks to the Teachers Association, the Prairie South Teachers Association, for hosting tonight's forum. What a great opportunity to meet everybody here and get a chance for you to get to know me. A little bit about me: I grew up here in Moose Jaw, went to elementary school, went to high school. My wife and I, we live here, we call Moose Jaw home. That wasn't always the case. When we first got married, we lived in Regina, and we loved it. Regina is a great city. I don't like it as much as Moose Jaw now. When we moved back to Moose Jaw, one of the things we loved when we started house shopping was that there wasn't a bad school in the city. Everywhere you went, there were good schools. Good schools equal a lot of things in a community: they equal good business. Good schools ensure our students are prepared to keep our nation competitive and ensure we're going to have a good city as well. But I digress. I'm going to move forward with what I plan to say. Having received the invitation here tonight, I was asked to share my thoughts about the provision of quality public education in the Prairie South. Here it goes: I believe that the Prairie South School Division is an integral part of our community. Quality public education is provided right here, right now, from pre-K right through to grade 12. Of course, there are areas of growth that I recognize. Previously, I've worked as an educational assistant with the Regina Public School Division as well as having worked with children and teens in residential care facilities. I believe that this unique experience I've gained in having worked with developmentally, cognitively, and behaviorally challenged youth has given me an equally unique perspective. I see an ever-growing and changing need for our school system to adapt to the specific needs of those who specialized programming and supports will benefit. I also recognize the importance of early childhood education. There's been a lot of talk about it. Let's clear the air on this topic: the Prairie South School Division already plays a very key role as a facilitator of early childhood education. Everywhere I go, parents say, 'My kid's in pre-K at King George and we love it.' It's good to hear. The Prairie South is already playing a very key role in early childhood education. There are seven pre-K programs currently running in Moose Jaw, as well as an early learning program partnered with the YMCA at Posier Heights. Quality pre-K programming happening right here at home. The role I see for the Prairie South School Division in the future is in providing additional funding to create more capacity for higher enrollment, as well as opening pre-K programming in rural locations. But that's not Moose Jaw. I'll continue. I also believe that the Prairie South School Division needs to take a proactive stance to inform the community at large about the early childhood education that's available. Young parents out there who maybe haven't heard what's available to them, when their kids can get into pre-K, what the benefits are. Through public information nights, mailouts, mass and social media, the internet, and face-to-face communication whenever possible, it is possible to inform those who are unaware of the learning opportunities available for their children. It's obvious we have a great education system here in Saskatchewan. The educators in the Prairie South, as well as board members, have already done a great job. I simply would like to come alongside a team where I can work hard and take part in whatever changes may be required. If elected, I believe that I'll be an advocate for education, seeking to ensure that the educational needs of children are always considered first through working with school division administration, consulting parents, students, teachers, and support staff. I believe that the strength of a board of education is in the diversity of its board members and their willingness to engage their students. I'm getting the bell here. One more minute. Community and engaging students, community and employees in discussion and decision making. I've had a chance to talk to a few people around town since I announced that I'd be running. People have come up to me and said it'd be great to see some innovative thinking on ways to use school facilities. We pour all this money into infrastructure to extensively support the system we have. Maybe we need to find a way to utilize that more intensively. A friend said that to me recently, and I thought, 'Wow, I never thought of that.' What I need to do is listen, and learning to listen has been one of my strong suits. I really do want to be a leader in the learning community, and I think in order to be a leader, I'm also going to have to be a listener. Go check out my Vote Matt Jacobs Facebook page. If you haven't checked it out yet, do so and click like. Someone passed along some really great information to me — questions you might want to ask yourself when considering who could best fill the role of trustee on a board of education. I thought they were great. Here's a couple: Who's going to represent all members of your community while focusing on the needs of all students? My answer is that before ever having read this list, in preparation for letting my name stand for the Prairie South School Division board, I made it my firm stance that I'll consider the community's values when making all decisions, as well as ensure the educational needs of children are always considered first. Another question: Who has demonstrated a commitment to young people? Many of my fellow candidates have shown that. While I may not have the experience that some of the people on the panel do, I have demonstrated a strong commitment to young people having worked as an educational assistant, in a camp setting, as a youth pastor, and in residential care facilities with at-risk youth. I'm going to skip to the last question. Who is willing to listen and learn? As I said, I want to be a leader in the learning community, and I strongly believe that in order to do so, you must be willing to listen and learn. Who recognizes that education must be different than when they were there? I think all of us here today recognize that the world is changing at a rapid rate, and equally, we all recognize the need for education to change. When I was in high school, we couldn't carry a device in our pocket that connected us to the world. Now we all have that. As the world changes and adapts to advancement, so too must our education. I'd really encourage you, if you're going to be voting this October 24th, consider voting for me. If you want to talk to me, I'll be out in the entryway afterwards and I'd be happy to listen.