stephen hansen, executive director, bcsta

STEPHEN HANSEN BCSTA Executive Director

2007-2014

STEPHEN HANSEN, BCSTA Executive Director, 2007-2014


Date Signature

Thank You!

Valerie Adrian November 5, 2014

Valerie Adrian appreciates

Stephen Hansen

for his humour, leadership & dedication to public education & BCSTA

Happy Retirement Stephen!


Stephen,

When you were first hired into the position of CEO you said you had big shoes to fill and I commented that your journey would be about filling your own shoes with the potential we had in your ability. A permanent mark you will leave on the organization is the understanding that our work is never finished, never over, in our co-governance journey in public education. I was reminded of that this week as I represented our organization at two partners meetings - the Accountability Framework and Restraint and Seclusion – opposite sides of the same coin. Our pledge is and always will be to the future generations of this province to never be betrayed into saying we have finished our work in education, that there is no more to do; because that would mean we had stopped caring about the future course of civil society and stopped growing as an organization. Enjoy your retirement.

Gordon Swan


Stephen,

Thank you for your commitment to public education as an educator and Executive Director of BCSTA. I've appreciated your leadership, kindness, and sense of humour. I feel fortunate to have worked with you during my first term as school trustee and member of the BCSTA Board of Directors. Best wishes on your future endeavours and happy retirement.

Best regards,

Christine Younghusband SD46 Board of Education

Stephen,

Thank you for all your hard work and passion in helping to

make our organization the best it can be!

All the best in your new adventures!

Donna Sargent

Stephen,

Thank you for your commitment to public education as an educator and Executive Director of BCSTA. I've appreciated your leadership, kindness, and sense of humour. I feel fortunate to have worked with you during my first term as school trustee and member of the BCSTA Board of Directors. Best wishes on your future endeavours and happy retirement.

Best regards,

Christine Younghusband SD46 Board of Education

Stephen,

Thank you for all your hard work and passion in helping to

make our organization the best it can be!

All the best in your new adventures!

Donna Sargent


Stephen, On behalf of SD6 Rocky Mountain, I'd like to express our appreciation for the equal consideration that you ensured was provided to all the members of our Association. Stephen, even though we are a smaller district - situated on the other side of the province - we have always been very well served by you and your staff. You carried out your duties and responsibilities with exemplary diligence and humility. Well done! Good luck in your retirement. All the best to you and yours. Cheers! Jim Jenkinson Chairperson, Board of Education School District 6 (Rocky Mountain)"


Stephen,

On behalf of the School District 70 Alberni Board of Education, I would like to thank you for the assistance and advice you have provided to our board on many occasions over the years.

On a more personal note… it has been my pleasure to work with you and the BCSTA Board of Directors and BCSTA staff through the challenges faced and the success achieved throughout your term as Executive Director.

From a board chair perspective your guidance on the significant issues that have faced trustees and boards has been very much appreciated.

With a sense of humour and a genuine smile you have delivered service to boards of education above and beyond the call of duty.

I wish you a truly enjoyable and much deserved retirement!

Larry Ransom Trustee and Chairman School District 70 Alberni


Dear Stephen,

Congratulations on your retirement!

As a retiree, you will have the opportunity to engage in whatever activities are important to you or those merely of interest. You will make all your own deadlines. As a retiree, I know that not having to follow deadlines made by others is one of the pleasures of retirement.

Many of my retired friends are as busy as they were when they were “working”. The wages are insignificant, but the mind and body stay sharp as they contribute wisdom and experience to activities and organizations. I am sure you will fall into that mode as well.

I have appreciated the steady and patient way of your leadership with both the BCSTA staff and the trustees with whom you have worked. Trustees are looking for your replacement with the skills you have brought to the position.

Wishing you years of health and happiness.

Art Erasmus Chair Coast Mountains SD 82


Dear Stephen,

In acknowledgement of your retirement from BCSTA I want to thank you very much for your hard work and dedication to our organization.

You have always been extremely helpful, timely in your responses to requests for clarification or assistance and thoroughly professional in your dealings with Trustees and staff. Your open and friendly demeanor always welcomed any questions no matter what they were. Working with you on the BCSTA Interim Advocacy Structure for Bargaining was a pleasure and somehow you managed to sort out complex issues and helped keep the Task Force group focused and on top of the issues. Somehow we managed to get through a tight time frame and get the work done!

You will surely be missed but I also want to wish you all the very best in your future endeavours, whatever they may be! Congratulations Stephen and thanks again.

Sincerely, Peg Orcherton Board Chair SD61 (Greater Victoria)


Dear Stephen,

On behalf of the Board of Education in School District #84 we would like to bid you a fond farewell.

Your many years of service to the BCSTA have been both valuable and essential. We would personally like to thank you for all your contributions over the years, your dedication to B.C. Education as well as to the important role of School Trustees.

Your expertise in policy and leadership has helped shape the BCSTA over the years and many have benefited from your wisdom.

We wish you every success in the future and we are excited for the opportunities and challenges that await you.

Good luck and best wishes Stephen!

Sincerely, Board of Trustees School District #84 Carol Donaldson Sheila Bugar Fern Eascott Jennifer Hansen Susan Johnson


Dear Stephen,

Thanks for your years of sage leadership especially the last few years

during some trying times.

All of the best on your retirement and happy and safe travels.

Cheers and with appreciation,

Cindy Dekker


Stephen Hansen has been a wonderful Executive Director of an amazing group of people. What a team to lead the BCSTA!

Congratulations and may you enjoy a retirement that opens a new door in your life.

Kindest regards, Sorene Kampen Trustee, SD 59


12 December 2014

Memorandum To: Dr. Stephen Hansen Executive Director British Columbia School Trustees Association From: Dr. Lee Southern Colleague & Friend Subject: A Note of Appreciation Well, Stephen, as you well know my limited technology skills, and in the absence of Tessa,

Evelyn and Maggie who would always “pretty up” my drafts, you will have to accept this rather plain format as my submission for your remembrance collection on the occasion of your retiring from BCSTA.

Simply stated, you have made BCSTA into a better organization beginning with your first

appointment in the Education portfolio. Karen Hawkins’ programming was unsurpassed amongst our provincial associations and

you ensured that your professional direction and oversight enabled BCSTA to retain that leadership up to today.

As associate executive director, you brought an organizational efficiency and leading edge

technology into the shop that enabled all our administrative tasks to be conducted with greater efficacy and economy.

As you became more familiar with the advocacy work and the nature of the politics of

education, your native clear thinking was invaluable to me and I consider our collaboration a perfect match of personality, professional respect and friendship.

Not to mention you made me look good! Most importantly, however, you are a true friend of school trusteeship and a believer in the

profound democratic importance of locally elected boards of education as a foundation stone of our Canadian democracy. You gave your board of directors sound advice. You served your presidents faithfully and competently. You cared for BCSTA.

For all that, I thank you and toast your gold medal service to BCSTA and for being a true

colleague and friend.


Dear Stephen, Congratulations on your retirement! I know you and Carole have been looking forward to this moment for a long time and I hope it will be everything you had planned for it to be! I still remember the day I came to BCSTA for my interview. During my meeting with you and Lee, I shared that it was very important to me that I can get along with my boss – after all we spend most of our day at work! I can’t believe I was so blessed to have found not one, but TWO bosses who are such great leaders, teachers, and mentors to me at BCSTA. Thank you for all the opportunities you gave me while I had the privilege of working for you. While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my new role as a mom, I have dearly missed our interactions at work. As you begin your new chapter in life, I wish you the very best at whatever you set your heart on…may it include plenty of time to relax and just be unplugged from all the busyness of life! Enjoy!

Love, Maggie, Joseph, Joshua &

Brandon


150 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2A7 • Tel (604) 684-6023 • Fax (604) 684-3163 • [email protected] • www.fisabc.ca

Federation of Independent School Associations British Columbia

Freedom Involves Secure Alternatives

November 21, 2014 Dr. Stephen Hansen 1580 West Broadway Vancouver, BC V6J 5K9 Dear Stephen, I’m not sure why I am writing this letter to a gentleman who is far too young to retire! However, be that as it may, I do want to extend my appreciation for your contribution to education in British Columbia during your tenure as executive director of the BC School Trustees Association. You always have been a strong advocate of public education and yet were able to see the benefits that alternative forms of education offer to students in BC. I thank you for your support of parental choice in public and independent school education. I also valued your regular invitations to the BCSTA conventions where I was able to network with colleagues in the public sector. You consistently demonstrated your inclusive perspective of supporting the education partners in this province so that students could be the ultimate beneficiaries of the highest quality of education. I speak on behalf of independent schools in thanking you for your contribution to education in British Columbia. You have left an example for all of us on using our ability to make a positive difference in the field of education. We wish you a relaxing and rewarding retirement, whatever that will look like. Warmest regards,

Peter Froese, Executive Director


November 11, 2014 Stephen Hansen, Executive Director BCSTA 4th Floor, 1580 West Broadway Vancouver, BC V6J 5K9 Dear Stephen, In the short time I have had the opportunity to work with you and get to know you on a personal level I have come to appreciate your insight and wit. You have ensured that we question and ground ourselves in strategic thinking as we work for the students and trustees in this vast country. As you transition to your next journey I hope it gives you opportunity to reflect on the legacy that you have left in your province and across the country – you have been passionate about the role of trustees, the importance of education and the understanding of investing in our greatest resource – our children. In closing, I would like to personally thank you and recognize you for your wise counsel, mentorship dedication to public service and wish you and yours health and happiness as you pursue a more personal agenda in your coming years. Kinanaskomtin (With Great Respect)

Darren McKee Executive Director


OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR Chair: Milton Peach, B.A., B. A. (Ed) C.E.O./Director of Education: Darrin Pike, B. Sc., B.Ed., M.Ed.

November 14, 2014

Mr. Stephen Hansen BC School Trustees Association 4th Floor- 1580 West Broadway Vancouver, BC V6J 5K9

Hi Stephen,

As you retire from the British Columbia School Trustees Association as Executive Director, may you enjoy good health and a well-deserved rest from our changing world of education.

It was a pleasure to have worked with you at the CSBA level and to experience the commitment you made to improve the education system as we enter the 21st Century of Learning.

Enjoy every day and as we say in Newfoundland as we screech in CFA’s (come from away), “long may your big jib draw.”

Sincerely,

Milton Peach PAST PRESIDENT, NLSBA

stephen hansen, executive director, bcsta

Documents

executive director of

donna sargent stephen

gordon swan stephen

bcsta board of directors

best regards

best wishes

future endeavours

hard work