Teacher Karen Pheasant is the first aboriginal woman to run for a trustee position on the Edmonton Public School Board. (CBC)
EDMONTON, AB—The public school board election race is just warming up in Edmonton, but already it has become an historic one.
Teacher Karen Pheasant kicked off her campaign on June 3 as the first aboriginal woman to run for the board.
“It’s a time for change,” she said at a Westmount restaurant. “It’s a time for community participation.”
Pheasant is about to embark on her PhD at the University of Alberta.
“I do take a different perspective at education,” she said. “What we need (is) a more holistic-based education.
“I have strong concerns when we lose art programs; when we lose extra-curricular programs.”
Pheasant’s aboriginal heritage gives her a valuable perspective on public education, said activist Lewis Cardinal, one of her supporters.
“There are over 10,000 aboriginal kids in the Edmonton public school system,” he said. “Karen’s an educator—she’s a natural fit to be able to provide that cultural-indigenous perspective—but also how that’s inclusive of everyone else.”
School board elections take place in October.
