School District #27 (SD27) GROW/Skyline School principal Michael Franklin has been recognized by the Learning Partnership as one of Canada’s Outstanding Principals.
“It is an honour to recognize one of our own in this most prestigious award,” says SD27 chair Tanya Guenther. “On behalf of the Board of Education, congratulations Mr. Franklin.”
SD27 acting superintendent Mark Wintjes says he nominated Franklin for the award, with the support of several others – Guenther, Mountview Elementary School principal Rick Miller, community safety manager Dave Dickson, teacher Heather Auger and former Skyline student Patrick Taylor.
They all agree Mike Franklin has done a “tremendous job” with alternate education, he explains.
Wintjes says he previously worked with Franklin directly for three years at the Skyline School in Williams Lake where he had an up-close view of his leadership skills and how he interacts with students and staff.
The nomination process for this Canada-wide recognition required an incredible amount of criteria for nominators to submit, which gets “quite involved” Wintjes adds.
This includes the nominated principal’s leadership ability to work with staff and students, curriculum instructional practices, assessment practices, cultural changes with the schools, how he has improved student achievement and thinking outside the box –Wintjes explains all of this gave him a “really clear” and accurate picture to point out Franklin’s ability.
Despite being an intensive a process, he says given his experience with Franklin – both under his former leadership and now with the table turned and Wintjes as acting superintendent – it was an “easy application to write.”
Another criterion was the principal’s connections with the community, which in Franklin’s case, was also obvious through his “very active” participation in mountain biking, KidSport and other activities that support children, Wintjes adds.
“He actually has a number of portfolios within his GROW/Skyline responsibilities. He’s dealt with the international students, he’s dealt with the home school students, the adults that [attend] GROW, and the Skyline Alternate.”
Wintjes explains one main driver in nominating Franklin for this award was the benefit these Outstanding Principals are awarded in a five-day executive leadership training program at one of Canada’s top business schools, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
Franklin says it feels “fantastic” to be recognized for his work, and he is very enthusiastic about the five-day executive leadership workshop that comes with the award.
“The nomination process took hours of work on Mark’s part. I was pleasantly surprised with the nomination and what my ‘references’ had to say about my work.”
The most rewarding part of his work is the ability it provides to be creative and entrepreneurial around how education happens and seeing children and adults experience success regularly, he adds.
Franklin is among 40 exceptional educators to be formally recognized at the annual Canada’s Outstanding Principals gala at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel on Feb. 28.
