Barbara Bednarski is Running for School District 33 Trustee
Retired elementary school teacher Barbara Bednarski brings to her campaign substantial experience both inside and outside the public school system. Having taught in the public school system in the Franco-Ontarian belt of Northern Ontario, in the twentieth century, she brings a specific, practical and detailed knowledge of how schools run when focused on academic achievement and excellence. Furthermore, her experience teaching in communities with large indigenous populations and significant linguistic diversity situates her well in understanding the learning needs of students in our region.
After settling in the Fraser Valley, Barbara continued her volunteer work with adults and youth struggling with substance use, expanding on the over twenty years of service she had already dedicated to Overcomers of Sudbury—an organization that supports both former convicts and those recovering from addiction.
Barbara has also worked as the director of a shelter for homeless adolescent boys, situating her well to understand and meet the needs not only of ordinary students but the most marginalized and at-risk youth.
Finally, her work as a legal secretary and bookkeeper in Ontario also equips her with the kind of hands-on experience with legal and budgetary issues sorely needed in a school board that is facing real financial shortfalls as the provincial government engages in belt-tightening and the proportion of British Columbians willing to entrust their children’s education to public schools continues its long-term decline.
Barbara finished her working life here in the Fraser Valley as the manager and bookkeeper for Goat’s Pride Dairy in Abbotsford and has since settled in Chilliwack.
Barbara brings a multi-decade record of service in education, management, and the caring professions. In her experience as a caregiver, educator, and manager, she has seen first hand which policies succeed and which fail. She offers not just experience, but the practical judgment needed to navigate today’s complex challenges.
