President's Welcome
Dear Kappans,
Welcome to the 2009-2010 season of the UBC PDK Chapter! This is an especially significant year for our Chapter as we celebrate our 50th anniversary.
This year's UBC Chapter Executive has been hard at work planning activities and programs to enhance, augment and support the promotion of quality education. We look forward to providing you with opportunities to connect with educators from all over the Lower Mainland, to be inspired and informed about hot topics in education by experts in their field and to celebrate the contributions of our members over the past 50 years.
I am honoured to be serving as this year's UBC PDK Chapter President. My involvement with PDK began with an invitation from a member to attend a dinner meeting. The evening offered not only a fabulous guest speaker and a delicious meal but the opportunity to meet dedicated educators from various different educational institutions. From my first visit as a guest to becoming a PDK member to now serving as your Chapter President, I continue to enjoy the learning and professional networking that PDK affords.
Our first dinner meeting of the 2009-2010 season, Youth Gangs and School Responses to Them, was such a hot topic that, following the guest speaker's power point presentation, the Question and Answer period lasted over 45 minutes! Ian Upton, Sergeant in charge of the Vancouver Police Youth Services Section, shared his knowledge of Lower Mainland Youth Gangs. From the current situation in Metro Vancouver to emerging trends and how schools can assist in preventing students from joining gangs, Ian informed and educated us all.
Your feedback and suggestions for future events are always welcome. Please feel free to contact me at erainer@vsb.bc.ca with your comments. On behalf of the entire Executive, we look forward to seeing you at our next dinner meeting.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Rainer
UBC Chapter President