Ward 9 - Trustee Dana McIntosh

First elected as Trustee: 2004

Years served: 19, including as Board Chair during 2014-2019, 2021-2022, and Vice Chair during 2007-2008 and 2013-2014.

Career:
Trustee McIntosh holds years of experience in office administration, payroll and accounting. Together with her husband, she ran an electrical contracting company for seven years. She spent four years as Administrative Assistant at Aurora Counseling and Assessment. During 1991-2001, she volunteered and was employed at PWPSD schools as an Administrative Assistant, Educational Assistant, and as a contract data entry clerk for the Alberta Test Results Analysis Critique (ATRAC).

Education:
Diploma in Office Administration with major in Accounting from Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC); studied Humanistic Psychology and Personal Development at GPRC; and completed two years of a Life Office Management Fellowship.

Community Involvement:
With over 30 years of working and volunteering at PWPSD, Trustee McIntosh has volunteered in many aspects of education, both locally and provincially.

Vision:
"It is important to recognize that our division is both geographically and demographically diverse, and we must strive to create optimal conditions for all students to learn, grow and thrive. As Trustees, we must keep the needs of all students in mind whenever we consider any matter(s) before us."

"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success." – Henry Ford

Goals – Continue to:

• Support a full review of transportation funding in Alberta, including how Boards have historically spent transportation funding; and use the data to establish a new grid that recognizes the adversities faced by rural boards, especially those providing transportation to remote and geographically challenging areas. Equal does not mean equitable.
  
  
• Advocate for government recognition of the difficulties in providing crucial services to rural schools, such as mental health supports. Factors for consideration are fewer mental health professionals, distance and travel time, and how youth mental health affects absenteeism and is the strongest predictor of academic success or failure.
  
  
• Lobby for improved cooperation between government agencies and adequate funding for rural programs and services.
  
  
• Make student-centered decisions, such as continuing to support PWPSD's Quality Learning Environment and Collaborative Response Model, to do what is best for all PWPSD students.

PWPSD Committees:

• Administration Finance
• Audit (including as Chair in 2021-2022)
• Board Goals Setting (Ad Hoc)
• Business and Industry (including as Chair in 2016-2017, 2021-2022)
• Childcare (Ad Hoc)
• Child Development Facilities
• Clairmont Community School Building Committee (Ad Hoc)
• Communications
• Communications and Promotions
• Communities Against Bullying and Hazing
• Grievance
• Harry Balfour Replacement Facility (Ad Hoc, as Chair in 2021-2022)
• Negotiating (including as Chair in 2016-2017, 2021-2022)
• Policy Review (including as Chair in 2013-2019, 2020-2021)
• Political Action (including as Chair in 2014-2019, 2021-2022)
• Public School Boards' Council (PSBC) Representative
• Regional Film Board
• ​Regional School Sites (Ad Hoc)
• School Facility Partnership (Ad Hoc)
• Spotlight
• Student Matters
• Succession Planning
• Survey
• Teacher Board Liaison (including as Chair in 2016-2018, 2021-2022)
• Transportation
• Transportation Appeal
• Ward Boundary Review Committee (Ad Hoc)
• Whispering Ridge Community School Facility (Ad Hoc)

Other Committees:

• Excellence in Teaching Awards – Final Selection Committee
• ASCA committees, including Teaching and Lifelong Learning (TALL) Committee
• Founded C.A.U.S.E. – Caring and Understanding School Environment (Anti-bullying)
• Crime Prevention – Rural Schools representative
• Public School Boards' Association of Alberta (PSBAA) – Bylaw Review and Marketing Consortia

Awards:

• PSBAA Special Contribution to Public Education
• PSBAA Dick Baker Legacy Award Nominee
• ASBA Long Service, four terms award in 2016-2017
• PSBAA Long Service, 12-year term award in 2016-2017
• 2004 ASCA President's Award for outstanding contributions to public education
• 2004 Rotary Excellence in Education, Service Above Self award (Peace Wapiti Academy)
• 2003 Rotary Excellence in Education, Service Above Self Award (Harry Balfour School)
• Two-time recipient of the Province of Alberta Award for Academic Achievement, graduating from GPRC with the highest grade point average in the division.