First, thanks to Keith Halliday for pointing out the achievements of the Teen Parent Centre.
Mr. Halliday missed to mention that this initiative, along with many others, were the creation of the Department of Education under the enlightened leadership of Minister Piers McDonald and the NDP government of the day. It was the minister and his cabinet colleagues who had the vision and the clear policies to set up the Teen Parent Centre, to break the cycle of dependency.
Under the NDP, the department was also responsible for the Yukon Native Teacher Education Program, the teacher education programs for non-aboriginal students, the bachelor of social work program, the masters of public administration program, the conservation officer diploma progam, the ACES program and the First Nation management certification diploma program. They were all designed and implemented with the cooperation of the partners in education: professional educators (none had a phony PhD!) parents and First Nations.
All of these initiatives would not have been implemented without the input and dedication of people who cared to spend the long days and hours toiling on making a success of every initiative.
Professional teachers like May Gudmundson, who was the first teacher/manager of the Teen Parent Centre and the volunteers on the board of directors deserve a big thank you from us all.
Shakir Alwarid
Yukon deputy minister of
education, ‘89-‘92