I have long been passionate about civic engagement and how to take action to find common ground for the common good. I fondly remember conversations with Kerry Longpre and Cheri Macaulay about these very issues. I believe public school systems serve the common good, because student success means community success. We need to come together as a community to talk about our diverse views so we can best define and support our publicly-funded school systems. Not every book on this list reflects my personal point of view, but together they paint a picture of the issues challenging public education. They also show how we can best gather as a community to host thoughtful conversations about student and community success. Let’s start the conversation.
About Nancy Close
Nancy Close is the CBE school board trustee for Wards 11 and 13, a role she also held from 1999 to 2007. She volunteered as a Board Governor and past Chair of Education Matters from 2008-21. Between her current and past terms as a trustee, Close worked for a decade with former Mayor Naheed Nenshi as his community relations coordinator. Close believes this is a critical moment in the history of public education and she is excited and honoured to serve and strengthen an already excellent public school system with a focus on student success. Ensuring every single child in our city goes to an excellent public school is the foundation of our community’s success. She and her husband Rob have three adult children who are all CBE graduates, and a granddaughter who attends her neighbourhood CBE school.