Hello Pickering voters,
My name is Stephen Linton, and I am honoured to be running for Durham School Board Trustee Pickering.
I live with my wife and two children in Pickering. My son is enrolled in Durham Catholic District School Board and my daughter just graduated from Pine Ridge Secondary School.
I have dedicated 15 years of my career to Community Development, including working for the Toronto District School Board, The City of Toronto (Social Development, Shelter Support and Employment & Social Services) and Metrolinx as a Senior Manager of Community Engagement.
Pickering is rapidly growing with new residents, new transit options and new housing developments. This has also brought about new challenges as we see the impact of the gap between dated policies, procedures and practices and our new and evolving community. Where we are thankful for the energy and effort of the trustees before us, I believe Pickering needs new faces and new methods to:
– understand the new challenges
– find innovative and effective solutions
– provide the resources which will assist our teachers and support staff to increase graduation rates and grades across all schools
– provide safer learning spaces and with renewed pedagogy to reflect who we are as a growing and diverse city today
– provide the mental health supports that our students need to navigate visible and invisible challenges they face
Over the last few years, I have leveraged the skills gained over the course of my career to advocating for change in Pickering in roles :
– chair of DurhamONE ( a non-for-profit community organization whose goal is to amplify the voices of Durham residents
– Chair of the Pickering Library anti-Black racism working group
– Durham Youth Violence prevention sub-committee
I am looking forward to hearing from the Pickering community and working with you to create strategies to strengthen our schools, support our teachers and administrators and find ways to work collectively across our City and school boards to create the learning environment our children deserve.
I encourage all residents to make sure they are on the voters’ list by visiting voterlookup.ca. This is an important first step to ensure voice your is heard between October 17th and 24th
Sincerely,
Stephen Linton
