Treating every person in our schools and in our
offices with dignity and respect should always be at the forefront of everything we do.
— Barb MacKesey
Superintendent of Education
Barb MacKesey has spent virtually her entire life in the Yorkton area Catholic School system.
Now in her 26th year as a staff member and on the verge of becoming Christ the Teacher’s top administrator, MacKesey has no regrets.
“I’m thankful for being in this spot,” she said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to work with our school board and continue to provide Catholic education for our students.”
Learning
MacKesey was born in Yorkton and attended St. Paul’s Elementary School as a child then St. Joseph’s Junior High and finally Sacred Heart High School.
She said it was that experience that guided her into the field of education.
“I’m actually a person who loved school,” she said. “I think high school might have been a really significant experience for me in that the Sisters Servants were at our school and they welcomed us into their building all the time so we spent a lot of time living in the school and being a part of the school leadership and it just seems like that’s something that remained in my heart and spirit and lived on. It was something that I had to do.”
So, it was off to the University of Saskatchewan. Not only was it her first time away from home, but it was her first time in Saskatoon.
“It was a big city for a small city girl,” she said.
She was not intimidated, though.
“I have to say that studying generally was something that was interesting to me so being on campus and meeting some people in the same classes in education, felt okay; it felt normal.”
Teaching
After achieving her Bachelor of Education, it was back to Yorkton, although that was not necessarily the plan.
“I applied various places and was offered this job at St. Alphonsus School right out of university,” she explained. “I had to think about that and I thought I’ll just stay in Yorkton maybe for a year and then leap to a bigger centre, but I really enjoyed it and ended up staying in our school system the whole time.”
She moved up the ranks quickly being appointed vice-principal at St. Mary’s after just three years.
“It was exciting and scary all at the same time and I’m thankful that the administrators at that time accepted me as a rookie, someone new to that area,” she said.
She was also happy not to lose her connection with the kids.
“Our vice-principals are in the classrooms also so it just added a little bit of learning and administrative work. That’s actually a very nice transition into administration.
After five years at St. Mary’s, she made a lateral move to St. Paul’s as vice-principal for five years before returning to St. Mary’s as principal.
Becoming principal was also a fairly easy transition.
“Being in the classrooms is a huge, huge piece of our lives, so being a principal you move out a little bit more, but principals are still in the classrooms also,” she said.
Administration
MacKesey is candid that moving into a fully administrative role, as she did in 2010 when she became assistant director (now changed to superintendent of education), was more of a challenge.
“I would say that’s been quite difficult, especially at the start,” she said. “I still get to be in the schools a lot, but in a bit of a different role than the teachers when you’re in the classroom. You’re there but you really don’t have that relationship with the students.”
Nevertheless, she has found it rewarding in other ways.
Working with the teachers or working with the students, that just seems to be a complete alignment with helping our students,” she explained. “It’s similarly influential, I guess. If we take care of our staff well, we can take care of our students well.”
Transition
MacKesey does not fully take over the reins until August and is grateful that outgoing director Darrell Zaba will be around for the next few months for a smooth transition.
“Darrell has always been very supportive and a great person to be working with and under,” she said. “We haven’t sorted out formally who will do what pieces for the rest of the year, but we’ll work together to make that happen.
“Darrell’s been an amazing director, focused on our students, focused on student achievement, but really brings to life creating capacity in the school division and so I guess for me personally, and for our other administrators, he is always helping us and leading us and working to make sure we have collective capacity as a division. He is the perfect person to be having as a director as you’re coming in as the next director. Having him available will be awesome.”
As director, she said she will be guided by the school board’s new mission statement that reads:
“As a Christ-centered [sic] learning community we… Engage and challenge all learners; Model and form character; Know Christ and make Him known.”
MacKesey is excited about overseeing the implementation of the mission into action.
“This gives us a chance to make sure those foundations are part of our strategic plan,” she said. “For me, if you are running the division we need to have a shared vision and make that come to life, so those pieces will need to be framed in our strategic plan.”
The mission will also guide her personal approach to the position, she said.
“I think my personal stamp actually matches the start of our mission as being a Christ-centred learning community because if you really analyze the words in that statement there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that, so treating every person in our schools and in our offices with dignity and respect should always be at the forefront of everything we do.”
