Last week Western School Division (WSD) was paid a visit from the Deputy Minister of Education Bram Strain. WSD Superintendent Stephen Ross noted this was a great opportunity for the new government to see what was going on within the Division and to connect with WSD.

"He's trying to get into schools, see programming, see what's happening in schools, and get a good handle for what's happening in schools, in Manitoba right now," said Ross. "It was a good opportunity for us to showcase some of our programming and our students to make the Deputy Minister aware of things like our piping trades program that's going to be starting here shortly and some of the project based learning initiatives that the Division is working on as well."

According to Ross it was a successful tour and felt Strain enjoyed his time at WSD. Ross continued to mention the Deputy Minister had some great questions and was able to interact with other Division staff and students, which was appreciated by everyone.

"I think one of the really important things for schools, for staff and students, is to see people that are overseeing education in this province and to be able to showcase what they do," said Ross. "The Deputy Minister was able to interact with quite a few students and they enjoyed that. It certainly sends a strong message to our staff when the Deputy Minister is in classrooms, observing teaching, and watching kids in classrooms. It shows that they are supportive of what we are trying to do here. I think that's a really important message for our community that in their (MLA's) busy schedules take the time to come out to Morden and to be in our schools."

This hasn't been the only stop for the Deputy Minister as he's trying to get into many different schools in a variety of divisions across the province. This is allowing the new government and opportunity to make connections with the divisions in Manitoba and find out how they can make Education better in the Province.