Associate superintendent Jody Langlois, the new leader of VSB's learning services teams, is excited to be part of the team making the district a "shining star."
"As an educator, we all want to make a difference in children's lives, and give kids better opportunities in their lives," says Langlois, who rejoined the district in January. "Primarily my role is with learning services, so that will encompass special education, as well as special programs. It's the best area to work in. I feel like I won the lottery."
Langlois, who talks about the benefits of inclusion for all learners, has known since she was 13 that she wanted to be a teacher.
"I was working with horses, and had a chance to work with kids with behaviour disorders," she says. "I fell in love with working with these kids, and I knew what I wanted to do."
Langlois received a degree from the University of Alberta in both special education and elementary education. After teaching in Alberta, she moved with her family to Vancouver. She took a job with West Vancouver school district, and while there she continued her education journey by doing a masters degree at UBC, focusing on autism and behaviour. After completing her masters degree, Langlois also became a sessional lecturer at UBC.
In the West Vancouver school district, she began as an intermediate teacher in elementary, then moved back into special education, eventually working at the district level as a district resource teacher, district behavioural consultant, district principal of special education, then finally director of instruction for West Vancouver.
Langlois came to VSB in January from the Sea to Sky School District, where she had served as associate superintendent. But this was not her first experience with the Vancouver district. About five years ago she was at VSB for a year as director of instruction for learning services.
"I had an absolutely phenomenal experience at VSB the first time," she says. "I am blown away by the optimism and the hope and the positive environment I've seen since I got back to VSB. The excitement and the positivity are palpable."
Langlois says she's seeing many wonderful things happening in the district, both existing structures and process, as well as new ones. "With the whole new management team, there is significant change happening that will continue to facilitate positive change through the whole system. I'm thrilled to be able to help showcase these things, and I'm really honoured to be part of the team that will help continue that positivity.
"I look forward to working with the entire VSB team to make this district a shining star."
Click here to read the full story.
