Sandra Woitas
Sandra Woitas As part of the City of Edmonton’s 100th birthday celebrations, Sandra was honored as one of the 100 Edmontonians of the Century. As a long time educator and tireless advocate for the needs of Edmonton’s most disadvantaged children and families, she continues to spread the word that poverty cannot be an excuse and by only working together, we, as an entire community, can raise the bar for all children and youth. Sandra believes we can no longer make excuses for not meeting the needs of our marginalized children and youth and can only be part of the solution.
As a former Director of the City Centre Education Project with Edmonton Public Schools, she worked collaboratively with seven inner city schools to make sure the students had the resources and supports they needed to realize their full potential, academically and in life. The City Centre Education Project was recognized by Today’s Parent magazine as one of the Top Forty Schools in Canada and by the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development for its collaborative practices. The project also received the Alberta Premier’s Award for Excellence.
From November 2004 to August 2009, Sandra was on secondment to Alberta Education/Children and Youth Services as part of the cross ministry Family Violence and Anti-Bullying Initiative. She travelled the province working with parents, communities and schools providing them with the skills, resources, and supports required to reduce the frequency and severity of bullying behaviours. She spoke to thousands of educators, parents, youth and community members on the issue of bullying. In collaboration with the Alberta Mental Health Board, Sandra was the co-lead on assisting 18 school jurisdictions in piloting site-based, integrated mental health services for children and youth.
In September 2009, she returned to Edmonton Public Schools as the Executive Director of the Edmonton Public Schools Foundation. The role of the Foundation was to raise the profile of Edmonton Public Schools in the community, advocate for public education, build strong partnerships with all stakeholders, and raise funds and/or in-kind resources to enrich and enhance the teaching and learning going on in our early learning and full-day Kindergarten classrooms in socially vulnerable communities.