After nearly a decade in the role, Brad Volkman, outgoing superintendent of schools for Wild Rose School Division (WRSD) took time to speak with Big West Country News about his successes and failures over the past 10 years, what challenges await his successor, and what he plans to do next.
When it comes to the key to successes within the division, Volkman immediately pointed to the team effort atmosphere at WRSD.
“I’m just really proud of all the wonderful staff in our schools and in our division office that are so committed to providing these powerful learning environments,” says Volkman. “We just have so many dedicated, skilled and talented people that give up so much of their time.”
Volkman mentions staff who give up time to coach, facilitate extracurricular clubs and supervise field trips among other commitments.
Under his watch, Volkman oversaw the completion of four new school buildings, two in Drayton Valley, as well as another in both Leslieville and Condor.
He says the schools have a massive value-added factor thanks to the contributions and sacrifices of local partners.
“Clearwater County was just an amazing partner in supporting us, you know, helping us enhance the project beyond what the government [would have built us] and they did that through adding funds to it,” says Volkman. “In the community there were parents, a fundraising group that added funds to that so that we could have a bigger gym, a bigger shop, or in the case of Charlotte Small School, a bigger kitchen area.”
Charlotte Small Elementary School in Condor, AB was one of four new school buildings opened during superintendent Brad Volkman’s tenure. (Jordan Rein/94.5 Rewind Radio)
While there were many successes, Volkman also reflected on isolated decisions or actions where, in retrospect, he would’ve handled differently.
“I couldn’t share specifics, but there’s times when I had to deal with maybe a specific issue or concern, either from parents or staff or the community,” says Volkman. “After you go through it, you make decisions and you kind of find your way through, then when you reflect on it, you think, ooh, I could have done that a little differently.”
Like any other role, you learn from it and try to do better next time, he adds.
Volkman, who will serve in the role until Jul. 31, 2025, says there certainly will be some unique challenges facing his successor.
“The division itself will likely face an increase in the complexity of student needs,” says Volkman. “And when I think of complexity, it may be physical complexities or it could be cognitive complexities or just emotional complexities and trauma. And we seem to be having an increase in those types of students that are attending our schools.”
Volkman adds, his hope is the government will continue to provide resources such as educational assistants, therapists and speech pathologists for students facing various needs, because if needs are not properly addressed, it makes learning hard.
As the school year is just beginning, Volkman has most of a year still in front of him, and says it’ll be business as usual.
“It’s just me digging in and doing the tasks each day that come my way to help remove those obstacles so that our staff across our division, schools and our offices can create those powerful learning environments,” says Volkman.
As for what comes next after his retirement, Volkman says he’s not sure what it will entail.
“For right now, I have no actual plan of what that’ll look like. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up in a classroom doing some substitute teaching somewhere.”
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