Wellesley resident Dorothy McCabe is a hands-on kind of person. Since moving to the village seven years ago, she has been a board member of the Woolwich/Wellesley Community Health Centre, a commentator at St. Agatha Catholic Church and a volunteer with Canadian Crossroads International, an international development organization. Now that her youngest daughter is entering the school system, she is tackling education with the same zeal.
McCabe is running to become the trustee for the Waterloo-Woolwich-Wellesley area of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board. She is the first candidate to launch a campaign for one of the nine WCDSB trustee positions in the Oct. 25 municipal election.
The seat is currently held by Louise Ervin, who has yet to decide if she’ll be running again.
“I think that our school system here has an excellent track record,” said McCabe. “There was no major issue or controversy that sparked my interest in the position; I simply want to be a part of making education the best it can be for my kids and others.”
The WCDSB is the eighth largest Catholic school board in our province and has more than 40,000 elementary, secondary and adult/continuing education students within the system. But McCabe sees it not as a numbers game, but understands that each student deserves equal opportunities.
“There is a whole number of things to think about,” she explained. “To make sure that we are promoting things like environmental sustainability, ensuring our kids have access to leading-edge technology, to ensure that we as a board are using our financial resources efficiently – these types of things will make sure that all of our students are being considered.”
But primarily, said McCabe, the role of trustee is to be the face and the voice for students and parents.
“Ultimately it’s about the students, and they need someone who will listen to them and respond to their issues and concerns. Education is the best way for a society to grow and change, and I would just like to be a part of that.”
For more information on Dorothy McCabe and her campaign, visit her website at www.dorothymccabe.com.
Nominations for the fall election close Sept. 10.
