06/03/2026
A Thank You from the President
As another school year comes to a close, I want to recognize the people who made all of this work possible.
In some ways, having elections at this time of year is like asking a mom if she wants another baby while she’s still lying on the delivery table. We are exhausted.
But this team kept showing up anyway.
Chris Flood brought his community and professional experience to our Constitution and Bylaws Committee.
Inclusion Representative, Lisa Hemeon, stepped into a role that was vacant. Thank you for stepping up to ensure inclusion remained a part of our work.
Our Special Education Representative, Heidi Smit Vinois, immediately started showing me opportunities for improvement, and mentored Stacey Parson in supporting families with Learning Support.
To our Indigenous Representative, Eruke Oromogieva — thank you for being my unofficial co-pilot in Zoom meetings and offering support wherever you could.
Secretary Melissa Crump somehow managed to turn Zoom transcripts into coherent meeting records.
Vice President Kara Dickson helped develop stakeholder meeting questions, secured our venue for Dr. Shahana's parent learning event, and kept us focused on the bigger picture.
Vice President Amy MacKenzie masterminded our first PAC Networking Night, served on the C&B Committee, attended district meetings, spoke at PAC 101, managed AV for Study Smarter while carrying a toddler on one hip, and coordinated hospitality for Feel Better.
Director Pinkey Bhatti was one of the most reliable members of our team. She served on the C&B Committee, attended nearly every executive meeting, managed book distribution logistics, and dedicated three full days to representing Abbotsford families at the BCCPAC Conference and AGM.
Director Stacey Parson helped set up every parent learning event, responded to countless special education committee requests, acted as a neutral third party for many families meeting with the district, is serving on the trustee indemnity committee, worked on the Constitution and bylaws committee, is taking on the role of Nominations Chair when no one else stepped up, and consistently provided an incredible listening ear. Stacey makes people feel heard while also taking care of what needs to be done. She is also extremely detailed, and I could count on her for catching mistakes before I embarrassed myself. Her son is graduating this year so she can no longer serve on the executive but we know she is only a text message away.
And finally, Michelle Bastien. In addition to the typical Treasurer responsibilities that she carried out extremely reliably, Michelle has conducted extensive research into what other DPACs are doing, chaired our Constitution & Bylaws committee with incredible detail and care, helped monitor social media, set up PAC Zoom schedules, combed through our treasurer and gaming slides for PAC 101 for improvements and presented, conducted our parent learning survey, and brought a fair and balanced perspective to discussions. Michelle has served on DPAC four years as vice chair and this past year as treasurer and has been an executive for three different school PACs, meaning there is almost no PAC situation she hasn’t already seen. She is a strong and articulate advocate for parents, PACs, and students, and personally, I deeply appreciate her no-nonsense manner.
Working alongside this group reinforced something I have long believed: if I spend enough time with someone, they will eventually amaze me.
To our DPAC Representatives, thank you for representing your school communities and helping keep parents connected to district-level issues.
This work is volunteer work, but there is nothing casual about the hours, energy, and care that go into it. Despite the Sunday late-night meetings and endless WhatsApp messages, this group kept showing up for families, students, and one another.
Thank you for helping make this year not only productive, but honestly pretty fun too.
Winsome Rauch
Abbotsford District Parent Advisory Council President
