Known for her past runs for city council and then the House of Commons, Betty Bekkering is seeking a seat on school board and contends she has what it takes to be an effective trustee.
Bekkering, 64, readily admits she was a sacrificial lamb when, as the NDP candidate in the 2008 federal election, she went up against long-time Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill.
And many observers questioned whether she had the profile to be elected to council in 2005.
But what may not be so well known, says Bekkering, is that she's had a long history of involvement in the province's education system.
Notably, as an involved parent while she and her husband raised their children in Vancouver, Bekkering was a member of a school district committee in the 1980s that sparked the transition to parent advisory councils (PACs) from the old parent-teacher associations (PTAs).
While PTAs were more oriented towards fundraising, Bekkering said the PACs gave parents more of a say in how their schools and districts were run.
"They're very much consulted with on any decisions made with the school system and that's what parents wanted," Bekkering said.
Once that committee had finished its work, Bekkering rose to becoming the district parent representative for Vancouver Centre, home to 24 schools - all that while holding down a full-time job.
Bekkering also worked on a committee to develop a race relations policy for the Vancouver school board, something she called an "amazing experience."
Once their children had grown up, Bekkering and her husband moved to Prince George where they have now lived for some 20 years.
Up until five years ago, when she retired, Bekkering was the coordinator of cooperative education at the College of New Caledonia.
Bekkering was also an executive member of the staff union and the chief negotiator for two collective agreements and she served as the staff representative on the college's board of governors for two years.
After defeats at the municipal and federal levels, why is she running for school board?
"Other people approached me and said 'We think you should run for school board,'" Bekkering said. "And when I thought of my background with education and having retired from the College of New Caledonia and then prior to that Douglas College in New Westminster, I certainly had the background in education.
"I thought it'll be a little less intense than council and I do have some transferable skills that I can offer."
