A focus on Aboriginal Education will be front and center at this year’s Canadian School Boards Association National Congress.

Along with hosting its annual National Congress, the CSBA will co-host the National Trustee Gathering on Aboriginal Education with the British Columbia School Trustees’ Association. With a packed schedule filled with several speakers with varied and experienced backgrounds, the Gathering is set to ignite a conversation on Aboriginal Education.

And, according to the BCSTA, it’s been a long-sought-after conversation.

“The National Trustee Gathering on Aboriginal Education was conceived by CSBA in response to people across Canada calling for a forum where sharing successful, effective practices that foster strong Aboriginal student learning outcomes could take place,” explains BCSTA President Teresa Rezansoff. “There are gaps in public education, and the reality is that we are not adequately serving the educational needs of Aboriginal students. As this is an event and topic of significant importance, we felt it was important that we contribute by hosting the gathering in 2017.”

Read more: National Trustee Gathering on Aboriginal Education Expected to Drive Discussion

CCSTA Executive Director Julian Hanlon sat in the interviewee chair last month when he chatted with American education superintendent and podcaster, Timothy Uhl.

Calling it Catholic School Matters, Uhl recently launched a podcast to help Catholic educators learn and gain insight from leaders from across the country and the world.

Uhl aired his interview with Hanlon in February and they chatted about the Canadian Catholic education system.

With American Catholic schools receiving no public funding, Uhl was interested to learn about how Catholic schools operate across Canada.

Hanlon provides a general overview of how Catholic schools run in each province and territory. They then delved into how school boards connect with the Catholic Church and the provincial government particularly when developing policy for the Catholic schools. They also hit on maintaining Catholic identity, French Immersion programming and the Toonies for Tuition program.

Hanlon’s 36-year-long experience working in the Catholic education system made him well versed to answer the questions and provides Uhl’s listeners with insight on the Catholic education framework across the provinces and territories.

Take a listen to the interview on Timothy Uhl’s Podcast.

This year, Catholic Education Week runs the first week of May, and schools within the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools in Alberta ironed out plans last year that honoured and celebrated the Catholic education spirit.

 CCSTA wants to highlight all the good things these schools did last year to inspire us to honour this year’s celebrations. It’s also a time to prepare for World Catholic Education Day, which happens on May 25, 2017.

 Every year, 40 days after Easter on Ascension Thursday, Catholics across the globe give thanks for the gift that is Catholic education through the celebration of World Catholic Education Day.

 The Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools put together an impressive week-long schedule that involved nature, prayer, kindness, and more.

 To get us inspired for the week, here’s just a sample of their schools’ activities from 2016:

Read more: How Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Celebrated Catholic Education Week