Shane Skjerven will retire at the end of July, commencing a 25 year-long career with the division.
For the first time since he was four years old, Shane Skjerven is taking a step away from the education system. Whether he’s been enrolled, teaching or leading, it’s a life that Skjerven has come to cherish.
And, after 25 professional years with Saskatoon Public Schools, he is retiring this month as director of education. During an interview with the Star Phoenix, Skjerven emphasized his gratitude for the time he spent as principal at, which closed its doors in 2022. He says those years deeply shaped him as a father, educator, friend and colleague, and the lessons he learned there will stay with him forever.
Q: What’s a perspective or lesson that you’ve learned over the course of your career that you’ll be taking into retirement? A: For me, a key priority that I will have is to maintain relationships with the people I’ve worked with over the past several years and to build new friendships.
Whether I try pickleball or get back into golf, hockey and the things that I love that I haven’t been able to do as much recently, I look forward to doing that. A: What I would say to a young teacher, and I do say this to young teachers frequently, is just enjoy every single day. It is hard work. It’s challenging work.
I believe it has gotten more challenging in recent years but going into a classroom with a positive mindset and the love of those children that you’re going to be working with, they will see it. They will feel it, their families will see it, and it will lead to success. Q: You’ve championed early literacy, community schools and equitable opportunities for students. Which of those areas still has the most work to be done?
A: I would say they all do. I think that our reading scores over the past few years have increased and risen, and we’re paying a lot of attention to it. Graduation rates, particularly for our First Nations and Metis students, continues to be an area of focus for the school division. We have made significant progress over the last 25 years, but it’s not anywhere near where we want it to be.
We do have a real specific focus in our school division in providing equitable opportunities for all students, and I think that will continue to be a huge part of ourQ: You’ve also served as the division’s firekeeper and been involved with advancing Indigenous education. What lessons would you like to be carried forward by other people assuming the roleA: Relationships are key in this business.
When I look back at my time as principal and how we had success with many of the children that I worked with at Princess Alexandra, where I was principal, is that if you develop those strong relationships with the students, the staff and the families, you can engage in those more challenging conversations. You can support them if you know them better. A: Well, I would say that they absolutely have.
I think that the world has changed since COVID-19. The world is a very complex place, as we know, and I think that students and families have access to all kinds of information on a whim, whether it be accurate information or inaccurate information. With respect to how students and families have changed, they have to be much more cautious about what goes on in the world.
I think they need to keep their eyes open and their ears about what’s going on to help them, and their families make good decisions for themselves.
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