Westwind School Division Board of Trustees Cardston candidates

Posted on October 2, 2025 by admin

By Heather Cameron
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The race for a spot on the Westwind School Division Board of Trustees is heating up.

Four of the trustees were acclaimed.

Elections for two positions for Ward 2 (Cardston) include the following candidates:

Darren Atwood, Delbert Beazer, Ken McMurray, Jamie Quinton, Rick Schow, Brett Ryder, and Tami Tolley. 

When asked why they wanted to get involved in this particular political arena and what the focus of their campaign would be, the candidates had this to say:

“I have always served in the community and felt like with 15 grandkids in the school system, I wanted to serve and possibly help make things better for all. I support the current group of trustees and teachers and staff. I hope with my business and Board experience I can help the current operations possibly run more efficiently.” – Delbert Beazer

“I have been blessed to be involved with public education for all of my life in many different roles and I enjoyed each one of them. I love Cardston and the surrounding areas, and I believe public education is vital to the families in this community. I want their experiences to be as favorable as mine. I believe my experience could serve me well as a board member in facing the challenges of education. I believe the School Board plays an important role in making sure students are given the best opportunities to succeed, while also supporting the teachers and staff who make that possible.” – Ken McMurray

“I first became interested in getting involved at the urging of a past colleague who knows me very well and believed I could make contribution to the Westwind School Division. Thanks to his encouragement I wanted to get involved. I have attended several professional development days around the principle of “Thinking Classrooms” by Peter Liljedahl. I became a huge fan of him and this method of teaching and implemented it into my classroom. I believe this method has made a change in my students’ lives. I have shared with many other teachers his ideas. My focus is about the students, and specifically about what is best for the students in our school division and what we can do to help them in achieving learning.” – Jamie Quinton

“I have been a Trustee with the Westwind School Division for the past four years; I am hoping to be re-elected this year. I initially ran so I could have a say in what was going on with my children’s education, and because I am passionate about children having the opportunity to have a strong, inclusive education where students, parents, teachers and administration work together collaboratively to create the best learning environment for our kids! I am running again because I still feel the same way, and because I believe that this is meaningful work. Our children are our future, and we need to invest in them and give them every opportunity we can! My focus is always on the kids (students) and what is best for them. I believe we need students, families, teachers, school administration and school boards to work collaboratively together while always asking ourselves “What is best for the students?” – Tami Tolley

When asked what issues within the school division they saw as needing attention, the candidates had this to say:

“As a trustee, we can only support our teachers in all they do to better educate the children that we have stewardship over during class time. The negotiations between union and government we have no control over. But I do see a need to reward great teachers, to have smaller classrooms, and address the educational assistants’ shortage in classrooms.” – Delbert Beazer 

“As the principal of Cardston High School, I saw the bigger picture of how schools’ function and the challenges they face. As a teacher, administrator and coach, I gained a practical understanding of education from many different angles. Teaching today is harder than when I began my career. Students are much more complex. Many students come with gaps in their learning for various reasons. Some have serious learning difficulties. Others come from home situations that are difficult and deter optimum learning. We want all students to have the opportunity to succeed. Supporting teachers and staff in this regard is important.” – Ken McMurray

“I just want to help do whatever it takes that is best for the students to achieve their potential.” – Jamie Quinton

“There are so many ongoing things that always need to be reviewed and improved upon. I work in disability supports so inclusive education is always something on the top of my priority list. However, there are many other areas to focus on as well such as mental health and well-being of our students and their families/support networks – life is hard for kids these days and we need to make sure we have the appropriate resources in place to help them. We also need to focus on strong communication and collaboration with students, parents/families, and community stake holders. It really does take a village/town to raise a child, and everyone should feel invested and supportive of the children in our community whether they have school aged children in their home or not.” – Tami Tolley

The candidates also spoke briefly about what their approach to service would be if elected:

“Serve tirelessly with honesty, integrity and trust,” – Delbert Beazer

“My approach will be grounded in common sense and a clear focus on what is best for students, families, teachers and the long-term strength of our schools.” – Ken McMurray

“Help students believe teachers are there to help them and that the teacher is on their side to help them succeed. Whatever it takes to benefit the student. I hope to support teachers in making their classrooms more successful.” – Jamie Quinton

“I plan to continue to work collaboratively with the other members of the board on division policies and priorities, budget review & approval, and overall accountability of the board and division. I am also a voice and advocate for our community, so I plan to continue to work closely with other parents and families to represent their interest at our board table.” – Tami Tolley

Darren Atwood, Brett Ryder and Rick Schow were unavailable for comment at the time of this interview.