LAKELAND – Students and staff at H.E. Bourgoin Middle School (HEB) will see new faces take over the positions of principal and assistant principal as Jeannine Ellis, the school’s former principal, takes on a new role within Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS).
After three years as HEB’s principal, Ellis accepted the new position of Director of Learning for Peoples Services. In this new role, Ellis will assist with staff recruitment and retention, support employee wellness and safety, as well as support staff with strategies to ensure student learning and success.
Excited to serve students, staff and families in a different capacity, Ellis said, “It is hard to think of leaving the school but I hope that my new role will provide increased possibilities for supporting staff and helping all NLPS students reach their potential.”
She added, “My time at H. E. Bourgoin School has not only developed my skills as a leader, but filled me with the joy of encouraging and supporting HEB students, staff, and parents.”
To fill the void that Ellis leaves behind is Tracy Casselman, the former assistant principal of HEB.
Before serving as the assistant principal for HEB, Casselman was one of NLPS’s Learning Consultants. In that position, she mentored, coached and collaborated with teachers across the division in areas such as positive relationship building, numeracy, literacy, classroom management, differentiation, and formative assessment.
During her 25-year career with NLPS, Casselman also taught at Nelson Heights Middle School in Cold Lake and Duclos School in Bonnyville.
Feeling honoured to take over the position of principal, Casselman said, “My past experience as a teacher, learning consultant, and assistant principal with Northern Lights has helped me to grow as a leader and learner... This has been a year like no other and I am truly grateful for the kindness, empathy and hope within our H.E. Bourgoin School family.”
As Casselman moves up, leaving her previous position as assistant principal open, Nicole Yadlowsky, a former assistant principal of Glendon School will move over. Yadlowsky held the position of assistant principal at Glendon School since 2012, working in Saskatchewan prior to that.
Since moving to Alberta, she has served Glendon School as the literacy support teacher, Student Support Team Coordinator and high school career and academic counsellor. She has also taught a variety of different subjects at almost every grade level from Kindergarten through to Grade 12.
Thankful for her time spent within the Glendon community, Yadlowsky said, “The past nine years working at Glendon School and Pine Meadow Hutterite Colony has allowed me the opportunity to work closely with students from preschool to Grade 12. Thank you to all of the students, staff and families that I have been fortunate to work with during this time."
At Glendon School, Jacqueline Densmore, a former Cold Lake teacher from Nelson Heights will take over as the assistant principal.
Densmore brings with her over 17 years of experience working within classrooms in different roles. She began her career with Northern Lights as an educational assistant working with high needs students before deciding to become a teacher.
After 10 years of teaching Grade 5 at Nelson Heights, Densmore will take another step in her journey.
“As an educator who began my career as an educational assistant, I am truly honoured to have this opportunity to serve Northern Lights Public Schools in a greater capacity through yet another lens,” she said.
