November 11, 2025 • 32 mins
What if a school was more than a school—what if it was the beating heart of its community? We sit down with longtime CLC leader Debbie Horrocks to trace how Quebec’s Community Learning Centers grew from a bold idea into a 90-school network that strengthens English education while weaving families, services, and culture into daily learning. From the early vision to today’s realities, we explore why this approach succeeds where top-down models often stall: local ownership, patient relationship-building, and a laser focus on student well-being.
Debbie walks us through the origin story, the flexible framework that let each region adapt the model, and the unsung role of Community Development Agents who keep one foot in school life and one in the wider community. We dig into the hard parts too—single-stream funding, uneven job classifications, and what happens when conferences and convening go dark. Then we spotlight the partnerships that changed the game. With CHSSN, CLCs create direct pathways to mental health and family wellness services in English. With ELAN, artists help students explore identity and belonging through creative work. These are reciprocal relationships—schools offer access and trust; partners bring expertise, data, and resources—and they add up to collective impact.
Rural and remote contexts bring their own stakes: in some towns, the CLC school is the last English institution. The hub model keeps those schools visible and valued, and it nurtures resilience through political swings and pandemics alike. Along the way, leaders emerge—principals and CDAs who carry the culture to new regions, proving that the community school mindset travels with people. We close with Debbie’s hopes for the future: every school as a community school, stronger cross-sector ties, and a renewed commitment to convening so the network stays alive and human.
If you believe schools should be places where families connect, services reach those who need them, and students feel they belong, this conversation will energize you. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review telling us what partnership your local school should build next.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Colley (00:13):
Here we are, people, another episode Shifted
Podcast.
Coming to you on a kind ofchilly October.
We're getting close toHalloween here, and the days are
getting a little bit shorter, alittle less sunlight out there.
But I have a great guest, acolleague, Debbie Horrocks,
who's our director of ProvincialResource Team, the director of
(00:36):
Via Learn.
And we're coming in today withsome great things because she's
going to talk about amazingstuff of what the CLCs do and
their capability and how theyconnect the Anglo communities
together.
But it's a little bittersweetbecause Debbie is going to be
retiring in November and we'regoing to lose a great asset.
(00:57):
But she is going to leave somenuggets for us and seeds that
will grow as we grow.
Debbie, thanks so much forhopping on here and kind of
giving a review of you and theCLCs over these last many, many
years.
I guess that my first questionwill start with how it all
(01:19):
began.
Now, you joined the Learn asthe CLC director in 2010, but I
know that you were dabbling inthis before you became the
director.
Um I mean, CLCs were created in2006.
It was an initiative that tookshape.
What inspired the vision ofconnecting schools and
communities?
And how do you convince peoplethat it's truly transformational
(01:44):
for English education inQuebec?
Debbie Horrocks (01:47):
Well, thanks for having me today, Chris.
As you said, it's going to be alittle tough, but CLCs are
close to my heart.
The idea of a community schoolactually has roots going back
over a century.
In Quebec, the communitylearning centers, or what we
call the CLCs, were launched aspart of a minority language
(02:07):
education initiative funded bythe Department of Canadian
Heritage, but always through themoney always goes through the
Ministry of Education.
Back in 2006, the schools inthe English education sector had
been really facing a persistentdecline in enrollment, and
there was real concern that moreschools were going to close and
something needed to be done.
At that time, then AssistantDeputy Minister for English
(02:31):
Education, Leon LaFause,believed that English schools
could become central for botheducation and community
development.
And that when families andcommunities are actively engaged
in student learning, outcomesimprove for everyone.
It took a while to convince theboards to embrace the community
school approach, but 19 yearsand 90 schools later says to me
(02:55):
we must have been doingsomething right.
The original purpose was tostrengthen the education,
obviously to strengthen theeducational outcomes for
students in the English system,but at the same time, built into
that was support to support thevitality of English speaking
community as a whole.
And this continues to be themission of CLCs today.
When I first heard about CLCs,I was school board commissioner,
(03:18):
sitting on the board ofdirectors at the Quebec English
School Boards Association.
And I knew right away that Ineeded to be involved.
I was working in communitydevelopment at the time, and I
immediately saw the value andthe importance of connecting
English schools and theircommunities.
I joined LEARN in 2010 as a CLCproject coordinator under the
(03:40):
provincial resource teamdirector at that time, Paul
Lange.
When Paul retired in 2017, Ihad the privilege of stepping
into the PRT director role tocontinue building on that
foundation.
Poll was one of the co-foundersof the CLC Initiative and had
been working for the Ministry ofEducation, implementing the New
Approaches and New Solutions,or NANS strategy, which targeted
(04:04):
schools in disadvantaged areas.
Both NANS and CLCs rely onschool community partnerships to
improve student success.
Hole was invited to join acommittee that had been mandated
to explore various models ofcommunity schools across North
America and Europe.
But this committee also knewthat they needed tailor it to
the Quebec context.
(04:24):
Everything has to have theQuebec, the Quebec flavor to it.
That Quebec vision was tocreate a network of community
schools across the Englisheducation system that could
contribute to improving studentengagement and achievement,
strengthening intergenerationalties, acting as a catalyst for
regional revitalization,ensuring that English schools
(04:47):
remained viable, valued, andvisible in their communities,
and most important, that theywere responsive to the
particular culture and needs ofeach of those communities.
And that's straight from thatthat's back from 2006.
That was an original vision forthe CLCs.
And they were envisioned tobecome not just places for
(05:08):
students to learn during theday, but the idea was to expand
the use of the school buildingsso that they could become places
for families, for seniors, forlocal organizations to gather,
to learn, and to connectthroughout the year, not just,
you know, not just from eight tothree.
And we can't forget the videoconferencing equipment that all
(05:28):
CLCs were given back in thedays.
It was supposed to be amoneymaker.
I don't know if you rememberthis first, but it was supposed
to be a moneymaker for theschool boards.
But of course, it neveramounted to that.
But it wasn't hard to get theschool boards on board at first,
as there was also considerablefunding that was attached to get
a CLC up and running.
And that that funding has sortof fizzled out a little bit.
(05:51):
But what I would say, what allCLCs have in common, and really
what drives the sustainabilityof Quebec's community schools,
is having the presence of acommunity development agent or a
CDA in each CLC.
Their role is to integratecommunity-based resources into
school programming to enhancestudent learning.
(06:12):
And CDAs really are the drivingforce behind the community
school approach.
They build the bridges betweenschools, families, and community
partners.
Chris Colley (06:22):
Interesting.
So the network is really thepower behind this idea.
I mean, 90 schools acrossEnglish English boards.
It's pretty amazing.
But what were some of thosechallenges?
I imagine that it wasn't all,you know, rosies and roses and
puppies.
Like there were, I'm sure,scaling and and and figuring out
(06:46):
how to keep this responsive tothe community and also keep that
network expanding.
Can you talk to that?
Debbie Horrocks (06:53):
Yep.
Well, you're right.
It's been quite a journey.
We knew that scaling up wasnever going to be simple.
It could never be aone-size-fits-all process.
And every board wanted to do ita little differently.
So, and some boards didn't wantanything to do with expansion.
But we have to remember thatevery school and every community
is different.
(07:13):
And even if they're in the sameschool board, you know, they
they can experience somesignificant differences.
And we know that what worksbeautifully in the Gas Bay, for
instance, isn't might not workin Montreal, and vice versa.
Or, you know.
So from the start, our focus onthe PRT was really to build a
flexible framework that would bestrong enough to hold the
(07:34):
network together, but adaptableenough to let each community
make it their own.
We spent the first probably 10years of the initiative may
training our network on this, onthe guidebook and this and
that.
And then things, then it sortof has when when it became a
little more prescriptive, whenour role became a little more
prescriptive by the ministry, wesort of had to move towards a
(07:56):
little less of the guidebook.
But the but the the intentionsthat of the original guidebook
are still in place today.
We have had our challenges.
And I would probably say thatsustainability and funding.
CLCs are a classic example ofdoing more with less.
Most of them operate on asingle source of government
(08:19):
funding, which has never been asustainable model.
Many boards supplement theirCLCs with funding from other
envelopes and programs.
And the PRT and the schools areconstantly looking for creative
funding solutions for newgrants, for project
opportunities to help, you know,CLCs offer programming in their
schools.
And our CDAs have been havebecome grant writing experts out
(08:42):
of necessity.
And, you know, sustainabilityand funding, it's it's not
that's not unknown to a lot ofcommunity organizations.
So recruitment and retention,it's another ongoing issue,
especially in our rural andremote areas.
There's no official jobclassification for the CDAs.
Every board has a different hasa diff have a different
(09:03):
classification.
The working conditions can varyacross boards.
So maintaining consistency canbe tough.
Equity, you know, it's anequity, but they're all
expected, all the CDAs areexpected to do the same job, but
their working conditions arenot always equitable.
Connectivity is a is a hugechallenge.
The community school approachis all about building
(09:23):
relationships, connecting.
And when we couldn't bringtogether the network together
annually in person, we've reallyfelt the impact.
We used to host conferences.
We started out hosting twoconferences a year, and they
were everybody came.
We had amazing feedback fromall participants.
Then we went down to oneconference a year, and then we
(09:45):
hadn't had one in seven years.
And the impact, we we saw theimpact.
Changes in funding withoutregular opportunities for the
CLC leaders and partners andcommunity stakeholders, because
it's not the conferences weren'tjust for CLC, it was for our
partners and communitystakeholders.
And it was an opportunity tolearn, to gather, to share.
But doing that in personwithout having the capacity to
(10:10):
do that in person, the socialfabric of the network, the web
of relationships start to fray.
And the richness of suchin-person experiences can't
really be replicated virtuallyor in fragmented communication.
So, you know, that whole thingof connectivity, if you're
building relationships, you haveto connect at some point.
And it is what it is.
(10:31):
And I guess visibility.
Even now, 19 years in, thereare still people across the
English education sector whohave never heard of a CLC, let
alone the community schoolapproach.
Only a few schools in eachboard are CLC schools, with the
exception of New FrontiersSchool Board, which has every
school is a CLC.
So the approach hasn't alwayshad the visibility it deserves.
(10:55):
But and it's something wecontinue to work on every year.
So that's all the challenges,but we've also had some great
successes.
And I would say honestly, itall comes down to the people.
That's been our biggestsuccess.
The passion and dedication ofthe educators, the principals,
the CDAs, the communitypartners, and the families who
(11:15):
drive this work from the groundup, because it is a ground,
ground-up initiative.
We've also seen that incrediblegrowth you spoke about.
We went from 15 schoolsstarting off to 90 right now.
And we did we did that inphases, giving each wave of
schools time to adapt to themodel and adapt the model to
their own local context.
(11:35):
And throughout the these fourfour phases, the PRT invested
heavily in providingprofessional development,
mentoring, and coaching for theCLC teams.
That capacity building piecehas always been crucial and
remains a key element of ourmandate to this day.
Another big win, howcommunity-driven the model is.
(11:58):
Each CLC reflects thepriorities of its own community,
its grassroots.
It creates its own action plan.
And that local ownership ispart of why the CLCs have lasted
and have grown.
They have local partners, theywork with their municipalities,
their local CLSC, their Maisonde Famille, various community
(12:19):
organizations.
And they also connect with someof the provincial ones, the
larger partners that we're goingto speak about in a minute.
Eventually, I sit on a numberof community development tables,
both in education and in thewider community.
And that in itself has helpedspread visibility and create
awareness of the CLC initiativewhile also creating a lot of
opportunities for collaboration.
(12:40):
A great example, and they havebecome great partners, is we've
been at had the privilege ofworking with several, several of
the centers of excellence, inparticular those friendship
focused on mental health,autism, and school climate, all
key elements in our schoolsthese days.
And they've all broughtincredible learning
(13:01):
opportunities and resources intothe CLC schools.
The centers of excellence arean underutilized resource for
all of our schools, as far asI'm concerned.
And of course, the CDA, thatrole itself, that we couldn't be
that that's the biggest pieceof our success.
That role is transformative.
We often say that the CDA hasone foot in the school and one
(13:22):
foot in the community, and thatthey bridge both worlds,
aligning community initiativeswith school goals so that we're
all working towards the sameoutcomes.
So we've had a lot ofsuccesses, challenges along the
way, but we're still chuggingalong and made some amazing
partnerships along the way.
Chris Colley (13:40):
I love too, Debbie, that you're saying that
the relationship building is thekey of it.
You know, I mean, we say thatin in in you know public
education as well, that ifyou're not building those
relationships, things fragment,you know, and and and start to
dissolve a little bit.
Debbie Horrocks (13:56):
So absolutely.
And part and relationships taketime to build.
You have to build the trust andyou it takes time.
So you know it's not anovernight process.
So it can take years sometimesto to connect with the right
partner and find the find thatone project or that one thing
that you want to work ontogether.
Chris Colley (14:13):
Right.
And and I assume too oftentimesthe CLCs are kind of in a
little bit of an isolation aswell, where there's not maybe as
many English schools aroundwhere they can collaborate with
one another.
You're looking for a communityto, you know, to bring into the
school so that the school doeshave those opportunities that
are out there in the community.
Debbie Horrocks (14:35):
Absolutely.
We have CLCs that are veryisolated in in remote regions,
like the whole where the thecommittee Santa Saint Viscolaire
du Littoral, the littoral usedto be the Littoral School Board,
uh is has uh four CLCs, andthey're about as isolated as you
can get up on the North Shoreof Quebec.
And you know, parts of theCentral Quebec School Board, the
(14:58):
Bay, the Bay Como area, it'shigh highly, you know, you've
got these really tiny schools,eastern shores, some really tiny
schools, then these schools areoften the last English
institution in thosecommunities.
So it's really important.
So yeah, it can be veryisolating.
So that network, having thatnetwork is really has really
been a an important piece of ofbeing at community schools.
Chris Colley (15:21):
Absolutely vital, I would say, you know, those
connections.
And I mean, the collaborationshave been there's a plethora of
collaborations that havedeveloped since its beginning
phases, you know, mental healthprojects with the CSSN, Elan,
having artists participate inclassrooms and and just
(15:42):
wonderful collaborations thattake place.
Can you share some of thosecommunity vitality through
education?
Debbie Horrocks (15:49):
Absolutely.
As you said, collaboration isat really at the heart of what
CLCs do.
Community schools are built onthe idea that when schools,
families, and communityorganizations work together, we
can better address the holisticneeds of students.
Not just academically, butsocially and emotionally too.
Our data shows that CLCprogramming and activities
(16:11):
contribute significantly,significantly to improving
school climate.
Over the years, we've built somany partnerships, but I guess
the one that really stands outand one that has been especially
strategic, particularlystrategic, is our collaboration
with, as you said, the CommunityHealth and Social Services
Network, or the CHSSN.
We've been working togethersince 2008.
(16:32):
And what makes it such anatural fit is that we share a
common mission (16:36):
supporting the English-speaking community.
For Learn and the CLCs, that'sthrough education.
For CHSSN, that's throughpromoting health, wellness, and
access to services in English.
And working together, we'vebeen able to bring mental health
resources, family engagementprograms, early childhood
initiatives right into theschools and directly to
(16:58):
families.
This has been especiallyimpactful in some of those rural
and remote areas where accessto such services in English can
be very limited.
And don't get me wrong, some ofthis is even some there are
some schools that havechallenges reaching accessing
services in in English in thegreater in the in the large
urban areas too.
So it's not just, it's not justa rural thing.
(17:21):
But for CHSSN and the CLCs, ifyou think about it, our
strengths really complement eachother.
So still see schools havestrong connections with families
and youth, but we don't havedeep health and social service
capacity.
Whereas CHSSN, on the otherhand, has incredible expertise
and partnerships in the healthsector, but limited access to
(17:42):
youth and family engagementspaces.
So by working together, CHSSNprograms reach more people
through a school network, andour schools gain access to CHSSN
data, funding, and expertise.
I would say over the past 15years that we've been working
together or more, it's been a,you know, it's been a powerful
cross-sector collaboration thatreally has helped bridge and
(18:05):
break down those traditionalsilos of health and education.
I know we keep hearing fromyears, you know, education and
health, they need to talk moreoften.
The mech and the mess need totalk more often.
And you don't see it happeningvery often.
Well, it actually happens inthe community schools.
Another wonderful partnershiphas been with the English
Language Arts Network, or ELAN.
Through that partnership, we'vebeen able to bring more
(18:27):
English-speaking artists intothe schools.
These artists help studentsexplore their identity and their
culture through creativeexpression, which not only
enriches what the students arelearning in the classroom, but
also helps connect them moredeeply to who they are and where
they come from.
It's building a sense ofbelonging and identity.
And all of this to me goes backto the simple reality that
(18:49):
schools can't do it aloneanymore.
The community school approachhas opened doors to a whole
network of communityorganizations that want to offer
their services and expertiseand creativity to support
students and families.
And these strategicpartnerships must be reciprocal
and to be meaningful andsustainable.
(19:09):
For schools, it's easy, it'seasy to think of partnerships of
people coming in to help or todeliver services.
But the true communitypartnership is about an
exchange.
The schools offer access tofamilies, to students into that
community space.
And that partner organizationbrings in its expertise,
resources, and perspective.
And when both sides see thevalue in what the other offers,
(19:31):
that's when the collaborationreally thrives.
So for example, when a healthorganization like the CHSSN
partners with the CLC school,they gain access to the
communities and youth that theymight not have otherwise been
able to reach.
While at the same time, theschool gains access to expertise
in programming that strengthensstudents and family well-being.
(19:52):
Both sides are meeting theirindividual mandates and end up
being stronger together.
But there's another, there'sanother piece in there that
about it's not just how theywork together, there's also an
interesting cultural reciprocitythat happens.
Schools start to learn fromtheir community partners.
Things like the local context,the strengths and the assets in
(20:12):
the neighborhood, the familydynamics, the cultural identity,
and even how to collaboratewith groups outside of
education.
And at the same time, thecommun the community partners,
and this is really important,and it's been a bit of a
struggle.
Community partners need tolearn how schools operate, how
to connect with young people,how to align what they do with
(20:33):
the school's learning goals, andhow to navigate things as
simple as like the schoolcalendar or the daily calendar
from the school.
Because honestly, school andcommunity organizations, they
often run on completelydifferent schedules.
And so I said there has been abit of a learning curve at
first.
Over time, that back and forthlearning really builds trust.
And that's what makes thepartnerships more stronger and
(20:57):
more sustainable.
And I guess at the end of theday, anyone connected to the CLC
network will say thatpartnerships are at the heart of
the community school approach.
And when we invite others tothe table to share ownership of
the outcomes, that's when we'retalking start talking about
collective impact.
No single organization orsector can achieve lasting
(21:17):
social change alone.
It requires many stakeholdersto coordinate their efforts
around a common agenda.
And in this case, that agendais student achievement and
success.
Chris Colley (21:27):
Wow.
Yeah, I I really appreciate toowhat you were saying about how
community and school don't.
I mean, sometimes it can be apretty hard fit because they
kind of run in different lanesbut rely on one another, you
know, like they need oneanother.
Debbie Horrocks (21:42):
Absolutely.
And you know, we used to hearhow community partners would try
to get into a particularschool, but they couldn't even
get past the school secretary,right?
Right.
There was that that gatekeeperthere.
But that's what the CLC sayshad bringing the community in
and introducing the communityschool approach to not only to
the you know the the principaland a few of the teachers, but
(22:02):
it's introducing them to thewhole school concept of this is
what it means to have community.
And then yeah, it's gonna haveto, you're gonna have to change
the way you have traditionallyoperated or worked, but you
know, there's a benefit in it.
And the benefit to us thebenefits outweigh the what's the
expression, the benefitsoutweigh the the crunches.
Yeah, the benefits whatever.
Chris Colley (22:24):
Totally, totally.
I love that.
I love that idea.
And I mean, I guess you seethis too.
Like when you I mean, you'vebeen doing this for a while,
like when you see finally thelanes starting to merge
together, I mean that must be avery uh special thing to to be a
part of.
Could yeah, talk to us a littlebit about like how people and
(22:48):
communities have changed sinceyou've been involved with the
CLCs?
Have you seen shifts that arestarting to happen?
Debbie Horrocks (22:56):
I I see shifts in in some regions and in some
school boards.
I think one of the challengesand another challenge, well, it
goes back to the retainment, theretaining of and the
recruitment of personnel.
There's a constant, and and youknow this well, there's a
revolving door in education,right?
Whether it's principals,whether it's at the management
level, or whether it's even onthe ground or CDAs, there's a
(23:17):
constant, a constant revolvingdoor of new people.
But I guess attitudes havechanged.
We certainly have, we'recertainly feeling that our the
Ministry of Education, who isour who's our our main funder,
has really started to understandthe community school approach.
They're really putting a focuson it.
(23:38):
They're encouraging, you know,they have their whole strategic
theme of Ecole FamilleCommunauté, and and they they
built this into it.
They've supported research onour extended model project.
So they've really become thethe ministry seems to be taking
greater and greater interest init.
That's the way it was at thebeginning.
And then there was this periodsort of we were used to be in
(23:58):
the MEQ strategic plan.
The CLCs used to be written hadbeen written into the strategic
strategic plan.
And then when the French schoolstarted asking for CLCs, they
had to take us out of, they hadto take us out of the strategic
plan.
So they didn't want to, butit's sort of got a bit of a, you
know, you everything goes in aand it has its ups and downs,
sort of ebbs and flows.
(24:18):
And we're sort of at that pointwhere we're getting more and
more of that ministry supportnow.
It but it's Anglo funding, it'sminority language funding.
So they needed to find theirown stream of funding to support
it, and that wasn't as evident,I guess.
But anyway.
Yeah, I guess when we talkabout what I'm proud of over the
years, it's not really onesingle project or an event.
(24:42):
We've worked with a lot ofwe've worked on a lot of great
projects, but really stands outto me is how the culture of
collaboration and the sense ofbelonging has grown.
I watch schools move from beingmostly service providers, you
know, you have the karateteacher come in and you have the
knitting teacher come in orwhatever, to becoming real hubs
(25:03):
of community life.
So things are happening forstudents, for staff, for
families, for the widercommunity.
Everybody's engaged in schoollife.
And that's really true in theagain.
I can't keep mentioning therural and remote schools, but I
really think the impact on thoserural and remote schools and
school boards has really beensignificant.
You know, the the legacy I hopeto leave is about really about
(25:26):
people and relationships.
We've got my PRT, the PRT, mythe provincial resource team,
that's my team at Learn.
They're such a talented,thoughtful, and caring group.
They they teach me things everyday.
They bring those quality andthey bring those qualities to
everything they do.
It's been amazing to see howthey've each shaped and grown
the work in their own ways.
(25:47):
And the broader learn team, youknow, we don't work together
very much, you and I.
But I've always appreciated thecommitment and positive energy
that and welcome and the feelingmade us feel welcome at Learn.
And we because we have a sharedpurpose.
My CLC principals, my CLC,they're not my CLC principles,
(26:08):
but the CLC principles andschool board reps play a really
important role, accompanying anadvisory role.
They're very busy people.
We try not to bother ourprincipals too much, but they're
key, they're key, they're key,they're key leaders.
They have to work incollaboration very closely with
their CDA.
Principals and school boardreps, they juggle a lot, they're
(26:28):
wearing lots of hats,especially in the smaller
boards, but they still take thetime, they still make the extra
effort to work with their CLCteams, to connect with community
partners, and to support thecommunity school approach in
lots of ways.
And their willingness to engagethat way when their time is so
limited really makes adifference.
And again, I've said it, I cannever say it enough though, the
(26:49):
CDAs.
I've seen so many of them growinto strong community leaders
themselves after they've leftthe initiative or left the
school or even with still withinthe school system.
They're just an amazing groupof people.
It's never been about oneperson or one program.
It's been always about acommunity of people who care
deeply and want to work togetherto make things happen.
(27:11):
A great example, you know, evenwhen people move on, whether
it's to a new role or a newschool or even a new community,
that spirit of collaborationstays with them.
And they carry that belief inconnection and community
wherever you wherever they go.
So a recent example that reallytouched me is I was approached
the Cadavic School Board Northreached out because they want to
(27:32):
bring the community schoolapproach to their northern
schools.
And who's leading the effort?
A former CLC principal and aformer CDA.
So to me, that says so muchthat people see the value of
this approach and the impactthat it's having on students in
communities, and they want tobring that to their communities.
Funding obviously is a wholeother issue for them.
They have other differentstreams of funding, but the fact
(27:54):
that they they see the value inthis and they think it would
help help their students andtheir communities is really, you
know, really impressive.
I guess, you know, schools thatwe we often hear how schools
operate in silos, but nowthey're they're and but they're
now seen as trusted communitypartners in many community in
many communities, right?
They're open, they'reresponsive, they're really
(28:16):
connected to what's going on inthe community.
I've had the chance to visitmost of our schools across the
across the province, and we'veseen schools and communities
become more resilient, morecreative, and more confident,
even through the challenges, youknow, like the pandemic and the
never-ending political ups anddowns in Quebec that we always
(28:36):
face.
So my approach has always beenone to empower others, to give
people room, to take initiative,to innovate, to be creative and
to lead.
You know, it's something thatevolves depending upon the
people in the context.
So that I say, yeah, the onething I'm most proud of truly is
the people, the relationships,and the culture of collaboration
(28:57):
that's taken root and keepsgrowing.
The collaboration wasn't therebefore we were end.
I think in in many ways, theCLCs are better understood
outside the education communitythan inside the education
community.
Chris Colley (29:12):
Great, right.
I mean, there's still work tobe done, but I love that example
that you gave, Debbie, aboutthe relationships are there.
They're they're there andthey're finding one another as
time rolls on because the circlekeeps getting bigger.
I think that's a truetestament.
It kind of brings us, you know,full circle here.
I guess my last question,Debbie, kind of reflecting on on
(29:36):
you know what has happened inthe past and maybe future
looking, you've you've uhcreated an amazing team, and and
I I get that love and therelationship that is there
amongst either through attendinga CL CL CLC conference or you
know, just hanging out with youguys socially sometimes.
You know, like it's you havethat relationship that you've
(29:57):
instilled in in the team.
Greater across Quebec.
What are you hoping that theycarry keep carrying forward in
the CLC initiative as you kindof take a knee and and let
leader other leadership to takeplace?
Where are you at with that?
Debbie Horrocks (30:17):
As I look ahead, I hope that the next
generation of educators andcommunity leaders will continue
to see our English schools ascatalysts for community
engagement and renewal.
The landscape is changing.
The declining demographics isstill a challenge, enrollment
issues, increased use oftechnology gets people from, you
(30:37):
know, takes away from thatconnectivity, and the social
norms are shifting.
But to me, education andcommunity must remain
inseparable.
Communities and schools needleaders who embrace
collaboration, who are alwaysasking who else needs to be at
the table?
How can our community schoolsbe the place where everyone
(30:59):
feels they belong?
My biggest hope is that one dayevery school will be a
community school and that peoplewill continue to approach this
work with heart and passion.
Chris Colley (31:11):
Yeah.
Well, Debbie, I want to thankyou.
You will never be forgotten.
You're going to be greatlymissed.
But you're leaving such alegacy and so many seeds and so
many people, and have developedrelationships with so many
people in schools andcommunities that I mean, you'll
live on in everything that we doas we go forward.
(31:32):
I wish you an amazingretirement as well.
It's well deserved.
You have been a trooper outthere on the front line for
decades, fighting for communityand schools and vitality and the
English community.
And that will never beforgotten, no matter what
happens in the future.
It's been really, really greathaving you share your thoughts
(31:57):
about the past and into thefuture.
It's been a real privilege towork with you and a real
privilege to have this littlebit of time to talk with you as
well.
So I thank you for that.
Debbie Horrocks (32:08):
Thank you, Chris.
I appreciate it.
My passion comes out throughemotions.
So I yeah.
Chris Colley (32:17):
We love you for it.
We've always needed thatpassion, and seeing it and
feeling it is amazing.
Debbie Horrocks (32:25):
I just wear it up my sleeve.
Chris Colley (32:27):
Thanks so much, Debbie.
Debbie Horrocks (32:29):
Thank you.
Here we are, people, another episode Shifted
Podcast.
Coming to you on a kind ofchilly October.
We're getting close toHalloween here, and the days are
getting a little bit shorter, alittle less sunlight out there.
But I have a great guest, acolleague, Debbie Horrocks,
who's our director of ProvincialResource Team, the director of
(00:36):
Via Learn.
And we're coming in today withsome great things because she's
going to talk about amazingstuff of what the CLCs do and
their capability and how theyconnect the Anglo communities
together.
But it's a little bittersweetbecause Debbie is going to be
retiring in November and we'regoing to lose a great asset.
(00:57):
But she is going to leave somenuggets for us and seeds that
will grow as we grow.
Debbie, thanks so much forhopping on here and kind of
giving a review of you and theCLCs over these last many, many
years.
I guess that my first questionwill start with how it all
(01:19):
began.
Now, you joined the Learn asthe CLC director in 2010, but I
know that you were dabbling inthis before you became the
director.
Um I mean, CLCs were created in2006.
It was an initiative that tookshape.
What inspired the vision ofconnecting schools and
communities?
And how do you convince peoplethat it's truly transformational
(01:44):
for English education inQuebec?
Debbie Horrocks (01:47):
Well, thanks for having me today, Chris.
As you said, it's going to be alittle tough, but CLCs are
close to my heart.
The idea of a community schoolactually has roots going back
over a century.
In Quebec, the communitylearning centers, or what we
call the CLCs, were launched aspart of a minority language
(02:07):
education initiative funded bythe Department of Canadian
Heritage, but always through themoney always goes through the
Ministry of Education.
Back in 2006, the schools inthe English education sector had
been really facing a persistentdecline in enrollment, and
there was real concern that moreschools were going to close and
something needed to be done.
At that time, then AssistantDeputy Minister for English
(02:31):
Education, Leon LaFause,believed that English schools
could become central for botheducation and community
development.
And that when families andcommunities are actively engaged
in student learning, outcomesimprove for everyone.
It took a while to convince theboards to embrace the community
school approach, but 19 yearsand 90 schools later says to me
(02:55):
we must have been doingsomething right.
The original purpose was tostrengthen the education,
obviously to strengthen theeducational outcomes for
students in the English system,but at the same time, built into
that was support to support thevitality of English speaking
community as a whole.
And this continues to be themission of CLCs today.
When I first heard about CLCs,I was school board commissioner,
(03:18):
sitting on the board ofdirectors at the Quebec English
School Boards Association.
And I knew right away that Ineeded to be involved.
I was working in communitydevelopment at the time, and I
immediately saw the value andthe importance of connecting
English schools and theircommunities.
I joined LEARN in 2010 as a CLCproject coordinator under the
(03:40):
provincial resource teamdirector at that time, Paul
Lange.
When Paul retired in 2017, Ihad the privilege of stepping
into the PRT director role tocontinue building on that
foundation.
Poll was one of the co-foundersof the CLC Initiative and had
been working for the Ministry ofEducation, implementing the New
Approaches and New Solutions,or NANS strategy, which targeted
(04:04):
schools in disadvantaged areas.
Both NANS and CLCs rely onschool community partnerships to
improve student success.
Hole was invited to join acommittee that had been mandated
to explore various models ofcommunity schools across North
America and Europe.
But this committee also knewthat they needed tailor it to
the Quebec context.
(04:24):
Everything has to have theQuebec, the Quebec flavor to it.
That Quebec vision was tocreate a network of community
schools across the Englisheducation system that could
contribute to improving studentengagement and achievement,
strengthening intergenerationalties, acting as a catalyst for
regional revitalization,ensuring that English schools
(04:47):
remained viable, valued, andvisible in their communities,
and most important, that theywere responsive to the
particular culture and needs ofeach of those communities.
And that's straight from thatthat's back from 2006.
That was an original vision forthe CLCs.
And they were envisioned tobecome not just places for
(05:08):
students to learn during theday, but the idea was to expand
the use of the school buildingsso that they could become places
for families, for seniors, forlocal organizations to gather,
to learn, and to connectthroughout the year, not just,
you know, not just from eight tothree.
And we can't forget the videoconferencing equipment that all
(05:28):
CLCs were given back in thedays.
It was supposed to be amoneymaker.
I don't know if you rememberthis first, but it was supposed
to be a moneymaker for theschool boards.
But of course, it neveramounted to that.
But it wasn't hard to get theschool boards on board at first,
as there was also considerablefunding that was attached to get
a CLC up and running.
And that that funding has sortof fizzled out a little bit.
(05:51):
But what I would say, what allCLCs have in common, and really
what drives the sustainabilityof Quebec's community schools,
is having the presence of acommunity development agent or a
CDA in each CLC.
Their role is to integratecommunity-based resources into
school programming to enhancestudent learning.
(06:12):
And CDAs really are the drivingforce behind the community
school approach.
They build the bridges betweenschools, families, and community
partners.
Chris Colley (06:22):
Interesting.
So the network is really thepower behind this idea.
I mean, 90 schools acrossEnglish English boards.
It's pretty amazing.
But what were some of thosechallenges?
I imagine that it wasn't all,you know, rosies and roses and
puppies.
Like there were, I'm sure,scaling and and and figuring out
(06:46):
how to keep this responsive tothe community and also keep that
network expanding.
Can you talk to that?
Debbie Horrocks (06:53):
Yep.
Well, you're right.
It's been quite a journey.
We knew that scaling up wasnever going to be simple.
It could never be aone-size-fits-all process.
And every board wanted to do ita little differently.
So, and some boards didn't wantanything to do with expansion.
But we have to remember thatevery school and every community
is different.
(07:13):
And even if they're in the sameschool board, you know, they
they can experience somesignificant differences.
And we know that what worksbeautifully in the Gas Bay, for
instance, isn't might not workin Montreal, and vice versa.
Or, you know.
So from the start, our focus onthe PRT was really to build a
flexible framework that would bestrong enough to hold the
(07:34):
network together, but adaptableenough to let each community
make it their own.
We spent the first probably 10years of the initiative may
training our network on this, onthe guidebook and this and
that.
And then things, then it sortof has when when it became a
little more prescriptive, whenour role became a little more
prescriptive by the ministry, wesort of had to move towards a
(07:56):
little less of the guidebook.
But the but the the intentionsthat of the original guidebook
are still in place today.
We have had our challenges.
And I would probably say thatsustainability and funding.
CLCs are a classic example ofdoing more with less.
Most of them operate on asingle source of government
(08:19):
funding, which has never been asustainable model.
Many boards supplement theirCLCs with funding from other
envelopes and programs.
And the PRT and the schools areconstantly looking for creative
funding solutions for newgrants, for project
opportunities to help, you know,CLCs offer programming in their
schools.
And our CDAs have been havebecome grant writing experts out
(08:42):
of necessity.
And, you know, sustainabilityand funding, it's it's not
that's not unknown to a lot ofcommunity organizations.
So recruitment and retention,it's another ongoing issue,
especially in our rural andremote areas.
There's no official jobclassification for the CDAs.
Every board has a different hasa diff have a different
(09:03):
classification.
The working conditions can varyacross boards.
So maintaining consistency canbe tough.
Equity, you know, it's anequity, but they're all
expected, all the CDAs areexpected to do the same job, but
their working conditions arenot always equitable.
Connectivity is a is a hugechallenge.
The community school approachis all about building
(09:23):
relationships, connecting.
And when we couldn't bringtogether the network together
annually in person, we've reallyfelt the impact.
We used to host conferences.
We started out hosting twoconferences a year, and they
were everybody came.
We had amazing feedback fromall participants.
Then we went down to oneconference a year, and then we
(09:45):
hadn't had one in seven years.
And the impact, we we saw theimpact.
Changes in funding withoutregular opportunities for the
CLC leaders and partners andcommunity stakeholders, because
it's not the conferences weren'tjust for CLC, it was for our
partners and communitystakeholders.
And it was an opportunity tolearn, to gather, to share.
But doing that in personwithout having the capacity to
(10:10):
do that in person, the socialfabric of the network, the web
of relationships start to fray.
And the richness of suchin-person experiences can't
really be replicated virtuallyor in fragmented communication.
So, you know, that whole thingof connectivity, if you're
building relationships, you haveto connect at some point.
And it is what it is.
(10:31):
And I guess visibility.
Even now, 19 years in, thereare still people across the
English education sector whohave never heard of a CLC, let
alone the community schoolapproach.
Only a few schools in eachboard are CLC schools, with the
exception of New FrontiersSchool Board, which has every
school is a CLC.
So the approach hasn't alwayshad the visibility it deserves.
(10:55):
But and it's something wecontinue to work on every year.
So that's all the challenges,but we've also had some great
successes.
And I would say honestly, itall comes down to the people.
That's been our biggestsuccess.
The passion and dedication ofthe educators, the principals,
the CDAs, the communitypartners, and the families who
(11:15):
drive this work from the groundup, because it is a ground,
ground-up initiative.
We've also seen that incrediblegrowth you spoke about.
We went from 15 schoolsstarting off to 90 right now.
And we did we did that inphases, giving each wave of
schools time to adapt to themodel and adapt the model to
their own local context.
(11:35):
And throughout the these fourfour phases, the PRT invested
heavily in providingprofessional development,
mentoring, and coaching for theCLC teams.
That capacity building piecehas always been crucial and
remains a key element of ourmandate to this day.
Another big win, howcommunity-driven the model is.
(11:58):
Each CLC reflects thepriorities of its own community,
its grassroots.
It creates its own action plan.
And that local ownership ispart of why the CLCs have lasted
and have grown.
They have local partners, theywork with their municipalities,
their local CLSC, their Maisonde Famille, various community
(12:19):
organizations.
And they also connect with someof the provincial ones, the
larger partners that we're goingto speak about in a minute.
Eventually, I sit on a numberof community development tables,
both in education and in thewider community.
And that in itself has helpedspread visibility and create
awareness of the CLC initiativewhile also creating a lot of
opportunities for collaboration.
(12:40):
A great example, and they havebecome great partners, is we've
been at had the privilege ofworking with several, several of
the centers of excellence, inparticular those friendship
focused on mental health,autism, and school climate, all
key elements in our schoolsthese days.
And they've all broughtincredible learning
(13:01):
opportunities and resources intothe CLC schools.
The centers of excellence arean underutilized resource for
all of our schools, as far asI'm concerned.
And of course, the CDA, thatrole itself, that we couldn't be
that that's the biggest pieceof our success.
That role is transformative.
We often say that the CDA hasone foot in the school and one
(13:22):
foot in the community, and thatthey bridge both worlds,
aligning community initiativeswith school goals so that we're
all working towards the sameoutcomes.
So we've had a lot ofsuccesses, challenges along the
way, but we're still chuggingalong and made some amazing
partnerships along the way.
Chris Colley (13:40):
I love too, Debbie, that you're saying that
the relationship building is thekey of it.
You know, I mean, we say thatin in in you know public
education as well, that ifyou're not building those
relationships, things fragment,you know, and and and start to
dissolve a little bit.
Debbie Horrocks (13:56):
So absolutely.
And part and relationships taketime to build.
You have to build the trust andyou it takes time.
So you know it's not anovernight process.
So it can take years sometimesto to connect with the right
partner and find the find thatone project or that one thing
that you want to work ontogether.
Chris Colley (14:13):
Right.
And and I assume too oftentimesthe CLCs are kind of in a
little bit of an isolation aswell, where there's not maybe as
many English schools aroundwhere they can collaborate with
one another.
You're looking for a communityto, you know, to bring into the
school so that the school doeshave those opportunities that
are out there in the community.
Debbie Horrocks (14:35):
Absolutely.
We have CLCs that are veryisolated in in remote regions,
like the whole where the thecommittee Santa Saint Viscolaire
du Littoral, the littoral usedto be the Littoral School Board,
uh is has uh four CLCs, andthey're about as isolated as you
can get up on the North Shoreof Quebec.
And you know, parts of theCentral Quebec School Board, the
(14:58):
Bay, the Bay Como area, it'shigh highly, you know, you've
got these really tiny schools,eastern shores, some really tiny
schools, then these schools areoften the last English
institution in thosecommunities.
So it's really important.
So yeah, it can be veryisolating.
So that network, having thatnetwork is really has really
been a an important piece of ofbeing at community schools.
Chris Colley (15:21):
Absolutely vital, I would say, you know, those
connections.
And I mean, the collaborationshave been there's a plethora of
collaborations that havedeveloped since its beginning
phases, you know, mental healthprojects with the CSSN, Elan,
having artists participate inclassrooms and and just
(15:42):
wonderful collaborations thattake place.
Can you share some of thosecommunity vitality through
education?
Debbie Horrocks (15:49):
Absolutely.
As you said, collaboration isat really at the heart of what
CLCs do.
Community schools are built onthe idea that when schools,
families, and communityorganizations work together, we
can better address the holisticneeds of students.
Not just academically, butsocially and emotionally too.
Our data shows that CLCprogramming and activities
(16:11):
contribute significantly,significantly to improving
school climate.
Over the years, we've built somany partnerships, but I guess
the one that really stands outand one that has been especially
strategic, particularlystrategic, is our collaboration
with, as you said, the CommunityHealth and Social Services
Network, or the CHSSN.
We've been working togethersince 2008.
(16:32):
And what makes it such anatural fit is that we share a
common mission (16:36):
supporting the English-speaking community.
For Learn and the CLCs, that'sthrough education.
For CHSSN, that's throughpromoting health, wellness, and
access to services in English.
And working together, we'vebeen able to bring mental health
resources, family engagementprograms, early childhood
initiatives right into theschools and directly to
(16:58):
families.
This has been especiallyimpactful in some of those rural
and remote areas where accessto such services in English can
be very limited.
And don't get me wrong, some ofthis is even some there are
some schools that havechallenges reaching accessing
services in in English in thegreater in the in the large
urban areas too.
So it's not just, it's not justa rural thing.
(17:21):
But for CHSSN and the CLCs, ifyou think about it, our
strengths really complement eachother.
So still see schools havestrong connections with families
and youth, but we don't havedeep health and social service
capacity.
Whereas CHSSN, on the otherhand, has incredible expertise
and partnerships in the healthsector, but limited access to
(17:42):
youth and family engagementspaces.
So by working together, CHSSNprograms reach more people
through a school network, andour schools gain access to CHSSN
data, funding, and expertise.
I would say over the past 15years that we've been working
together or more, it's been a,you know, it's been a powerful
cross-sector collaboration thatreally has helped bridge and
(18:05):
break down those traditionalsilos of health and education.
I know we keep hearing fromyears, you know, education and
health, they need to talk moreoften.
The mech and the mess need totalk more often.
And you don't see it happeningvery often.
Well, it actually happens inthe community schools.
Another wonderful partnershiphas been with the English
Language Arts Network, or ELAN.
Through that partnership, we'vebeen able to bring more
(18:27):
English-speaking artists intothe schools.
These artists help studentsexplore their identity and their
culture through creativeexpression, which not only
enriches what the students arelearning in the classroom, but
also helps connect them moredeeply to who they are and where
they come from.
It's building a sense ofbelonging and identity.
And all of this to me goes backto the simple reality that
(18:49):
schools can't do it aloneanymore.
The community school approachhas opened doors to a whole
network of communityorganizations that want to offer
their services and expertiseand creativity to support
students and families.
And these strategicpartnerships must be reciprocal
and to be meaningful andsustainable.
(19:09):
For schools, it's easy, it'seasy to think of partnerships of
people coming in to help or todeliver services.
But the true communitypartnership is about an
exchange.
The schools offer access tofamilies, to students into that
community space.
And that partner organizationbrings in its expertise,
resources, and perspective.
And when both sides see thevalue in what the other offers,
(19:31):
that's when the collaborationreally thrives.
So for example, when a healthorganization like the CHSSN
partners with the CLC school,they gain access to the
communities and youth that theymight not have otherwise been
able to reach.
While at the same time, theschool gains access to expertise
in programming that strengthensstudents and family well-being.
(19:52):
Both sides are meeting theirindividual mandates and end up
being stronger together.
But there's another, there'sanother piece in there that
about it's not just how theywork together, there's also an
interesting cultural reciprocitythat happens.
Schools start to learn fromtheir community partners.
Things like the local context,the strengths and the assets in
(20:12):
the neighborhood, the familydynamics, the cultural identity,
and even how to collaboratewith groups outside of
education.
And at the same time, thecommun the community partners,
and this is really important,and it's been a bit of a
struggle.
Community partners need tolearn how schools operate, how
to connect with young people,how to align what they do with
(20:33):
the school's learning goals, andhow to navigate things as
simple as like the schoolcalendar or the daily calendar
from the school.
Because honestly, school andcommunity organizations, they
often run on completelydifferent schedules.
And so I said there has been abit of a learning curve at
first.
Over time, that back and forthlearning really builds trust.
And that's what makes thepartnerships more stronger and
(20:57):
more sustainable.
And I guess at the end of theday, anyone connected to the CLC
network will say thatpartnerships are at the heart of
the community school approach.
And when we invite others tothe table to share ownership of
the outcomes, that's when we'retalking start talking about
collective impact.
No single organization orsector can achieve lasting
(21:17):
social change alone.
It requires many stakeholdersto coordinate their efforts
around a common agenda.
And in this case, that agendais student achievement and
success.
Chris Colley (21:27):
Wow.
Yeah, I I really appreciate toowhat you were saying about how
community and school don't.
I mean, sometimes it can be apretty hard fit because they
kind of run in different lanesbut rely on one another, you
know, like they need oneanother.
Debbie Horrocks (21:42):
Absolutely.
And you know, we used to hearhow community partners would try
to get into a particularschool, but they couldn't even
get past the school secretary,right?
Right.
There was that that gatekeeperthere.
But that's what the CLC sayshad bringing the community in
and introducing the communityschool approach to not only to
the you know the the principaland a few of the teachers, but
(22:02):
it's introducing them to thewhole school concept of this is
what it means to have community.
And then yeah, it's gonna haveto, you're gonna have to change
the way you have traditionallyoperated or worked, but you
know, there's a benefit in it.
And the benefit to us thebenefits outweigh the what's the
expression, the benefitsoutweigh the the crunches.
Yeah, the benefits whatever.
Chris Colley (22:24):
Totally, totally.
I love that.
I love that idea.
And I mean, I guess you seethis too.
Like when you I mean, you'vebeen doing this for a while,
like when you see finally thelanes starting to merge
together, I mean that must be avery uh special thing to to be a
part of.
Could yeah, talk to us a littlebit about like how people and
(22:48):
communities have changed sinceyou've been involved with the
CLCs?
Have you seen shifts that arestarting to happen?
Debbie Horrocks (22:56):
I I see shifts in in some regions and in some
school boards.
I think one of the challengesand another challenge, well, it
goes back to the retainment, theretaining of and the
recruitment of personnel.
There's a constant, and and youknow this well, there's a
revolving door in education,right?
Whether it's principals,whether it's at the management
level, or whether it's even onthe ground or CDAs, there's a
(23:17):
constant, a constant revolvingdoor of new people.
But I guess attitudes havechanged.
We certainly have, we'recertainly feeling that our the
Ministry of Education, who isour who's our our main funder,
has really started to understandthe community school approach.
They're really putting a focuson it.
(23:38):
They're encouraging, you know,they have their whole strategic
theme of Ecole FamilleCommunauté, and and they they
built this into it.
They've supported research onour extended model project.
So they've really become thethe ministry seems to be taking
greater and greater interest init.
That's the way it was at thebeginning.
And then there was this periodsort of we were used to be in
(23:58):
the MEQ strategic plan.
The CLCs used to be written hadbeen written into the strategic
strategic plan.
And then when the French schoolstarted asking for CLCs, they
had to take us out of, they hadto take us out of the strategic
plan.
So they didn't want to, butit's sort of got a bit of a, you
know, you everything goes in aand it has its ups and downs,
sort of ebbs and flows.
(24:18):
And we're sort of at that pointwhere we're getting more and
more of that ministry supportnow.
It but it's Anglo funding, it'sminority language funding.
So they needed to find theirown stream of funding to support
it, and that wasn't as evident,I guess.
But anyway.
Yeah, I guess when we talkabout what I'm proud of over the
years, it's not really onesingle project or an event.
(24:42):
We've worked with a lot ofwe've worked on a lot of great
projects, but really stands outto me is how the culture of
collaboration and the sense ofbelonging has grown.
I watch schools move from beingmostly service providers, you
know, you have the karateteacher come in and you have the
knitting teacher come in orwhatever, to becoming real hubs
(25:03):
of community life.
So things are happening forstudents, for staff, for
families, for the widercommunity.
Everybody's engaged in schoollife.
And that's really true in theagain.
I can't keep mentioning therural and remote schools, but I
really think the impact on thoserural and remote schools and
school boards has really beensignificant.
You know, the the legacy I hopeto leave is about really about
(25:26):
people and relationships.
We've got my PRT, the PRT, mythe provincial resource team,
that's my team at Learn.
They're such a talented,thoughtful, and caring group.
They they teach me things everyday.
They bring those quality andthey bring those qualities to
everything they do.
It's been amazing to see howthey've each shaped and grown
the work in their own ways.
(25:47):
And the broader learn team, youknow, we don't work together
very much, you and I.
But I've always appreciated thecommitment and positive energy
that and welcome and the feelingmade us feel welcome at Learn.
And we because we have a sharedpurpose.
My CLC principals, my CLC,they're not my CLC principles,
(26:08):
but the CLC principles andschool board reps play a really
important role, accompanying anadvisory role.
They're very busy people.
We try not to bother ourprincipals too much, but they're
key, they're key, they're key,they're key leaders.
They have to work incollaboration very closely with
their CDA.
Principals and school boardreps, they juggle a lot, they're
(26:28):
wearing lots of hats,especially in the smaller
boards, but they still take thetime, they still make the extra
effort to work with their CLCteams, to connect with community
partners, and to support thecommunity school approach in
lots of ways.
And their willingness to engagethat way when their time is so
limited really makes adifference.
And again, I've said it, I cannever say it enough though, the
(26:49):
CDAs.
I've seen so many of them growinto strong community leaders
themselves after they've leftthe initiative or left the
school or even with still withinthe school system.
They're just an amazing groupof people.
It's never been about oneperson or one program.
It's been always about acommunity of people who care
deeply and want to work togetherto make things happen.
(27:11):
A great example, you know, evenwhen people move on, whether
it's to a new role or a newschool or even a new community,
that spirit of collaborationstays with them.
And they carry that belief inconnection and community
wherever you wherever they go.
So a recent example that reallytouched me is I was approached
the Cadavic School Board Northreached out because they want to
(27:32):
bring the community schoolapproach to their northern
schools.
And who's leading the effort?
A former CLC principal and aformer CDA.
So to me, that says so muchthat people see the value of
this approach and the impactthat it's having on students in
communities, and they want tobring that to their communities.
Funding obviously is a wholeother issue for them.
They have other differentstreams of funding, but the fact
(27:54):
that they they see the value inthis and they think it would
help help their students andtheir communities is really, you
know, really impressive.
I guess, you know, schools thatwe we often hear how schools
operate in silos, but nowthey're they're and but they're
now seen as trusted communitypartners in many community in
many communities, right?
They're open, they'reresponsive, they're really
(28:16):
connected to what's going on inthe community.
I've had the chance to visitmost of our schools across the
across the province, and we'veseen schools and communities
become more resilient, morecreative, and more confident,
even through the challenges, youknow, like the pandemic and the
never-ending political ups anddowns in Quebec that we always
(28:36):
face.
So my approach has always beenone to empower others, to give
people room, to take initiative,to innovate, to be creative and
to lead.
You know, it's something thatevolves depending upon the
people in the context.
So that I say, yeah, the onething I'm most proud of truly is
the people, the relationships,and the culture of collaboration
(28:57):
that's taken root and keepsgrowing.
The collaboration wasn't therebefore we were end.
I think in in many ways, theCLCs are better understood
outside the education communitythan inside the education
community.
Chris Colley (29:12):
Great, right.
I mean, there's still work tobe done, but I love that example
that you gave, Debbie, aboutthe relationships are there.
They're they're there andthey're finding one another as
time rolls on because the circlekeeps getting bigger.
I think that's a truetestament.
It kind of brings us, you know,full circle here.
I guess my last question,Debbie, kind of reflecting on on
(29:36):
you know what has happened inthe past and maybe future
looking, you've you've uhcreated an amazing team, and and
I I get that love and therelationship that is there
amongst either through attendinga CL CL CLC conference or you
know, just hanging out with youguys socially sometimes.
You know, like it's you havethat relationship that you've
(29:57):
instilled in in the team.
Greater across Quebec.
What are you hoping that theycarry keep carrying forward in
the CLC initiative as you kindof take a knee and and let
leader other leadership to takeplace?
Where are you at with that?
Debbie Horrocks (30:17):
As I look ahead, I hope that the next
generation of educators andcommunity leaders will continue
to see our English schools ascatalysts for community
engagement and renewal.
The landscape is changing.
The declining demographics isstill a challenge, enrollment
issues, increased use oftechnology gets people from, you
(30:37):
know, takes away from thatconnectivity, and the social
norms are shifting.
But to me, education andcommunity must remain
inseparable.
Communities and schools needleaders who embrace
collaboration, who are alwaysasking who else needs to be at
the table?
How can our community schoolsbe the place where everyone
(30:59):
feels they belong?
My biggest hope is that one dayevery school will be a
community school and that peoplewill continue to approach this
work with heart and passion.
Chris Colley (31:11):
Yeah.
Well, Debbie, I want to thankyou.
You will never be forgotten.
You're going to be greatlymissed.
But you're leaving such alegacy and so many seeds and so
many people, and have developedrelationships with so many
people in schools andcommunities that I mean, you'll
live on in everything that we doas we go forward.
(31:32):
I wish you an amazingretirement as well.
It's well deserved.
You have been a trooper outthere on the front line for
decades, fighting for communityand schools and vitality and the
English community.
And that will never beforgotten, no matter what
happens in the future.
It's been really, really greathaving you share your thoughts
(31:57):
about the past and into thefuture.
It's been a real privilege towork with you and a real
privilege to have this littlebit of time to talk with you as
well.
So I thank you for that.
Debbie Horrocks (32:08):
Thank you, Chris.
I appreciate it.
My passion comes out throughemotions.
So I yeah.
Chris Colley (32:17):
We love you for it.
We've always needed thatpassion, and seeing it and
feeling it is amazing.
Debbie Horrocks (32:25):
I just wear it up my sleeve.
Chris Colley (32:27):
Thanks so much, Debbie.
Debbie Horrocks (32:29):
Thank you.
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