Editor's note: BarrieToday has asked candidates for school board trustee in Barrie to provide a synopsis of why they are running for public office. The following is from Amanda Fellows, who is running for Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB) trustee in Barrie Wards 6-10. Municipal elections take place Oct. 24. For more election coverage, visit our 2022 municipal election page by clicking here, where you can find candidate profiles and other election news.
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Amanda Fellows grew up in Barrie and is an SMCDSB alumna, having graduated from St. John Vianney Catholic School and St. Peter's Catholic Secondary School. Amanda and her husband, Emmanuel, have two children who currently attend SMCDSB schools – one at the elementary level and one in high school. She believes that faith-based education provides young people with solid underpinnings built of important values.
Through her direct work in high schools, Amanda sees first-hand how important Catholic education is in providing students with a family-like environment that supports their growth and ability to achieve their fullest potential by keeping parish, home and school connected. As a trustee, she intends to continue advocating for publicly funded Catholic education.
At work, Amanda has held progressively responsible positions throughout her 10-year tenure at Catholic Family Services of Simcoe County. In her current role as program manager of community development, she develops and oversees the implementation of mental wellness programming that addresses urgent community needs through collaborative services. For example, she currently leads a county-wide service-access program for teens and young adults in partnership with five other community agencies.
She also creates and administers the delivery of in-school workshops supporting student mental health.
In the 2021-2022 school year, her program delivered more than 100 wellness workshops to 3,000-plus students.
In addition to her work at Catholic Family Services, Amanda runs a consulting business developing training material and volunteer programs in support of highly vulnerable community members. She is also an active volunteer who sits on the Barrie Housing board of directors and the Supervised Alternative Learning Committee for the Peel District School Board.
As the 2022-2023 school year begins, Amanda is committed to championing the health and well-being of board staff, students and families after two years of challenges and change. As trustee, she intends to fulfil her duty to hold the director of education and school board administration accountable to the objectives of current strategic plan.
Amanda’s unique and multi-faceted perspective – from parent to in-class educational specialist to system partner – provides a solid foundation for the trustee position. Her leadership skills, understanding of community needs, advocacy work and passion for serving youth and their families will set her up for success in this role and ensure her constituents are well represented at the policy level in the local Catholic education system.
