This article is part of the Tri-City News' Back to School series this and next month.
Manjit Rai already has her feet wet as a principal.
In April, the vice principal of Centennial Secondary was promoted to lead Coquitlam’s biggest high school after Anthony Ciolfitto won a district role as assistant superintendent.
It was the first time Rai had been appointed to a top school position after moving to the Coquitlam district in 2017 to become a vice principal at Heritage Woods Secondary in Port Moody.
Previously, she had been in Burnaby for 22 years where she taught biology and psychology and was a science department head for six years.
But Centennial Secondary, she said, is unique from other schools she’s worked at as it has deep roots in the community, being now the oldest high school in School District 43 (SD43).
And being the head Centaur makes her proud.
“We say, ‘Once a Centaur, Always a Centaur,’” she told the Tri-City News during a tour of the Poirier Street digs on Thursday, Aug. 29.
Renovated in 2018, the high school is located in the Poirier precinct that includes the:
- Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex
- Poirier branch of the Coquitlam Public Library
- 50-plus Dogwood Pavilion
- Centennial Oval
- SD43 offices
- new Neighbourhood Learning Centre
- shared with the City of Coquitlam as a Welcome Centre for immigrants
Having these types of civic facilities so close by gives Centennial students an edge especially for sports, Rai said, noting the school’s excellence in its athletics programs like football, soccer and ice hockey.
As well, with the Neighbourhood Learning Centre now complete, the 1,580 students students — including 132 international students and 80 Indigenous students — and staff at Centennial will be able to use that adjacent facility more for PE/fitness and academic classes instead of spilling over to the nearby Vanier Centre, she said.
Specialized pods
Still, it’s the transformation of the four pods, or specialized learning areas, inside Centennial Secondary that Rai is eager to highlight for the new academic year.
The first, focusing on Indigenous learning, is now finished thanks to a team of woodworking and visual arts students and district staff who designed the art with Kwakwakaʼwakw First Nation Elder John Henderson, Sr.
Titled “Our Ancestors, Our Heritage,” the wall and table pieces are modelled after the traditions of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation, whose flag also flies in the school lobby.
“This is really a proud place for our students and staff because it’s something that our kids generated,” she said of the Indigenous Pod.
Up next will be the Multicultural Pod in which students will put the spotlight on the Seven Wonders of the World and translate welcoming greetings on the wall in a variety of languages.
Centennial’s other strengths heading into the new school year are its musical theatre and auto maintenance programs, as well as its leadership group, which boasts about 85 students in grades 9 to 12, Rai said.
With vice principals Karen Edgell Cornish, Stephanie Pagliaro and Bryan Jackson, Rai said she and her team are excited to reunite with students and get to know the cohort that’s coming in new to Centennial.
“I think my goal is to empower them and to listen to them,” she said.
“I want them to take advantage of the opportunities that the school has to offer. I want them to get involved and make connections, and I want to get to know them better. After all, being part of the school community helps with their overall mental and social development.”
Tomorrow, the Tri-City News will feature the new principal at Heritage Woods Secondary in Port Moody: Cheryl Woods, the former vice principal of Summit Middle School in Coquitlam.
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