Eric Hamber’s New Principal
Photo Credit: Kaylen Yip
As Hamber students enter a new school year in a new building, they have been greeted by a new face: Mr. J. Lauzon (Administration) joined the school in September as our newest principal.
Mr. Lauzon grew up and went to high school in North Vancouver. He started his career as a support worker and then he did his teaching degree at Simon Fraser University, and his master’s degree at the University of British Columbia.
After all of this education, Mr. Lauzon began his career as a teacher at Vancouver Technical, where he taught for nine years. After working at Templeton, Mr Lauzon applied to become a principal, serving at King George for over three years, and then Tupper for four years.
Though his teaching career has taken him to several schools in the district, Mr. Lauzon is excited about new opportunities here at Hamber.
“My wish for this community is to have these be the five most special years of your life,” he said in an interview with The Nest.
Mr. Lauzon has lots of ideas about how the job of a principal has changed over the 17 years he has spent in administration. “Years ago, there was far more flexibility with regard to how schools are run, but now there’s more oversight,” he said. “But there’s a positive part of it; it’s good to have a lot of support from the district.”A firm believer in the educational potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology, Mr. Lauzon holds a unique perspective on the topic. “I don’t think teachers should pretend like it’s going to go away. I think it’s like the internet, where you can pretend that it’s not accessible, but it absolutely is,” he explained. “I’m interested in finding ways to enhance teaching and learning with AI, rather than treating it as a threat that we’re always trying to catch kids cheating with.”
He emphasizes that students still need to use critical thinking and innovation with AI. “Students have to think: do I just take everything at face value, or do I need to edit some of this stuff?”
As the days of Covid restrictions fade into the past, many Hamber students have been excited for school events to return to their former glory. However, new regulations have often made it difficult for schools to host exciting events.
Mr. Lauzon states he wants to “remove these barriers” and that “allowing [the school] to do things together, is a big part of re-establishing community.”
“It’s easy to say no, but that’s not supporting you to have agency in your community,” Lauzon shared. “It’s easy to say no, but it’s much harder to say: ‘okay, let’s see how we can get there.’”
Lauzon strives to be an approachable leader, who prioritizes and serves the needs of staff and students.“I’m new, I’m still learning, and I really want to find out what this school wants from me,” he says, ”but I want to find the way to ‘yes.’”
However, while he has big responsibilities, he believes students should be stepping up and pursuing the challenge of rebuilding community.
His message to Hamber students? “I want you guys to think, ‘Hey! We can do something big, but it’ll take a little bit of time and effort,’ and my goal is to support you guys through the process.