The Portage la Prairie School Division's board chair has returned from a recent Manitoba School Boards Association conference feeling invigorated. It was Murray Mclenehan's first time attending one of the conferences, and says meeting with division representatives from across the province was a great opportunity.

"The neat part about the networking is that we hear different perspectives, but we also hear the same perspectives. They're having the same troubles that we are, but they're also dealing with it in different ways. What you really see is that the students and our staff are just an amazing combination of ideas, input, and innovation."

He says the biggest highlight of the conference was seeing Portage Collegiate Institute student Kirsten Trimble accepting the Manitoba School Boards Association Regional Citizenship award.

"Kirsten Trimble won, again, that will be two years ago. We thought she should have won it all, of course, but she won for our region and we're very, very proud of her. Then she got up, and nailed a perfect speech. It was absolutely incredible. It almost put the three candidates that spoke to the political platform to shame, because she could speak so well. Not that those three didn't but it was pretty amazing."

He says while the conference was exhausting with the amount of information being shared, he left the session feeling proud of the Portage la Prairie School Division.