About Tanya Coghill

Tanya Coghill, one of the Abbotsford School District’s long serving

volunteers, is running for trustee in the upcoming by-election. Selected as

the 2023 recipient of the Abbotsford Board of Education’s annual Community

Matters Award, and featured as a Hero in Education in the Abbotsford News

for her exceptional volunteer contribution in education, Tanya has been

serving Abbotsford schools since 2007.

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Born and raised in Abbotsford, married for 29 years and counting, and

mother of two, she has been involved in the community for decades in

leadership roles with: local sports organizations, the Children’s Ministry at

Central Heights Church, the Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) at the schools

where her children attended, developing a presentation that advocates for

gender equity and highlights the experience of the girls in our educational

system, and, most recently, supporting, teaching, and modeling leadership

for a wide portfolio of school parent groups in the district.

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Even though her children have graduated and moved on to university, she

continues to lend her leadership to ever changing roles. In 2022 she took on

the unique experience of helping to open Abbotsford’s newest school, Irene

Kelleher Totí:ltawtxw. “That year was busy. There was so much work to do,

and we were exhausted, pulling some 15 hour days right before we opened,

but it was amazing and so rewarding to be a part of everything that went

into opening a brand new site.” Tanya recalls. From unpacking boxes and

setting up classrooms, to coordinating volunteers, organizing the new PAC

and handwriting library cards for every student, she was there with her

motto of ‘Serving With Joy’.

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Her reputation is widespread throughout the district and beyond, as she has

supported schools, mentored PACs, shared techniques and implemented

strategies across elementary, middle and secondary campuses. She credits

her 35 year career in customer service management for helping her connect

with people of all backgrounds and lived experiences, and enjoys getting to

know the people she supports in the district. She encourages parents to be

partners in education and when it comes to the kids, she wants “Every

student who enters our buildings to feel welcomed, safe, and accepted for

who they are.”Given her extensive time volunteering, and depth of knowledge about the

school system, she recognizes the complexity of the ever changing

educational landscape: “I’ve been very involved in sharing the board’s

strategic plans and the district budget with the school planning councils and

PACs that I either represented over the years or am mentoring now, and

know full well the financial obstacles at both individual school and district

levels.” She went on to say, “We are facing more than budget challenges.

Other factors including staffing shortages are making things difficult for our

administrators, teachers and support staff.”

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She has been around for the district adjustments over the past 19 years,

and is thrilled to see the new leadership making immediate changes that

have positively impacted the team. “A happy staff means happy students,”

she notes, “And I am excited to see key steps being taken to create an

environment that will attract and retain quality employees and leadership. I

would love to be a part of building that culture in collaboration with the

district’s management, students, parents and staff - because we are

stronger together.”

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You can connect with Tanya through her email coghilltanya@gmail.com, or

on her webpage tanyacoghill.ca .