Image: Supplied by Darren Ollinger / Darren Ollinger, who hosts a jazz show on 91.7 FM CIVL and studies at UFV, is one of 15 candidates seeking a seat on the Chilliwack school board in next month's municipal election.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Fall election

Darren Ollinger, a radio show host on 91.7 FM and longtime UFV student, seeks seat on Chilliwack school board

Sep 28, 2022 | 3:14 PM

CHILLIWACK — Longtime Chilliwack resident and Chilliwack Secondary School graduate Darren Ollinger has been a student of life and a mainstay at University of the Fraser Valley.

Since moving back to Chilliwack in 1998 from living abroad, Ollinger has attended UFV for over 20 years on a part-time basis, earning a diploma in general studies, a certificate in records management, and is presently pursuing a certificate in journalism.

He has logged 10 years of broadcasting experience with UFV radio station CIVL, 91.7 FM, as the host of JazzPlus. He’s also volunteered as a parish librarian for the past five years, and he’s one of 15 candidates seeking a seat on the seven-member Chilliwack school board in next month’s municipal election.

Ollinger draws inspiration from a philosophy professor of his who said, “There is no shortage of good books to read,” and says there is no shortage of books not worth reading.

“So then, I have a vested interest in what belongs in the public school’s library, drawing upon those influential works read in my time at Chilliwack Senior Secondary,” Ollinger wrote in an email.

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Ollinger said his campaign platform includes the philosophy of what parents expect that their children might be exposed to both in the curriculum and in the library. He also wants to see expenditures “balance on the mixed ratio of teachers and support staff (e.g., guidance counselors, psychiatrists, and social workers).”

“Considering what is reasonable to expect from the teachers who might be asked to perform support staff functions and extracurricular activities and being compensated for through their paycheque,” Ollinger wrote.

He hopes to see students prepared for further study and work based on their personal ability.

“Some may choose not to attend post secondary, and subsequently should be fitted within the community for a job matching their skills and abilities of competence,” Ollinger wrote. “Others may choose to study either at home or abroad.”

He envisions graduating students equipped with a strong vision for their purpose.

“To educate students with a sense of purpose and ethic,” Ollinger wrote. “That is, to give the student actual scenarios rather than teaching theory without application in the trades and at college and university, so as to take an interest in the student and find out what it is that they are good at and encourage them to pursue it.”