This year in Merritt, September marks the first day of school not just for students, but for two new principals.

Lori Stewart is the new principal of Bench Elementary and Bruce Bidney has taken on the job at Diamond Vale Elementary.

This will be Bidney’s second stint as a principal but it’s Stewart’s first principalship.

“This is my first principalship, so it really is a steep learning curve for me but I have over 30 years of education in my background,” Stewart said, noting her passion for educating.

Stewart worked in the Comox School District for 16 years, teaching from kindergarten to Grade 7 before taking this job.

Stewart said she was born in Ocean Falls B.C., went to high school in Richmond and has worked as a teacher in places such as Uranium City, Sask., Yellowknife, N.W.T., and Toronto.

She said she decided to move to Merritt for work to take on the administration side of education.

“I was looking for the next step for myself and I had completed my master’s in 2008 and it’s always been a dream for me to go into administration,” Stewart said.

She and her husband were looking for a bit of adventure and change when she found this job.

Bidney said he moved to Merritt to be closer to his family who live in the Lower Mainland and because it seems like a great place to raise his own family.

Bidney, who’s originally from Victoria, first worked as a teacher in Vancouver before catching the travel bug.

He went to Mexico City, Korea and Shanghai, where he lived and taught for four years before coming back to Canada and settling in Prince Rupert.

For the last five years, Bidney has been in the Burns Lake region, teaching for three years and working in administration for two. He said he finished a master’s degree last year.

During his first year as a vice-principal, Bidney said he was a bit intimidated by his elementary school students ? having only taught high school ? and would often ask the principal to deal with issues.

“Any time there was a problem down in the Kindergarten to [Grade] 3 area, I was like, ‘You go do it, I can’t, I’m scared of those little guys,” Bidney said with a laugh, adding he quickly became comfortable with children once he had his own.

Bidney said his goals for the year include building relationships, learning about the community and instilling school pride in his students.

“You want to be here first and then you can start working on your learning, your academics,” Bidney said.

As for Stewart’s goals for the school year, she believes it’s important to find out what the teachers and community value.

To gauge that, she will be holding a meeting later this month to discuss important issues with stakeholders such as parents and teachers, as well as Grade 7 students and support staff.

She said her main focus this year will be on building relationships with the teachers, staff and students of her new school.

“I also intend to roll up my sleeves and work alongside my staff as well because I am, in my heart, a teacher,” Stewart said.

Stewart said she views Merritt as her new permanent home, and will also have family close by as her two sons have found work in Merritt.

Bidney also said he can see himself settling down in Merritt.

“It’s got [the] best of both worlds. It’s got amenities of a city but you also have that small town for raising kids,” Bidney said.