Yesterday, I received a notification in Facebook that my old elementary school was soon to be demolished. I will admit that I was a little teary eyed thinking about it as this was a place where I met many people that have been major influences in my life, along with friends that I am still close to currently.
I decided to write about some of my memories of school, and as I do when I write in this blog, I just wrote. As I started to think back about my teachers, I decided to think of something about each one that I remember. Leaving that school almost 23 years ago, I was amazed at really how much my time at the school has influenced what I am doing today. I always loved school but I didn’t really realize how much until I wrote yesterday.
I thought I would share what I wrote in that post and hope that I can inspire others to think about their time in school and the impact their teachers had on them.
One of my first memories as a child was my mom walking me to school on the first day of kindergarten. I still can visualize the jacket I was wearing.I remember playing football and soccer in the fields pretty much every day we could. We would rush out and I remember my brother Alec always telling me how much I stunk from the sweat. I didn’t care because I could have played all day.
One memory I have was Kelly Bates making this amazing, one-handed catch in the front of the school playing football and we were all in awe. Who knew he would become a CFL player.
I remember auditioning for a play and telling Jay Kennedy that he would not get the part because his voice wasn’t low enough and he punched me in the nose. We still joke about it to this day.
So many good memories and friends from that place; many of whom I am still close with to this day.
Here is what I remember about my “Homeroom” Teachers:
Kindergarten – Mrs. Joan Stock (There is no better way to start school then with this teacher. She was just amazing.)
Grade 1 – Mrs. Batty (I remember how excited I was to print in her class; something that we take for granted now but was so special to me then)
Grade 2 – Ms. Debrune (I remember starting cursive in her class and thinking it was so cool.)
Grade 3 – Mrs Penrose (Inspired a love of music that I still have. Always taught us “Chisenbop” which I still use to count to 100 on my fingers. She wrote on my grade 8 report card, “Follow your dreams as you have the talent to take you anywhere you want to go.” Remember being teary eyed in how much she believed in me.)
Grade 4 – Mrs. Butler (My first crush! At the end of the year, she wrote everyone a card and told them something that was special about them. Better than any award I ever received.)
Grade 5 – Mrs. Sloan (White Elephant Sale! The year-end party at her house playing lawn bowling was legendary and was something every student in the school looked forward to before they were in grade 5.)
Grade 6 – Mrs. Buehler (Always firm but when you can get her to laugh, it was a great moment!)
Grade 7 – Mr. Moshinski (Probably one of the most influential teachers I ever had. He was always hard on us, but it was done out of pure love. He would sit and have some of the best conversations with us ever. They always meant so much to me.)
Grade 8 – Mr. Hill (Still a friend to this day; he was beyond cool and showed me that it is so important to connect with kids and share what you love with them. I bet him that the Lakers would beat the Sonics in the playoffs, and because he lost, I made him wear a sweater on one of the hottest days in spring. Still think how powerful that was.)
Principals for my time there were Mr. Schweitzer, who was my first coach and gave me a of love basketball. The “Century Classic” was my favourite tournament ever. If he did not help me find basketball, my life would have taken a totally different path.
Mrs. Carol Oleksyn who had to deal with me going through puberty and being a brat. I remember her saying that she would call my mom and that I didn’t care, but when she said she would call my dad, I would do anything. She always pushed us to be better and I don’t know what would have happened to any of us if we did not have her guidance.
Amazing that I can still remember that much about elementary school. Hopefully my students will remember me as fondly. What I realize writing this is that it is never a building that is important, but the people that make it feel like home. I will miss that place but am glad we will always be able to share our memories with one another.
Go Panthers!
