The Final Chapter

by Angela Sanford

   Today's the day: my last official day as an educator.

   Though I believe we are all teachers every day, I just won't be getting a paycheque from the province for doing it anymore.

   In 1991, I changed programs from a Bachelor of Science in Food and Nutrition and began what would become my lifelong career in education at Nova Scotia Teachers College. I completed my degree in the last week of January 1995 as part of the final full graduating class of NSTC and accepted my first term position at Brooklyn Elementary School the following week. In fact, I had to request a day off to attend my own graduation ceremony!

   Over the years, I worked in two school districts—or technically, three, if you count the original Hants West District School Board, where I began my career, before the transition to regional centres for education. I witnessed name changes, restructuring, and countless other changes to the education system along the way.

   During my 30-plus years, I taught every grade except Grade 7. After a few short stints in the lower elementary grades, I used to joke with administrators that if they assigned me to another lower elementary classroom, I knew it was because they wanted me to move on! I had found my passion in the middle and high school years, where I felt most at home.

   I couldn't begin to name, let alone count, all the students I've taught or the changes I've witnessed in education. Over the years, I worked in 6 schools (aside from substituting and coaching) under 10+ different principals. One of those schools even closed for health and environmental reasons - which had a significant impact on my health that year.

   What I can count are the friendships, the colleagues who became friends, and the students and staff who became an extension of my family year after year. Those relationships are among the greatest gifts of a career in education.

   I began teaching in the days when report cards had to be handwritten onto carbon paper. One mistake meant starting the entire process over to ensure no errors made their way home to parents. We tracked fire drills and attendance on paper and sometimes spent a significant portion of the last day of school making sure our rocket sheets balanced. You weren't going home until they did!

   I taught before the internet and web browsing existed, when teaching was a life choice, not simply an employment option. Decisions about Saturday nights sometimes included the question, Will the parents of my students be there? Not that I ever did anything I wouldn't want my own parents to see, but there was something a little strange about attending a dance or community event alongside your students' parents. And, truthfully, there were some of their choices I didn't particularly want to witness either!

   I found myself teaching French immersion because one principal believed in my abilities far more than I believed in myself. That principal arranged an interview with another principal, and I eventually secured my permanent contract. Sometimes, someone else's belief in you is exactly what you need to take the next step.

   Although I'll never stop being a teacher, I did take a hiatus from the classroom, working in different roles with provincial departments before returning to finish my career as a literacy coach.

   That final chapter was simultaneously the most rewarding and the most challenging. It stretched me in new ways, introduced me to new colleagues and perspectives, and reminded me that there is always more to learn. But that chapter, too, has now come to an end.

   Now it's time to celebrate a career I'm proud of and feel honoured to have had the opportunity to experience. It's time to celebrate the privilege of retirement, because not everyone gets that opportunity. And it's time to look forward to whatever comes next.

   The chapters that follow may not have bells, lesson plans, staff meetings, or report cards, but I'm certain they'll have plenty of learning, new experiences, and opportunities to make a difference.

   After all, retirement may mean the end of my official career as an educator, but it doesn't mean I'm done teaching, learning, or being curious about the world around me.

   The school bell may have rung for the last time on my career, but the story is far from over.