During my second visit to St. Michael community school, I had the opportunity to meet other members of the school. To do this, my partner and I went around and interviewed other people and teachers in the school.

The first person we interviewed, named Denise, was the community school coordinator for St. Michael. She works at this school for 3 days a week and travels to St. Gregory for two. Denise told us how she is in charge of donations, which are most often given from non-profit organizations. She also works with individual families for interviews about care for the students and will even help out with taking care of the kids. For example, she told us how if a kid has an appointment and the family doesn’t have a means of transportation, Denise will drive the kids to where they need to go. She also helps kids get involved with extracurricular programs and does regular check-ins with kids and families. Denise told us how she got into her line of work because it is something close to her. One of the goals she has for her job is to help improve the graduating rate of first-nation students. Further, she also has assist training, in which she can help council (with another counselor) students at risk for suicide, in which they can get in touch with professional agencies. She said she has had other university students shadow her in the past, such as psych. and justice study students.

The second person we talked to was the grade 5/6 teacher, Whitney Sayer. She told us how this was her 7thyear teaching and 6thyear at St. Michael. We asked her how she could describe her job, in which she answered “impactful, challenging and emotional, but rewarding.” She exclaimed how your first year may be challenging, as you don’t have the resources other experienced teachers have. However, she says it gets easier as you gain confidence and find ways to improve yourself as an educator. Ms. Sayer also talked about countering bad lessons, in which she said you have two choices; move on or reflect and continue. Lastly, she said how rewarding it was to get involved with extracurricular activities in the school, as students can connect with you more easily.

After that, we were going to talk to the principal, but as she wasn’t there, the office manager offered to be interviewed. Marcia Appleyard had worked there for 8 years, and could retire if she wanted, but continues to work as a service to the community. We talked about the connection the school has to the community and the importance of the school. For me, I had no idea the impact a school like St. Michael had on a community. Mrs. Appleyard exclaimed how when she arrived, the population of the school was only 107 students with an attendance rate of 60%, and the school was in the works to be shut down. However, due to support from the community, the school was saved from fundraisers put on by parents. Now, the school has almost maxed out at 170 students and has an attendance rate of 95% This revival and support is due to the provision the school provides. The teachers and other influential people take on this responsibility. Mrs. Appleyard told us how the school makes it easier for the students to get to school by encouraging parents. They want the kids to enjoy coming to school and make them want to come rather than having to or not coming at all. The last point she made was how trust within the school is huge, and Mrs. Appleyard herself takes it upon herself to ensure the kids are where they need to be and are safe.

Other than interviewing, I had the opportunity to work with a student who had trouble with fine motor skills, such as writing. My first job was to teach him how to properly hold a pencil properly. I noticed how he had trouble differentiating which hand he was comfortable writing with, so I decided to see which had he used to throw and from there we found which hand he liked to write with. After that, we practiced writing zeros. He had a very tough time at the start and was very inconsistent, but with lots of reminders, he got the hang of it. To me, this was the most rewarding part of the day.

In my own opinion, this school is an embodiment of character and passion for education, students and teachers alike. I see students eager to learn new things, and as I am in a grade one classroom, the students seem attentive and prepared. From the demographics around, this is something I wouldn’t have expected, as when I was arriving, there were four police cars in the neighborhood and an ambulance blocking my main route to the school. The people in the school classify themselves as an inner-city school, but the area around as “transitional.” The entire community and school personnel seem to work together to link the two together, as some of the people I talked to would like the school to act as a ‘hub’ for the community.

This second experience was very humbling and a great learning experience for me.