Word Prisms

I got my first teaching job with my wife in Fort Resolution. That was hard. I used to dream of turning the wrong way when we went to get groceries in Hay River. Instead, I'd drive toward freedom in the south. The residential school was still standing and, although it was no longer in use, you could still feel its effects. Binge drinking was among the worst. For some kids, school was their only refuge. Which was rewarding. I taught grades 2/3 and my wife taught grades 7/8. I took both classes for gym. They loved indoor soccer. And they were good. Really good. They were also artistic. Nicola's cousin taught Grade 2 in Vernon and wanted to exchange letters with my students. The contrast in drawing abilities was stark. When my students drew a person, she had bulk and depth. A ski-doo looked like a ski-doo. Then, Nicola got pregnant. She wanted to stay home with our future daughter. I took over Nicola, our eldest, and our dog, Emily her grade 7/8 class in the second year and s...

Having been a high school teacher for way too many years, I often wonder what adults would have been like when they were in school. And so, the world’s latest obsession, Donald Trump. As an adolescent, I was very late going through puberty. I used to see this when the junior high kids would come in to the swimming pool where I was lifeguarding. You’d see a bunch of girls blossoming into women and boys still very much boys with a very small number making the transition to manhood. The interactions between the two sexes at that age was quite comical. Back in Grade 8, the first-time Rocky F. challenged me fight, I had no idea who he was. Unfortunately, being a little too feisty for my own good, I accepted the challenge. I’ve never been a very bulky kind of guy but at least, prior to Grade 8, I’d been involved in competitive swimming, practicing twice a day and doing land exercises between. So, even though I was not big, I was strong and had been involved in the occasional fist-a-...