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RED DEER
ADVOCATE
Canada’s largest commercial fishing harbour has managed to maintain the atmosphere of a small village
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OIL KINGS IN TOWN
TRAVEL ON PAGE B1
Oil Kings scored two in the third period to down the Rebels 3-1
B4
Central Alberta’s substitute teachers in a class of their own
I never really went into a class I couldn’t handle. You have to have a sense of humour and detach yourself from the strong-armed tactics that some teachers used on me. You are not God, you are not perfect. Gerry Stelmaschuk Substitute teacher BY LAURA TESTER ADVOCATE STAFF Substitute teachers see their share of classroom antics. Students who pretend to be someone else at roll call, students who sing, “I’m too sexy for this gym” while doing mandatory gym laps — the list goes on and on. For seasoned professionals like Gerry Stelmaschuk, Norma Manning and Patti Yackulic, these distractions are part of a job they love. During Substitute Teachers’ Appreciation Week, these three speak candidly on why they like substitute teaching and why it’s so important to the education system. As the longest serving employee of Red Deer Public Schools, Stelmaschuk has already made a name for himself. For 47 years he’s been teaching, the first 33 years at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School. He retired in 1999, then went on the sub list. As soon as he enters a classroom, he says, “My name is Mr. Stelmaschuk, but you can call me Mr. S.” “I never really went into a class I couldn’t handle,” said Stelmaschuk. “You have to have a sense of humour and detach yourself from the strong-armed tactics that some teachers used on me. You are not God, you are not perfect.” Stelmaschuk gives the students a little leeway to be themselves, even when they do something out of the ordinary. One class thought their regular teacher was coming in and it was exam day, just before Christmas break. They moved all their desks outside the classroom, from one end of the hallway to the other. By the time, they moved their desks back in, it was too late to give out the exam. “I didn’t appreciate it at the time, it was a good trick to play for any teacher,” said Stelmaschuk, chuckling. Stelmaschuk doesn’t have the heavy workload he had as a full-time teacher. Plus, he likes the new challenges and the staff he works with. He’s typically at the middle and high school level, occasionally at the elementary level. The students help keep him young. “I love the idea of going to work, encountering a new challenge like the other day when I had a
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Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Substitute teacher Patti Yackulic teaches a science 10 class this week at Hunting Hills High School.
French class,” said Stelmaschuk. “Sometimes we may face a situation outside of our comfort zone or our expertise.” Norma Manning is grateful to have been able to substitute teach — a career she’s been doing for 25 years. It’s given her variety, plus flexibility, particularly when she was raising three children. She mainly did high school physical education, up until a couple of years ago. Now she does other subjects. Typically, she’s phoned the day before by an automated message system, but sometimes it can be the same day. “There’s been days I’ve walked out of a school
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BUSINESS
STUDY GIVES ‘LIBERATION THERAPY’ THUMBS DOWN
HOUSEHOLD DEBT HITS NEW RECORD
A small clinical trial of the so-called ‘liberation treatment’ for multiple sclerosis has found that the intervention did not improve patients’ symptoms. A4
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and thought, ‘oh, my gosh! What am I doing this for?,” Manning said. “But on the whole, I’m happy to get up and going.” One of her secrets for success is knowing the names of her students. She can readily pick out the students who may want give her trouble. “You can tell even by taking attendance — you can tell that this guy is going to be a little more of a challenge, even by the twinkle in his eye,” said Manning. She loves working with special education students because they’re so appreciative of that one-on-one experience.
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