I think of you as more than just a teacher. You were my beginning at Gateway. My beginning in Canada. I think of you as the gatekeeper to my life in Canada and an ambassador of this nation to innumerable immigrant children.
I recall meeting you with my father at "meet the teacher night." I felt at ease in your presence. You explained my various achievements and shortfalls as a student. At the end of the meeting, I remember my father saying, "She's a very nice teacher." You were. And I imagine, still are.
Teachers teach math, reading, writing, and science. You did all this and on top of that you did this too: You taught me to sing in a choir; to begin to read music; hold a recorder; clean the mouth piece in a solution that tasted like bubble gum; attend choral festivals and introduced me to Ontario Place. You also introduced me to two abiding interests which are a part of my life even today: A love for the outdoors and that quintessentially Canadian of all pass times - ice skating.
As a class, we often went on trips to a place called Forest Valley. An outdoor centre with a building for lunch times, a building for nature education, a river with a bridge over it and, best of all, a trampoline on site. At Forest Valley I learned, among other things, how to identify trees and leaves and how to use a map and compass. I have branched out since then to a love of canoeing in Algonquin Park, the ability to navigate in many a strange city with a map and, yes, a nostalgic love for trampolines.
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