The June 2017 edition of the 'School of Education' is a bitter sweet one. While we celebrate the graduation of 'Cohort 5', we are saddened to announce that Teresa Bartel has decided to take a new path in her career. All of us at UNBC Nothwest wish her the best  as she begins her new journey.

Congratulations UNBC Bachelor of Education Graduates!!

UNBC Northwest Bachelor of Education Class of 2017 ('Cohort 5')

Back: Alyssa Carson, Melodie Van Der Meer, Meagan Moores, David Lewis, Taryn Armstrong, Shelby McCann

Front: Theresa Jones, Terri Finlayson, Joy Henry, Maureen Rowlett, Cheyenne Edgar, Alisha Cameron

(Left to right)

Time for me to say farewell, this will be my last issue.

First, I would like to thank UNBC faculty, staff and students. I have decided to move from Terrace but wanted to share my gratitude and my last newsletter with all of you. You have made my experience at UNBC memorable. I joined UNBC as the assistant to the Bachelor of Education program in April 2011. Being part of enriching lives in education has always been an interest for me, I love to see the pride in the students as they grow and complete their program. I have had great employers in my life and was very lucky to have such supportive Northwest staff and Northwest B.Ed faculty, I have always told NW B.Ed faculty that our monthly meetings get me fired up with motivation and inspiration and literally my heart pounding. When the 4 of them get into their many deep conversations I am prepared for them to put some great ideas into play. I would ask them ‘are you going to change the world today?’ They would smile but I see great potential for this happening and would not be surprised if they did. This transfers onto the many cohorts they have taught and we continuously hear from many sources that our students far succeed their expectations. They indeed have our Northwest flair. I will miss all of you as I journey off to the next part of my life and hope my next job encompasses at least a part of how much you have impacted me.
Forever Grateful, Teresa Bartel

B. Ed. Convocation Speech by C. Alyssa Carson

Cohort 5, please close your laptops for this final presentation.

Two years ago, twelve strangers walked into room #147 at UNBC’s Terrace campus, sharing one common goal: To become educators. The twelve of us form an incredibly diverse group of individuals, coming from many different backgrounds and having unique perspectives on life and education. In our two years together, in the classroom that was designed to keep us alert at all times by scorching us one minute and freezing us the next (thank you Meagan for sharing your Snuggie and everyone else for bringing blankets to class), something magical happened. Not only did we become the educators we always dreamed of becoming; we became colleagues, friends, and even family.
People often assume that we only want to be teachers for the summer vacation, increased holiday time, shorter work days, a stress-free work environment, incredible pay, and the undying support of our provincial government, but I can honestly say that is not the case with our cohort. If anyone spends any amount of time with us, it is so apparent that we are all in this 100% for the children and for the future. The amount of hard work we have put into this program is incredible. It has been two full years of excitement, confusion, anxiety, frustration, dedication, inspiration, and PowerPoint presentations (so many PowerPoint presentations). Anyway, my point is that each and every one of us gave this program everything we had, including our heart and soul. We didn’t do this for recognition; we did it because we care so deeply about our students and the quality of their education.
As hard as we all worked to be here today, standing as UNBC graduates and educators, we did not achieve this on our own, and I would like to take a moment to extend sincere thanks to everyone who helped us achieve our goal. Thanks to all of the spouses and partners of our cohort, whether they are outside entities or part of our cohort themselves (I did mention earlier that we are a super close group). Thanks to our children, parents, siblings, and other family members. Whether you provided us with moral support and motivation, patience during our late nights, distractions and laughter when we needed it most, help in creating our many, many classroom materials and ideas when our brains shut off, for being our guinea pigs when we were trying out experimental lessons, or letting us move back into your basements and providing us with a solid internet connection (thanks Mom, you’re a gem), you all helped us in immeasurable ways. I would also like to thank our friends, who are like family, for not giving up on us when we essentially disappeared for two years.
In addition to our friends and family, it would be remiss to ignore the many contributions of our cooperating teachers, who generously offered to step aside for 3-10 weeks to give us invaluable experiences teaching in their classrooms. As I have learned in my three practicum placements, teachers are, for lack of a better term, control freaks. We don’t just like to be organized, we need to be organized, and one of the ways we do that is by taking control in everything we do. It really takes a wonderful and brave soul to give up that control, to trust in us, and to let us be the ones to educate and guide their students on an ongoing basis. Not only did our cooperating teachers let us step in and teach, but they supported and encouraged us in so many ways, every step of the way. Thank you for contributing to the profession by teaching and believing in us. My challenge to my cohort is to continue to pay it forward, however and whenever possible.
I would also like to thank our students, who taught us as much, if not more, than we taught them, our practicum supervisors, and everyone involved in the education program at UNBC, especially at the Terrace campus. Being a smaller campus, there is an unparalleled sense of community in our program, which made our experience much more personal and meaningful. A large part of this is attributable to our professors, who dropped some serious bombs of knowledge on us while simultaneously scaring us senseless, particularly in our ethics course. If there is one piece of advice I will never forget in my life, it comes from our educational Yoda, Ed Harrison, and it is to stop and think. That’s it. It works in every situation and it is so simple. Stop. And think. (You can think about it later.) In addition to giving thanks, I would also like to sincerely apologize to our professors, particularly those of you who taught us first thing in the morning, in 4-hour classes, in night classes, and in classes on Fridays, which really applies to every professor. You were not kidding about the program being like a ramp that gets steeper and steeper the further we move along. Unfortunately, the air got a little thin up there and as a result we had some, let’s say... special moments. We are sorry for those special moments, but thank you for sticking with us and helping us to finish the climb.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge everyone who is here today. We are here to celebrate the incredible achievements of many bright individuals in our community. Our true success, however, is not defined by the piece of paper we will be receiving shortly. It will be defined by our actions when we step outside this theatre. The inspiration we are feeling today needs to extend beyond this ceremony if we are to make this world a brighter place. Let’s make this world a brighter place.
Congratulations Cohort 5, we did it!