My first teaching experience at Petawawa Army Camp was a very positive period in my life. I lived with other single male teachers in an H-hut for my first 2 years and ate our meals in the Officers’ Mess. The teaching staff was composed of remarkably warm, fun-loving individuals who took me under their wing and made me feel wanted and accepted from day one. It was headed by a top-notch principal who made his presence known, and set the tone for excellence. The staff responded. He managed by walking around, getting into classrooms, and helping teachers. Strong-willed, forceful, and prodding staff to excel, he became a role model for me.
Petawawa is where I met and married a teaching colleague, Catherine Cameron, who became by far the most important person in my life for the next 40 years. We enjoyed an excellent partnership throughout our marriage, raising four children. Working part-time, she managed our household, typed my university essays, transcribed my research audio interviews with teachers to paper, and typed my 300-page doctoral thesis. My doctorate would not have happened without Cathy’s help.
My last school before being promoted to principal was headed by a principal who had a fearsome reputation. My colleagues, after hearing that I was being transferred to his school as V.P., commented, “What did you ever do to deserve that?” Yet, his single-mindedness to demand excellence from the staff while impatiently rejecting mediocrity, won the respect of his community. It was a first-rate training environment for my future job.
When I was granted a sabbatical year to pursue my doctorate, I was fortunate in choosing as my thesis Chairman a professor who believed in my topic, “The Allocation of Instructional Time by the Elementary Teacher,” and guided me patiently and successfully through the arduous task of writing a thesis. He never once doubted my ability to complete the task when I sometimes did.
In retirement, and after Cathy died, I met a younger woman, on a trip to Turkey. After returning home we stayed in touch and she eventually became my partner for 10 years before suddenly dying five years ago. She was a lively, fun-loving partner who lit up my life with new ventures, such as holiday trips to Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Ukraine, as well as adventures close to home. She made those retirement years something that I look back upon with gratitude.
Dozens of people touch our lives as we journey from childhood to adulthood, to a career, and then retirement. Only a few are pivotal; my mother, because she taught me the meaning of tenacity; my father because he unknowingly taught me the futility of wasting one’s life; my foster father who taught me, among other things, the joy that can be had just living in the moment; two principals whose high standards taught me the satisfaction that comes from striving for excellence; my wife, Cathy, who taught me the positive impact that self-sacrifice can have on others; my thesis Chairman who taught me the importance of believing in oneself; my second life partner who taught me, in my retirement, the exhilaration that comes from thinking young.
