Fourteen prominent New Brunswickers are sharing their stories about how teachers have made a difference in their lives.
Co-president of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Federation Connie Keating says with a severe shortage of teachers currently, they hope these positive stories will impact others, “It is so very important as we move forward that we inspire future teachers. We have teachers leaving the profession or people looking at our profession saying, that it has become too difficult. We hope that these stories will inspire future teachers.”
A media campaign will begin on January 17th, featuring these testimonials from New Brunswickers including Musician David Myles, Para-Olympian Danielle Dorris, Actor and Comedian Marshall Button, Former Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick Graydon Nicholas and Author David Adams Richards.
“We hope that we will bring to the attention of political leaders the critical role that educators play in the development of this province for long term growth and prosperity, as well as remind teachers of the difference they make,” Keating says.
Keating is a teacher from the Greater Moncton area, who attended Hillcrest and graduated from Moncton High, who noted the late Dale Turner from Moncton High School as one of the teachers who had an absolutely huge impact on her. “He was the first teacher I had who was left-handed and I was left-handed and was often ridiculed for that. He was very quick the first day to let us know that if you were left-handed you were guaranteed to get a better mark. He really beefed that up, and I was just startled because I had always heard about the awkwardness of being left-handed and he just had a way about him that I thought was tremendous.”
The NBTF is encouraging others to share their stories on social media of how teachers have inspired them using the #ednbdifference
“The professional expertise that teachers and school administrators bring to their roles is essential to quality public education. Helping students realize their full potential entails building positive relationships and responding to students’ social, emotional, cultural, and academic needs,” Keating says.
This campaign was born in the beginning of 2021 with the hopes of bringing positive attention to the important work of teachers during the pandemic.
A spokesperson with the NBTA says it is also a campaign that reaches all New Brunswickers in both official languages.
You can view all of the stories at www.ednbdifference.ca
