Tsawwassen’s Nathan Woollard is excited about where his teaching career is taking him next.
The high school math teacher will soon leave for Lac La Croix First Nation in Ontario where he will spend at least the next two years as part of the Teach For Canada initiative.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to teach there,” says Woollard, who will join a staff of four at a small high school in the First Nations community near the Ontario-Minnesota border. “I have to pinch myself because this is such an amazing opportunity.”
Intrigued by a posting on a jobs data base, the 2011 UBC grad was keen to embrace a new adventure, particularly after beginning his teaching career by spending a year in a small village in Bhutan.
Woollard recently took part in a two-week enrichment program through Teach For Canada that included time for him to get acquainted with leadership of the Lac La Croix First Nation and the school principal. He says he was impressed by the support for the school, which is directly controlled by the local government so it’s responsive to the needs of both teachers and students.
“I was blown away by the level of support,” he says. “I’m really excited to go to a school that funds the needs of the students.”
Woollard, who will teach all levels of math, says class sizes are so small that he’s received lists for each of his classes and the largest has just six students, which will allow him to tailor the curriculum to individual needs.
“It’s an absolute dream come true,” he says of the opportunity to personalize lesson plans rather than use a one-size-fits-all approach.
Woollard leaves Aug. 24.
Teach For Canada was founded in an effort to address the inequity in the country’s education system where only 48 per cent of First Nations youth living on reserve have a high school diploma.Teach For Canada, which believes the right kind of teacher can help address that gap, currently has partnerships with 20 First Nations in Manitoba and Ontario.
“The twin challenges of teacher supply and turnover compound historical injustice and systemic inequities to produce a statistical education gap between First Nations and non-First Nations communities,” the group’s website states.
