In two recent posts (part 1 & part 2) I highlighted a few educators who have made lasting impacts on my physical education journey.

However, these are not the only educators who have impacted my journey as an educator on a macro level. 

There is one educator who has taught me more than any other. She is a master of patience, perseverance, and compassion. Whenever I reflect on what she has taught me, I find new depth and meaning behind her lessons. That educator is Beth-Anne and she just so happens to be my Mom. 

Mom was born in Alberta, Canada but did not live there for long, as was a theme in her early years. She was raised by two teachers herself, Margaret & Daryl Hayes, who were brave adventurers. Her parents moved the family from Alberta to Quebec, New York State, Quebec again, Germany, and eventually settled in Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia.

I suppose that my Mom’s appreciation for education originated from her parents who parlayed their skills as teachers into successful careers in antique sales and technology education. After considering both medical school and law school, my Mom decided to attend Mount Allison University (MTA) where she earned degrees in both Science and Education. Coincidentally, MTA is where my Mom met my Dad, Andy. Anyone who has met my parents would agree that since the beginning of their relationship, arguably my Mom’s greatest educational feat has been educating my father about the finer things in life. Such as: saying please and thank you, taking regularly scheduled showers, how to eat just the right amount of sugar, and not asking how much someone paid for something new as soon as he sets eyes on it. 

Throughout her illustrious teaching career, Mom was a science and resource teacher in Springhill and a science teacher in Amherst, Nova Scotia. One of my conceptualizations of Mom’s teaching career is that she would often be approached by a former student who would lavish their praise on her expert teaching and the great care that they experienced while in her class. I say “conceptualizations” above because the adoration that she received from former students was a recurring event that I rarely was able to witness. But, my Dad would tell me about it weeks and months after the fact because my Mom was too humble to brag about such things. How cool is that? My Mom is such a good teacher that her students write her letters, emails, tell their family members, and even stop into her school to thank her. What a beautiful thing. 

A few paragraphs ago, I poked fun at the hard work that it must have been to educate my father. When in reality, it must have been abundantly more difficult to raise and educate me. I am incredibly thankful to God for providing me with Andy & Beth-Anne (pictured above) as parents. I have plenty of childhood memories which include playing sports, family walks, family vacations, and time at school. I am certain that all of these experiences would have been more enjoyable if I had been able to stay out of timeout for more than 3 minutes at a time. Which is even more tragic when you estimate the average timeout to be approximately 2 minutes. I credit my Mom’s patience, perseverance, and compassion with helping me to improve the degree to which I think before acting and speaking as well as care for the world around me. Make no mistake, even thinking about how wild I was as a kid makes me intimidated to educate my own children someday. In order to help them be positive members of society without them being incarcerated, arrested, or part of a criminal organization. Your skills as an educator truly are unmatched Mom!

Here is another story that demonstrates just how caring of an educator my Mom is: In 2009 I was taking twelfth grade chemistry. This is not a knock on Mr. Russell Smith, it is more of a knock on my teenaged attention span, but I was struggling in that class. Even after Mr. Smith provided me with extra help sessions. I was still not meeting my own (or my Mom’s standard) for academic achievement. As a result I became the privileged recipient of a few free-of-charge, no questions asked, sit down and let’s put in that work, extra-extra help sessions from Mom at the kitchen table. Have I mentioned that she was a master Chemistry teacher yet? Forgive me, my mother is a master Chemistry teacher, so I was in good hands. 

The rest of this story is where my recollection and Mom’s diverge, slightly. Mom remembers me getting so fed up with learning Chemistry that I said, “You can’t be serious, that’s not how we do it at my school. Are you even a real Chemistry teacher?”. I know… OUCH. Whereas I remember enjoying some much needed chemistry advice, practice, and memory devices which helped me achieve a higher level in my Chem class. Now I won’t say which one of those recollections actually happened, but I will say that without my Mom’s tenacious yet tender loving character. I’m talking character comparable only to that of an Angel. I would have had an abysmal final grade in twelfth grade chemistry. In fact, I would probably still be in high school, about to attempt twelfth grade Chem for the twelfth time. 

I love you Mom. Thank you, Mom for being my Mom! You’re the what…? You’re The Greatest. Thank you for your important investment in me and countless others. Not an iota of your investment is lost on me and I look forward to following your lead and growing into a master teacher, in every sense of the word. 

My Mom’s a Hero. My Mom’s my Hero.

Mom has just retired from public school teaching and is just beginning her career as a travel agent. Using her skills in education to create incredible vacations for you and your family. Check out her Facebook page. You’ll be glad that you did.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. It was a pleasure spending time with you today.

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah