belonging – coyote chalk

On the Edges

My job title is Graduation Coach. In addition to being a teacher & student support services teacher, my role requires that I support the students assigned to my program to get across the finish line. I find the title problematic. And the mandate. All that we do is much more than credits and credit tracking. It’s square peg and round… (read more)

My Plan

17 months ago I successfully defended my thesis. Shortly afterwards, I sought a new role. I also felt, in a way, that I had earned one. No work change happened and what I came to understand were some truths: To the co-participants who lived alongside me, to my family, to those who lived and taught alongside me, the work mattered… (read more)

Making the Causes Visible

At the provincial grad symposium today, my Director of Education stated, what I believe, the most authentic bit he’s shared since taking the job. He reflected that perhaps (and I’m paraphrasing here) it isn’t graduation rates educators need to be focused on improving. He wondered if graduation rates were perhaps a symptom of a bigger problem. Perhaps our work as… (read more)

Grateful for Our Circle

Our school year began on a Tuesday. We had four days together that first week, students and me. Four days. I am a Grad Coach this year. I have my own program and many new faces alongside me everyday. The structure and design of our classes and days is different than my previous years in my school and in an… (read more)

Keeping Talking

~ My school division recently launched a locally developed course, Mental Health Studies 20L. This course is designed specifically to meet the needs of learners’ in our division. The course addresses positive mental health, common mental health challenges, understanding stigma in relation to mental illness, and mental health and addictions. Teachers are nudged to take up the task of offering… (read more)

A Student Support Teacher’s Pause

“Cori you teach my brother.” Zack sat back in the Adirondack chair, his feet swinging, too small to touch ground. I paused. I actually felt the pause of sifting through data to find the correct answer. Am I his brother’s “teacher?” Your brother is Josh. Josh is in grade ten. I work with Josh as his Student Support teacher (SST)….… (read more)

i believe

believe in…. Trust and time. And listening. And relationships. And belonging. And sharing stories with students. Their stories. My stories. And listening to their stories no matter what. The cat stories, the lunch stories, the stories of suicide. Staying late. Arriving early. Showing up. Saying ‘I love you’ and ‘I am proud of you’ and meaning it. Reading aloud to… (read more)

An Earned Prize

When I graduated from high school in that section in the yearbook where graduates share their future dreams, I wrote that I hoped to someday win the Nobel Prize for Literature. My dream to change the world through story. I published a bit of poetry, wrote my thesis as a narrative, dabbled in prose, but I know deep in my… (read more)

Red Shoes Series: fine fit

~ for Alan Del said When I figured things Out, I could buy red Shoes. I have a pair of nearly pink Flats. I bought them Years ago. They pinch My feet. I found red runners that I wore When I sat my ethics Review. The runners are candy Apple red, New, and they have no Grip on my soul.… (read more)

Love Loud

Late last week, a grade twelve student wandered into my room. He was smiling. He had his term one report card. Graduation looked promising. “Miss Saas. I want you to come to grad.” “Oh, I’m coming to grad!” “Yeah, but I want you to sit with my family.” I set down my book. I really looked at him. “Chris, I… (read more)