The Jay Way: USask alumni instilled kindness throughout teaching careers

Each teaching over 30 years in public education, the Jays feel the positive impact they made in education when former students and colleagues recognize them in public and take the time to catch up.

“I believe that it takes a lot of good teachers to help guide kids in their learning,” Hilton said. “It’s special when they come back and tell you stories like how they are the first member of their family to earn a university degree or to buy a house. You have students for a short amount of time so you do the best job you can and hope you helped them move forward.”

“I love the way their faces light up when they see us and share a memory from our class,” Laurie said. “They remember how they were treated with respect, kindness and how their confidence grew. For them to take time to come up to us is them sharing a little piece of their heart.”

A product of Davidson, Sask., Hilton moved to Saskatoon to pursue his degrees at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) in 1978.

“I had the opportunity to coach minor hockey and minor baseball in high school,” Hilton said. “As a teenager, I enjoyed those positive learning experiences with youth.”

Laurie (née Mack) grew up a block away from USask as her family owned Wayne’s Lunch, located on the corner of Cumberland Avenue and College Drive until 1999. Hilton and Laurie met at the restaurant and more officially during the Chinese Students Association’s social dances.  

Even though she grew up in a family focused on the restaurant business, Laurie always knew she was born to teach. 

“There's nothing else I would have rather done,” Laurie said. “Any time families came into the restaurant I'd be serving their food while entertaining the kids.” 

Laurie used her classroom to show every child their value and to enhance the lives of each person she worked with.  

“I have a pure love and joy of teaching, learning and sharing the knowledge I learned from mentors and other wonderful educators to my students,” she said. 

Laurie completed her education degree with training in special education in learning disabilities, and speech and language therapy. She started teaching in the K-12 sector. She taught in Central Butte School, Sheho Elementary, Foam Lake Elementary and Foam Lake Composite before moving back to Saskatoon with Hilton. She would join SPS for the remainder of her career, teaching at Caroline Robins School, Lester B. Pearson School, Brunskill School, Brevoort Park School, Forest Grove School and Lakeridge School.  

“I wanted more special education training because I needed to learn additional strategies on how to reach students who were struggling with reading and math skills,” she said. “I was a resource teacher for a few years, which was very rewarding. I loved the 'aha’ moments when students could connect the idea with the concept. Working in special education made me a more effective educator when I returned to the classroom setting.”  

While the curriculum was always thoughtfully and carefully covered over the year, Laurie’s strength was curating a classroom culture dedicated to kindness, belonging, inclusion and respect. She understood her responsibility as an Asian teacher to provide a safe space for students of colour. Laurie would make sure to include families when hosting cultural events and assemblies. 

“There were not many Asian educators at the time,” she said. “We were very fortunate to be Chinese teachers and share some of our culture with the students, especially international families who appreciated having their child feel seen.” 

Hilton taught middle years at Foam Lake Elementary before making his way back to Saskatoon to teach in the Saskatoon Public Schools (SPS) division. His path would take him to Mayfair School, Hugh Cairns School, Wildwood School, Alvin Buckwold School, Fairhaven School, École College Park School and Westmount School. He also had several stints serving as acting vice-principal. 

Teaching Grade 7 and 8 for a majority of his career, Hilton mixed his passion for multimedia with the curriculum through Telemedia, an English Language Arts (ELA) unit where students learned about the television industry by creating video commercials and interviews. 

“We would analyze television commercials and then storyboard a concept or idea,” he said. “At the end of the unit, we would take the students to the Telemedia studio at the school board offices to use professional recording equipment and technology.” 

Because of his interest in video, Hilton would work with the Telemedia lead, David Pratt, on revising the curriculum. Hilton’s students would benefit from the curriculum refresh while obtaining valuable skills of teamwork, connection and communication. 

“Telemedia was meaningful ELA development,” Hilton said. “Students had to learn to work together in small groups because on rehearsal day and production day, a lot is dependent on their classmates doing their jobs the best that they could.” 

Strong leaders are grown from strong mentors. Hilton and Laurie give credit to the educators and administrators who helped them reach their potential in the classroom. 

Hilton highlights his practicum cooperating teacher Bill Gordon for displaying leadership in the classroom and in sports. 

“Mr. Gordon built strong bonds with his students,” Hilton said. “He showed me life lessons that can be taught through basketball and outdoor education. He founded Wildwood Basketball Camp over 40 years ago and our families have stayed connected through his legacy.” 

Laurie mentioned her kindergarten teacher, Sharon Robertson, and practicum cooperating teacher, Elaine Panchuk, for providing safe learning spaces during formative years. 

“Mrs. Robertson and Mrs. Panchuk made a big impact on me,” Laurie said. “Mrs. Robertson helped me during my early childhood and helped my parents with their English skills. Mrs. Panchuk taught me the importance of caring for all students. I’m still close with them to this day.” 

Asian representation in Saskatoon’s education sector was minimal, but Hilton and Laurie’s skill set accelerated early in their careers when Dr. Harry K. Wong, a Chinese-American educator and author, presented at a conference on classroom management, teacher effectiveness and valuing people. Following the conference, Wong connected with the Jays that led to a lifelong friendship. 

“When we first met him, it was cool to see an Asian educator that was world renowned sharing his knowledge,” Laurie said. “We learned how classroom management and practical strategies impacted our classrooms and how much more effective we can be with helping kids learn.” 

“We were honoured when Dr. Wong asked us to submit our lesson plans and classroom photos to be published in his books,” Hilton and Laurie said. “Meeting him made us realize how important classroom management is – which is something that every teacher needs. We’re thankful that we met him early in our careers.” 

With their formal teaching era completed, the Jays have used their time in retirement to focus on themselves. 

“With the day-to-day flexibility, we can focus more on family, fitness, reading, cooking and baking, catching up with colleagues and traveling,” Hilton said. 

“Our family welcomed our first grandchild, Leo.” Laurie added. “We love every precious moment with him. We also balance our time together with helping people when they need.” 

Often they are reminded of the people they positively affected throughout their career while at the grocery store or running errands. 

“It's very rewarding when we see students and peers, even if we never worked with them, come up to us, take time to say hello and update us on how they're doing and what they’ve achieved in life,” Laurie said.  

If you see the Jays out and about, never hesitate to greet them and give them an update since you last saw them.

Article originally published at https://education.usask.ca