Sara Hartley, Teacher Extraordinaire

     Let me say up front that I am a great admirer of teachers. These are the warriors on the front line of education, who often spend more time with our children than we do ourselves, and in many respects influence them equally, or perhaps more than we do. They are dedicated, hard working, committed professionals.

    It gave me a good deal of pleasure recently to receive an inquiry from a teacher at N. A. MacEachern Public School here in Waterloo as to whether someone was available to help her students with bird identification. It goes without saying that I was happy to oblige.

     And so it was that I met Sara Hartley.

       Sara leads her Grade 5 and Grade 6 French immersion students on community walks in order to connect them to their community and get involved with nature. Her aim is to show the children that there is nature in the city, to be cherished and enjoyed - and to be identified. Sara has a pretty good knowledge of native plants and wildflowers, and was hoping to encompass birds in the excursions with her classes. I was delighted to be part of this exercise. 

       Immediately I was struck by the fact that she addresses her students as "mes amis." This I thought was a wonderful way to regard the children and to communicate with them in a delightful manner, and it was very obvious that the kids reciprocate in kind, being dedicated to Sara, yet all the while showing complete respect to her. I certainly felt that Sara had become "mon amie." 

     Sara says that there is so much environmental doom and gloom these days, and she knows that children are exposed to dire warnings about their future, and she feels that this knowledge needs to be tempered with good news too. Getting out and and listening to a bird, admiring the plumage of a Blue Jay, the splendour of a Northern Cardinal, or the simple delicate beauty of a Trout Lily all serve to convey the wonders of nature. She believes that children need to learn to love nature while they are young.

      I was happy to be invited to this 39 year old dynamo's home, where she is naturalizing the major part of her property, planting native trees, wildflowers and ground cover.

     

       Her commitment to nature is not confined to her work as a teacher; it is an integral part of her ethic and her belief structure.  This is how her children are being raised.

  

     Sara's husband is a university professor who needs to travel frequently as part of his job, and Sara often has taken advantage of that fact and has accompanied her husband to far flung corners of the globe, and has derived great pleasure doing so. Now she confesses to rethinking future trips, enjoyable though they may be, as a way to reduce her carbon footprint.

     Sara perfected her French by spending extended periods in both Québec and France. And she has done it well. It was fortuitous indeed that I also speak French and was able to chat to her students and maintain the integrity of their French immersion experience, although I confess to talking about the birds in English.

     One is impressed with Sara's professionalism, her dedication, her affection for the students in her care; she is daily influencing young lives in the most significant way that I can imagine.  I salute her and hope there are many others like her.

     Our children are in good hands.

     Grand merçi, Madame Hartley. À bientôt  j'espère!