Huron Expositor, 2009-07-01, Page 9•
n."
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' St. James teacher,
laughter to sc
if 4
Susan t iiikdertwark
After 35 years of teaching - the
last 14 spent at St. James School in
Seaforth - Chris McClure says she's
going to miss the laughter in the
hallways and in the classroom the
most.
"The kids are so funny," she says
in response to a surprise slide .- 4W
that was made by her' Grade. 2/3
class without'`her knowledge:;amid
presented on the 'last aay of school:
And, in the same joking manner,
she distributed Grade 4 math text-
books to several of the suspected
slide show ringleaders, telling them.
to, have work up to Chapter 6 done
by ; the time summer vacation is
over.
"In September, I'm going to phone
(school secretary) "Mrs. Renner and
ask how heavy the backpacks are
and how much homework is being
&d
., be a .good-- fnAut10► »_. f��'1P
laughs.
"Chris is an outstanding, teacher:
She's finishing in style at the top of
her game. ` She's tireless, :,profession-
al_ and dedicated tb the very end,"
says St. James principal Joanne
Lombardi:
"We're going to miss her wicked
sense of humour - you can often hear
her laughing up and down the hall:
We're -going to miss that laugh," she
says.
Described by her principal as "an
excellent literacy teacher," McClure
says improving her students' read-
ing skill's is a particular joy to her.
'When the Grade 2s came into
class, they were -a little weak at
reading but they're good readers
now. A lot of parent support gets it
going - it really seems to click if they
read at night. I love it when they
learn to read," she says. .
Planning to become a teacher since
she was seven, McClure started out
teaching Kindergarten in Strath-
roy, moved to Luca!). - and Exeter
and ended up in Seaforth. Along
with ` Kindergarten, she also taught
Grade 6 before settling with Grade
3.
"I really like that eight-year-old
age group," she says.
McClure says some of the high-
lights of life in her classroom in-
clude setting up penpals with stu-
dents from other local schools and
meeting them at the end of the year
of correspondence.
As well, her class is famous for the
game of "hush ball" played during
the last five minutes of the day while
waiting for the buses to arrive.
J
The Huron Expositor . • July 1 , 2009 Page 9
ris McClure, brought lots of
oI with her during the past 35 years
Retiring St. James teacher Chris McClure
during the school's yearend assembly last
"The kids stand on their chairs
and .throw a Nerf ball to each other.
The object is to be very quiet so the
principal doesn't catch you standing
on the chair," she smiles.
While she has a degree in music,
McClure never became a music
teacher because she enjoyed having
her own classroom of students too
much.
But, music has always been a big
part of her classroom, filling out
drama presentations for various
subjects and adding to assemblies
and school concerts. -
In ` retirement, McClure plans to
concentrate more on playing the
piano and she's begun taking piano
lessons again.
McClure says she's really enjoyed'
working with the staff at St. James
and insists she's been pranked more
•
hugs a student, while she 1s honoured
Thursday.
than she's done the practical jokes
against her fellow ' teachers and
staff. -
"I'm usually the innocent one," she
exclaims, remembering a Christmas
season when former principalNary
Brown and teacher Angela Carter
came in at 6 a.m. to set up a bunch
of large inflatable Christmas deco-
y nations . in h er,classroom. .
=As well,,sheremembers how school
custodian_ John Devereaux took hhr
code out. of the school security sys-
tem to prevent her from picking up
the family Christmas gifts she'd
hidden at the school.
"He knew I'd be' coming back to
pick them up and when I punched in
my code, the alarm went off. What a
brat," she says.
McClure will admit that she's been
known to take seasonal decorations
from otherteachers' classrooms and
use them to decorate her own class-
room:
"You-• take them one and
�.- take • Vuvus- .�,.�.. by .. one .�.-�•-
they never notice," she says. .
As well, her Grade 2/3 students re-
mind her of the time she gave them
a Grade 5/6 test as an April Fool's
joke.
Lombardi says McClure is a real
cheerleader for her students, encour-
aging and fostering self-esteem,.
"She gets each kid to shine. It's a
great gift she gives her kids," says
Lombardi.
And, while McClure wanted to
retire quietly and go home to a life
with no school bells or schedules
with little fanfare, Lombardi says
the final. school' assembly made sure
that didn't happen.
"The laugh's on her now," she
says.
Elk
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