Welcome to the School of Flock

To view the photo-rich magazine version, click here.

Originally appears in the Spring 2021 issue.

By Joanne Goddard

If I could choose one quote to describe my evolution as a teacher over the past 10 years, it would be “and one thing leads to another.” Let’s begin this story with the dreaded “teacher transfer.” Never would I have thought that this would be the kickstart I needed at the midpoint of my teaching career.

In the fall of 2011, 12 years into my teaching career, I was lucky enough to be transferred from an urban-centric school in my board to a Grade 7/8 class at Kerns Public School. I remember my first introduction to Kerns. The fresh smell of pasture land, the grazing sheep across the road from the school entrance, the mooing of the cattle around back, and fields of soon-to-be-harvested crops in all other directions. And although I didn’t know it at the time, this would be the first day of the best 10 teaching years of my career to date. With a few years left until retirement, I am looking forward to where my students will lead me next.

Kerns Public School is located about six hours north of Toronto, Ontario and 20 minutes from the nearest Town of New Liskeard. It is a small, close-knit farming community with a rich history of fellowship, much of it centered around around the school. In the matter of only a few months, the first of many serendipitous moments started me on my “and-one-thing-leads-to-another” journey.