As the academic year comes to an end, it’s a time of transition for Interlake School Division staff members as they bid farewell to their roles and embark on a new chapter in their lives. These hard-working individuals have been instrumental in creating enriching experiences for students throughout the year, from principals steering the school ship to friendly bus drivers ensuring safe journeys.
Their passion for the education system and dedication to nurturing close-knit communities in Interlake shines through in all that they do. Before stepping into retirement, the retirees have shared some of their most memorable moments with the Tribune.
Edwin Harvie’s teaching career first began in Lundar. He changed his major from engineering to Education when he realized how much he enjoyed helping people directly. He planned to spend just one year in Lundar but ended up being there for ten. During that time, he also held the position of assistant vice principal.
After Lundar, Harvie taught at Stonewall Collegiate for four or five years and coached the high school hockey team. He then went to Warren Collegiate, where he spent one year as vice principal and the remainder of his time as principal.
His most recent position was principal at École Stonewall Centennial School, where he has spent the past nine years. Harvie’s teachable subjects are pre-calculus, applied math, physics, and chemistry. Over the years, he has also coached volleyball, badminton, and hockey.
Harvie has four degrees, two of which he obtained after the age of 50: his Post-Baccalaureate and his Master’s in Education Administration. As he said, “If you are a lifelong learner, you should continue your education.” He plans to go back to university in a few years to study astronomy.
“When I reflect back, my goal always was to give back to the students and parents of communities in any way possible, either through academics or coaching,” shared Harvie. He will take the next few months to relax but will indeed find himself back and helping out in the fall. He intends to become a school board trustee in a couple of years as well as a substitute teacher. He also recently obtained his certification for operating a school bus.
“My intent is to work as long as I can and to help out any way I can.”
Throughout his 36-year career, Harvie has seen immense value in building relationships with students and parents through teaching and coaching.
Pat Harris joined the Interlake School division in August 1989. She has worked as an Educational Assistant and Library Clerk at Stonewall Collegiate and École Stonewall Centennial School.
Harris first became an EA because of her nursing background and her work as the program coordinator of the Respite Program for the Westman Region of Manitoba. During her time as an EA, she found she was able to help many students not give up, achieve academic goals that they might have been struggling with, and see that success was just around the corner for them.
Meanwhile, the libraries were converting to a computerized system, and new opportunities were opening for school library positions. So, Harris became a library clerk at École Stonewall Centennial School.
“This was a great opportunity for me, giving me training on the computerized system and the functions of a school library,” shared Harris. “I had volunteered at my local library as a teenager and was excited to be in that realm again.”
For most of her time working with the Interlake School Division, Harris worked both as an EA and a library clerk, which, as she calls it, was “the best of both worlds.” Working half-time in each position, she made many memorable moments in each. As an EA, the most rewarding time was when a student could achieve success in one of the goals set for them. As a library clerk, Harris found the most joy when she would assist a student by recommending a book, and that student would come back later to tell Harris how much they enjoyed the book, excited to hear about more books from its author.
“I will miss the staff and being part of a team that has the focus of what is best for the students whether it be educational, social or emotional,” said Harris. “I will miss the interaction with the students with all their stories and questions.”
In retirement, Harris plans to enjoy time with family and friends, travel, take advantage of new learning opportunities, and resume any projects that had been put off due to previous time constraints.
Lori Tully officially began her journey in teaching upon graduating from Brandon University with a Bachelor’s degree in Education in 1986. From there, she completed her student teaching in England, working with second graders. She returned to Brandon to teach fifth and second grade the same year.
Since then, Tully has taught in Alberta, Portage la Prairie, Rosser, and Balmoral. She has also worked as a Home Study Coordinator for the Interlake School Division. In 2002, she continued her Education by completing a Postbaccalaureate degree in Special Education at the University of Manitoba.
This journey has brought Tully to her current position at Warren Collegiate, where she teaches essential math and works with resources.
“I think I wanted to be a teacher because my grandma and her good friend and neighbour were teachers. I spent a lot of time with them and don’t really remember not wanting to be a teacher,” shared Tully. “I like to help people, and I thought teaching would satisfy that while still letting me pursue other passions in my off time.”
Facing retirement, Tully looks back on her career and recalls many memorable moments, including watching students become the first in their families to graduate, seeing a student receive the support that they need, and “telling past grads to call me Lori now and them saying, ‘I just can’t do that.’”
Tully is thankful that this career has helped her to provide for her family, realize the importance of community and the wellness of students and their families, and interact with that community. She is honoured to have been able to work with and learn from many talented people both inside and outside of the education system.
Though it is hard to see past June’s chaos and into retirement, Tully looks forward to taking a breath and planning her next adventure.
Janice Nunn has been driving school buses for 33 years. She first obtained her School Bus Driver certificate in 1986, working as a spare driver, filling in for her dad during holidays. In 1990, she became a permanent driver. Before she started out driving, Nunn worked at G.H. Wood as an inventory control clerk.
Over the years, Nunn has enjoyed seeing the big smiles on student’s faces as they pass in and out of the school bus doors. She has loved watching these students grow through kindergarten to the twelfth grade.
In the earlier years of her career, the daytime in between driving allowed Nunn to help on her family’s farm.
“School bus driving has been very rewarding,” shared Nunn. “The big smiles, the bouquets of flowers, sometimes even dandelions, and the special handmade gifts are all special memories I cherish.”
Nunn will miss the wonderful groups of students on her bus, some of whom are even the children of former students, as well as interactions with fellow bus drivers and staff at the bus garage.
In the future, Nunn plans to pick up her clubs, golf, and make more trips to visit family. She looks forward to the freedom of saying yes to outings.
Barry Lamm
Warren Collegiate
Barry Lamm enjoyed banter with students in the hallways and seeing the benefits of his hard work after summer clean up before the kids came back during his 23 years working as an ISD custodian.
Before becoming a custodian, Lamm worked at Maple Leaf Meats for nearly 20 years. Then, he moved onto subbing as a custodian in the school division. Soon enough, a permanent position opened up at Stonewall Collegiate. Here, he spent 12 years as head custodian. Finally, he moved on to Warren Collegiate and spent 11 years working there.
Living in Stonewall, the commute to work was always easy, about four blocks. Now approaching retirement, however, Lamm looks forward to not getting up at five o’clock in the morning to be at work for six.
Because of the banter built up between Lamm and the students at Warren, he experiences rewarding moments after those students graduate and stop on the street to say hello. The community he found at Warren has been extremely supportive.
“I’ve met lots of great staff members,” said Lamm.
In April 2018, Lamm qualified and travelled to participate in the Boston Marathon. The staff at Warren Collegiate set up a pep rally, with all the students gathered in the gym, asking him questions about running and Boston. When he was running the marathon, they tracked his route and cheered him on.
“It kind of took me by surprise,” he said.
Lamm is also a two-time cancer survivor, and the support he received from fellow staff and students at the school during those tough times and his surgeries were outstanding. Though Lamm plans to sub as a custodian here and there in the Interlake, keeping in touch with the staff he has worked with, he will miss “horsing around.”
His other retirement plans include enjoying coffee in the morning and beers in the afternoon and sending his old coworkers pictures to let them know that’s what he’s up to. He also hopes to travel a little bit.
Randy Gabel
Stonewall Collegiate
Randy Gabel began his teaching journey in The Pas, where he worked for three years teaching Math and Outdoor Education in 1985. After The Pas, Gabel took a term position at Selkirk’s Junior High teaching grade seven and eight Math and Science. In 1989, he began his career at ISD at Stonewall Collegiate. Gabel taught grade nine Math and Science, grade ten Precalculus, Essentials Math and Science, grade ten Precalculus, Essentials Math, and Biology, and Biology and Essentials Math to grade twelve students. He has also taught, in 2001, what he believes to be the only summer course ever held at Stonewall Collegiate.
“I always really enjoyed going to school as a studen,t both for the academic courses and the extra-curricular activities,” said Gabel. “I thought I wanted to be a physical education teacher until high school when my biology teacher, Mr. James, sparked my love for biology and a desire to be a teacher.”
Gabel’s most memorable moments as a teacher involve a lot of memories outside of the classroom.
“For me, it is the grade ten Math field trip on measurement, I ran at the Forks in Winnipeg, the year my cross country junior girls won the provincial banner- after 39 years of coaching sports it is the only provincial banner I was involved with, the canoe trips I was involved with in The Pas and Selkirk, the many theatre, symphony, and ballet productions our Culture Club attended, and by far the most memorable would be the 25 international trips that myself and Mrs. Conger-Morrison organized and guided to 40 countries with 610 Stonewall area students.”
Gabel believes he will discover what he misses the most about teaching when he is away from it all. He will not, however, be fully stepping away from teaching; Gabel plans to substitute, allowing him to continue working with students and visiting colleagues.
“But I won’t miss all the other work that goes with the job,” said Gabel.
His plans for the future are pretty open, “I like the idea of being able to do what I want when I want. I will be spending lots of time with my wife and our cabin and I always have construction projects to work on there. We also want to spend more time with our three adult sons. One lives in Toronto and we don’t get to see him as often as we would like.”
Still, Gabel plans to look into work in a different field.
“My brother-in-law retired recently and got a job afterwards that I think would be great. He worked for an auto dealership in Winnipeg and delivered brand-new vehicles across Canada. I love travelling and would love to drive to places in Canada I haven’t visited yet like the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. One plan for sure, is for my wife, Jackie and I to spend part of our Manitoba winters in places without snow.”
Kathy Comeault
RW Bobby Bend
Kathy Comeault has been dedicated to her role as an educational assistant in the Interlake School Division for 18 years, finding it to be a fulfilling position within the community. Her experience includes working at various schools such as Stony Mountain, Teulon Collegiate, Stonewall Collegiate, Rosser, Stonewall Centennial, and Warren Elementary. In her last five and a half years of service, she was based at Bobby Bend School. Prior to this, she had volunteered at Bobby Bend while her son was a student there, thoroughly enjoying the work.
“There are too many memorable moments to recall,” said Comeault. “So many laughs throughout the years! I love seeing students years later who come to me and say ‘do you remember me?’”
Comeault will miss the daily hugs from her students and seeing their excited faces outside of school. In retirement, she looks forward to playing pickle ball and senior slow pitch, escaping the cold Canadian winters in warm, sunny destinations, and cherishing quality time with her grandsons.
