With 35 years as a teacher in the region under his belt, Larry Steed was among a long list of staff at local schools who were recognized on Nov. 1 for their contributions to Chinook's Edge School Division.
Steed has been a teacher at Ecole Olds Elementary School (EOES) for the past 29 years. Before that, he was a teacher at Sundre Elementary School for six years. During his time at EOES, Steed taught grades 1 to 6 when the school was a kindergarten to Grade 6 school, prior to Ecole Deer Meadow School (DMS) being built in 1992. He currently teaches Grade 4 at the school.
Steed said part of the reason why he enjoys teaching so much is he learns along with his students.
“The discovery of something new and so on with them is rewarding and the interaction with them is fun,” he said. “I plan to teach for a few more years.”
Steed said it has also been enjoyable to work with his fellow teachers and staff over the years.
“The staff, I think, have been excellent at this school, and the school climate and atmosphere is really conducive to children feeling like this is a second home for them,” he said. “And I think that's really important, especially with all the troubles in society. A lot of children face a lot of challenges and they're required to become quite independent probably earlier than they should be. If (the school) can be sort of a second home for them and a place where they feel safe and cared for, then we're doing our job.”
Steed was among 23 staff in the Olds area that have been with the division for at least 10 years. Seven of the staff have been with division schools in the Olds area for 10 years, including Nathan Clark, Gaye Grenier and Karen Lentz who currently work at Bowden Grandview School (BGS), Lori Dundas at EOES, Jane Kruger and Jamie Dee Marshall at DMS and Gerald Zinn who drives a bus in the Olds area.
Eight people have worked in the Olds area for 15 years, including Kim Christensen, Mary Damant, Bev Krause and Debbie Thompson, all of whom currently work at EOES, Jeff Thompson at BGS, Carolynn Tschoumy and Trudy Zeigler, who currently work at Olds High School (OHS), and Daryl Wilson at DMS.
Dave Casselman, Marilyn Wallace and Rose Haugen, all of whom currently work at OHS, have 20 years of service in the division. Terry Seidel has 20 years of experience with the division and currently works at Reed Ranch School east of Olds. Donna Mae West also has 20 years of experience and works at BGS.
Janine Becker, the principal at Olds Career High School, has 30 years of experience.
Libby Clark, with OHS, started in CESD in 2013-14, while Erin Deroose at EOES, and Kaitlyn Mack and Jessica Pelletier were new teachers added to the Olds Koinonia Christian School (OKCS) staff in September.
The school division has also honoured recent retirees, including Olds-area bus driver Ann Burchill as well as Trudy Mills and Edward Teichreb, who last worked at BGS. Ron Miller, who had 25 years of experience, retired from OHS at the end of June. Rudy Durieux retired from Reed Ranch School, while Betty Flood retired from OKCS and Kathy Vockeroth retired from EOES.
