My hips are aching. I can still feel the size ten men’s boots around my calves although it has been hours since I took them off. Drudgery in -40.
The teachers of my province went on strike today and I had to reach my writing goal of the day and I thought, what better way to hit two birds with one stone than to memorialize something that I hope never to have to experience again? Though, knowing this government I will most likely suit up in a few weeks and trudge those same steps.
9.3 kilometres in a two block area.
We struck (is that the past tense of striking?) because our government has taken away too many of our options. Some examples from my personal experience:
They have cut teachers, 145 of them, and we have 4000 new students - that’s the equivalent (in my province) of 8 elementary schools, or 4 high schools.
They have increased the length of our day twice - which equates to extra days WITHOUT giving any extra compensation for these extra days. In what other job would they tack on extra days of work and not pay you for them?
Violence has increased dramatically in schools. I can speak first hand to evacuating primary classrooms multiple times because a kid is throwing chairs. Safety first. My brother was selling kevlar sleeves to a school division because of the amount of teachers getting bit regularly.
My friend’s kid is in a kindergarten classroom with 28 other five year olds. How do you expect five year olds to learn how to function in a classroom when there are 29 of them? His other daughter, grade 2, you know, when you’re learning to read and really write has 32 kids. And he’s a teacher, and they’ve double up his shop class so that he’s teaching one class while the other class does the practical applications without supervision because he’s teaching the other group of kids!
But, oh, we want more money.
No, we want more hands for this inordinate amount of work. We have so many kids that are still struggling from the pandemic, that haven’t caught up or filled gaps. We want more classrooms. We need more teachers for those classrooms. We want structures that aren’t crumbling for goodness sake. My office is in a basement of a nearly 100 year old school.
So, we had to.
We had to walk out.
In -41.
I was suited up and unrecognizable. I wore two coats, and boots that were ginormous. I slathered my face, hourly, with vaseline. My water bottle froze shut in my pocket. When my favourite local coffee shop showed up with coffee and donuts I hugged the baristas like they were long lost friends, thankfully they recognized me after I shouted through my many layers. I went through four packets of hot paws and thawed a frozen granola bar in my mouth so that I wouldn’t crack a tooth on my morning snack. And I walked. Or trudged. I walked for my students. I walked for my colleagues. I walked for my kid. I walked for your kid. I walked around and around, encouraging cars to honk, high-fiving friends, and cheering on my colleagues. I walked, and I walked, and I walked, hopeful to be heard.
We weren’t sure we would survive it. My office mate and I were whining really hard the day before. We are both wimps, we don’t like the cold. We were not sure if we would last in the cold. Somehow, we prevailed. I was texting my friend and she said I don’t know how you did it and I replied, I think we were high on the adrenalin and a shared cause.
We care about kids. duh. We care about the future. I am not sure why it is that some governments cannot see that investing in our children is investing in the future? It feels so cliche to write that, but I just don’t get how they don’t connect those dots. All of the research out there shows that a heavy investment in children is the greatest return you can give to society. And, to invest in children, you have to care about, invest in, and look after the people who invest their lives in these kids every day.
Currently on my Kobo - You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith. And in my ears (just finished) Build the Life you Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey