For 23 years, Helen Schapansky was a teacher at Niverville Collegiate, working with students from Grade Five to Grade Ten and spending most of her time teaching in her favourite subject area—math. She also enjoyed coaching Grade Seven girls basketball for several years.

Schapansky started teaching in 1981, beginning her career in New Bothwell. She then took some time away from the classroom to have children, and in 1996 she was hired to teach at NCI. For her, it was the ideal situation to be able to live and work in town.

“I had the same schedule as my kids, I taught them and their friends, and also fed them in my kitchen,” she recalls.

It wasn’t just a question of convenience, though. Schapansky also enjoyed the school and the community in their own right.

“I really enjoyed the support that I got from the community,” she says. “And I had excellent colleagues and mentors. I never regretted teaching here—I always loved it.”

Spending 23 years at one school gave her the opportunity to watch the place change over time. It was a Grades Seven to Twelve school when she started, and then changed to a Five to Twelve school towards the end of her tenure. She retired this summer, just before the big change to open separate middle and high schools.

The way teachers are assigned courses has changed over time, too, she says.

“When I started, teachers were subject-based. You would be the math teacher or the science teacher. Now, teachers teach not just their specialty but a variety.”

Other changes she noticed during her time at NCI included an increased use of technology in the classroom and more interaction between the schools and families.

“Parents are definitely more involved in their kids’ school lives now,” she notes.

One thing that never changed for Schapansky was the joy she got from watching her students learn.

“I love seeing kids work to their potential,” she says. “I loved seeing growth in students in their abilities and seeing them take ownership of their own learning.”

Some of her most rewarding moments as a teacher, she says, were when former students came back to tell her that something she had said had stuck with them or inspired them.

“That’s so meaningful, because they don’t have to come back or reach out again, and if they do and they say that something I said made a difference to them, that’s a huge reward for me.”

Although she always found teaching fulfilling, Schapansky says that it wasn’t always easy.

“It requires patience, firmness with kindness, resilience, and a lot of strength and courage,” she says.

She also adds that sometimes people point out how much vacation time teachers have, but that they don’t always see all the work teachers put in outside of class time, or realize that when teachers are in the classroom, they constantly have to be “on.”

Now that she has retired, Schapansky is looking forward to some well-earned relaxation. In addition to helping plan her daughter’s wedding, she will also continue as an assistant coach with Providence College’s women’s basketball.

As for the rest of her time? In her own words, she is especially looking forward to “golfing, gardening, reading… all the good things!”