Two elementary school teachers have been awarded the Governor General’s Award, and both woman—although not from Jasper—attribute some of their success to the community.
In 2013, Laurie Cassie and Sharon Moy of Vancouver’s David Livingstone Elementary School hopped on a VIA Rail train with 58 Grade 6 and 7 students and travelled to Jasper. The trip was the culmination of a year’s worth of teaching based on the novel On Mountaintop Rock, written by former Jasperite John McLay.
The novel is a mystery set in Jasper National Park in 1954. It follows Edward and Jenny, two young protagonists, who are free to explore, flying kites at Old Fort Point and peaking in the windows of their neighbours.
Cassie found McLay’s book seven years ago while travelling with B.C. Ferries and within a few chapters, she knew it was the perfect teaching tool.
It was three years later that the stars aligned and Cassie’s dreams became a reality. She and Moy created an entire social studies and language arts curriculum that centred around McLay’s novel and used it to teach students about David Thompson, the fur trade, the Canadian Pacific Railway, the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe, and a number of other topics mentioned within its pages.
It’s for that year of teaching that Cassie and Moy are being honoured with the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching.
“This is like a lifetime achievement award,” said Cassie. “We’re really over the moon.
“But, this award wouldn’t be in my lap if it weren’t for the people in Jasper.
“This award is very much shared with a whole bunch of people, not the least of whom is John McLay who wrote the book in the first place, but it’s also shared with the staff at Parks Canada: James Bartram for his vision that the parks belong to all Canadians; Jeanine D’Antonio: our fearless leader, who directed her staff to read the book.
“They didn’t have to do that, but they read John’s book so that when the kids came through, the activities they planned made references to it. That wasn’t part of their program; this book was unheard of to them—they’re just the kind of people who don’t shy away from a challenge.”
Cassie also credited the many Jasperites her students interacted with during their walking tour, naming Karen Byers, Harry Holmes, Sandy Robinson and Sandy Cox, among others.
“These are people who just took time out of their life because they’re proud of where they live and they know there’s a story there and they like the idea of sharing it with the next generation. I have huge admiration for that,” she said.
With all of those personal touches, the trip was the perfect way to wrap up the year, said Moy.
“We really wanted the book to come alive for them,” she said. “We wanted to make it personal, so that they were really invested in it.
“And it was amazing, because although they read [the book]—and John McLay is very descriptive with his language and talking about the beauty of the Rockies—it doesn’t do it justice until you see it and when they saw Jasper, they felt like they were Jenny and Edward.”
Cassie and Moy, who received a letter of recommendation from McLay for the award, will accept it at a ceremony in Ottawa this November.
Nicole Veerman
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