聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Paul Geerdts has started his new position as the shop teacher for grades 7-12 at Canora Composite School (CCS) and grades 10-12 at Invermay school, and said his main goal is to help his students be employable by teaching them the skills expected by prospective employers.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Geerdts was born and raised in 麻豆视频 Africa (RSA) and has acquired plenty of knowledge and experience regarding skills needed to succeed in various trades.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As a child, he enjoyed working with his father, who worked in construction, and his grandfather, who was an electrician for the city of Johannesburg.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 After high school graduation in 1992, Geerdts studied in a program where he acquired his bachelor of education degree and his certification as an electrician at the same time in 1996.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 After graduation, he acquired his trades-based apprenticeship in construction and carpentry, which included training in structural welding, as well as in brick and mortar, concrete and wood frame construction. He acquired his electrical engineering certification in 2003.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Geerdts moved to Canada in 2008 when he was recruited by a construction company located in Williams Lake, B.C., which is in the Cariboo region. But he said that position was short-lived.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淒ue to the housing crash in the U.S. and the resulting recession, there was very little construction going on. So I was looking for a job.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 He took advantage of his education degree and accepted a position teaching welding and construction to grade 7-12 students at the school in Ile a la Crosse in northern Saskatchewan, which he held from 2009-2011.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Then he decided to move further south to Meadow Lake and worked as an electrician for about three years.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In 2014 he found employment in the electrical construction field, and worked in the Peace River Region of Alberta and in Hay River, NWT for nearly two years. During that time, he spent about five months as a substitute welding teacher.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In early 2016, Geerdts moved back to Saskatchewan, doing mainly agriculture-related maintenance work until the summer of this year, when he accepted his present teaching position.
He said teaching can be extremely rewarding.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 enjoy most the improvement in the work of students that can be seen over a period of time. Due to hard work by student and teacher, they and you get a great fulfilment in seeing the progress that can be made, if there is a partnership between student, teacher and parents.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Geerdts likes to compare that partnership to one of those sturdy old three-legged cast iron cooking pots.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚f one of those legs is cut off, whether it鈥檚 lack of support from the teacher or from the parents, or if the student is not motivated, then the cooking pot is likely to fall over and spill, and the partnership will not succeed,鈥� he said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Instead of having the Invermay students travel to Canora for their classes, Geerdts plans to travel to Invermay to teach them at their own school. Not only will it reduce the amount of time they spend traveling and increase their classroom time, it will also keep more activity within Invermay. He feels this type of a step is important in making sure small communities stay active and viable.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Even though he hasn鈥檛 been in his new position for very long, Geerdts is very appreciative of the support he has received from other teachers and from the Good Spirit School Division (GSSD).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 am impressed with how much the GSSD and CCS teachers care about these students.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Geerdts and his wife Charlene live on a farm near Buchanan with their five children, four boys and one girl, ages two to 13. He said they grow vegetables and raise sheep, and he gets a lot of enjoyment from working on the farm when he鈥檚 not busy teaching.
