Caroline Kerr-Hendry:
CLASS OF 1989
North Surrey Secondary SchoolClass of 1989
Surrey, BC
William Aberhart High SchoolClass of 2003
Calgary, AB
Johnston Heights Junior High SchoolClass of 1987
Surrey, BC
Harold Bishop SchoolClass of 1984
Surrey, BC
West Dalhousie Elementary SchoolClass of 1982
Calgary, AB
Caroline's Story
Life
After graduating from high school, I went on to study Art, English, and Education at UVic. I stayed in Victoria for eight years. In 1995, I met the love of my life during a summer visit to Calgary. Harlan and I have been together ever since. We still make each other laugh, so, that's good. I don't have any children -- I can't due to my medical history. I have been teaching high school Art and Special Ed since 1997. I started my teaching career in Langley and now teach in Calgary. I used to volunteer at the Calgary Humane Society and have looked after all kinds of animals. Currently, I have two dogs, three bunnies, and one gerbil. Their names are (in order) Sparky, Melvin Doo, Flotsam, and Robbie. I am writing and illustrating a children's storybook about my bunny, Bunty, who died in Oct, 2002. She was so special. The book is tentatively entitled "The Nine Year-Old Bunny." I have also lost two of my dogs, Heidi and Bentley, another bunny (Jetsam), and my gerbil (Police Constable Plod.) I miss them so much. I still love art but don't have a lot of spare time/money to do it. I love cooking (all vegan, of course.) I still love to swim and have taken up running. I did my first half-marathon in Edmonton in 2002 and hope to do a full marathon and a small triathalon some time. I still love to walk and sit and contemplate and then talk about it all. My favorite tv shows are the Untalkative Bunny and Coronation St. (yes, I still watch this -- addicted.) Dancing hampsters make me extraordinarily happy. My head changes often but my feet always stay the same. What else can I say? People still consider me to be nice but a little peculiar -- that's okay. Hope you are all healthy and content.
School
My favorite year in school was Play School (except for that horrible incident with me knocking over the sand box.) By the time kindergarten came, I already felt too much pressure to perform!!! I went to a really posh elementary school in Calgary. At this school, we had all kinds of facilities that some kids didn't even have at high school. We even had computers (Apple II's -- which were whiz bang new things back then!) Mr. Morris, the grade 1 music teacher was the best! I drove my brothers nuts for years belting out "Hey! Hey! I am a lion!" My favorite moments from this school were when we went Christmas carolling at night with our parents and neighbours and we came back to the school and have hot chocolate. I was in several school plays. I even sang some solo songs ("Let's Go Fly A Kite" was my favorite.) I loved being in plays and having a chance to really act out. I might have continued with acting if I wasn't always given the role of the small waif, due to my size. My best friends at this school were Sharon Adams and Sylvia Norman. I was also friends with Julie Woods, Ellen G, and Rachel N. At the end of grade 4, Sylvia moved away and I was only friends with Sharon. The kids started to be quite mean about my small size, etc. At the end of grade 5, I moved to BC and went to a simple elementary school in Surrey where the kids actually talked to me. I had a lot of fun there. Mr. Clegg was an awesome grade 6 teacher. In his class, we studied Greek and Roman Mythology; wrote lots of stories; played tons of baseball; and went on many field trips -- we even rode our bikes down to Barnston Island one day to pick samples for Science! My favorite memories from this school were Fun Nights, after school dances, and all-day walks down to Port Kells for hot dog barbeques. My best friends at this school were Christine Hegedus, Charlene Hewitt, Laura Postnikoff, and Lisa Friesen. I didn't like junior high very much at all so I'm not going to talk about it much. There were times when it seemed I had no friends at all -- especially in grade 8. Although, by the end of grade 9 things settled down and I still remained friends with Christine and Charlene; and there was also Andrea Snow, Peter Towler, Brad Henningson, and Cas McCrea. At the end of junior high is when I became friends with Vanessa Giddings. Mr. Mandoli was an awesome Math teacher and, secretly, I did think his dumb jokes were kind of funny. Senior high school was pretty good. I loved grade 11. I lied when I said playschool was my favorite grade, because grade 11 really was. I loved most of my classes and teachers. Mr. Brock was my inspiration. The best teacher, ever! Art and Biology were my favorite classes; I also really liked English. Physics Day at Play Land was a blast! I was friends with Heather McEachern, Miyoko Tateishi, Kevin Gabriel, Jenni Gillis, Desiree Mills, Kerry Erickson, Wayne Chin, Todd Mc, and Dan Lussier. And, of course, my best friend was Vanessa. I don't think I would have made it through high school without her. After all is said, school was okay but I sure as heck wouldn't do it again!!!
College
Believe it or not, my college career actually started when I was six years old when I took classes at ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design.) That was so much fun (if not always environmentally friendly.) University was wicked fun! I took science first year and HATED it. I then went into Education focusing on Visual Arts and English. Choosing to minor in English was not a ...Expand for more
wise decision as my speeling is not that gud. Just kidding. I spell fine. But, I don't love English the way I love Art. I wish I had done a minor in Special Education instead. Although, my favorite class ever was a Shakespearean Survey class --Eng 366 with Michael Best. A few of us from class did a read-through of "Much Ado About Nothing" at his house! I lived in rez at first and then in various living arrangements around Victoria. I loved Victoria. I had a super great time there. My fondest memories include: "Barney, the Blind Puppet"; the Theatre at the Little Red Brick House; busking outside the rez cafeteria; Ian's Jubilee Coffee Stop; and just hanging out with all my friends. My best friends were Brian Fidler, Taylor Barter (who has sadly passed away), Linda Scott, Lana Manuel, Andrea Hoff, Justin Evans, Jay Horsburgh, Big Mike Lathrop, James Bayne, Tom Rice, Caitlin Jones and Kecia Dusseault. I had many other friends: Jenn O'Ryan, Rachel Porter, Tanis Porter, Lucas Myers, Scott Grey, Mike Gardener, Jason Crockett, Jason Jones, Chris Sanson, Chris Willis, Jason Columbo, Ryan Komishun, Chris Johns, Fame MacKnee, Odete Pacheco, Mika (?), and many others (I know I missed lots of you, sorry.) I'd love to hear from any of you folk and find out how you are.
Workplace
My first job was as a life guard and swimming instructor at the South Surrey Pool. I never had to save anyone's life so I guess I did my job well. I then had a job during the summers when I was home from university. I lived in Steveston, Richmond at the time and worked at BC Packers. This was actually a really interesting job. I probably know a sockeye salmon better than a gourmet seafood chef! It was also an awesome paying union job -- in one month of really hard work I would make mad cash! In the summer of 1991,I also had a job at a particular ice cream shop whose name I won't repeat -- let's just say it rhymed with Spaskin Blobbins -- which was the WORST job ever. My wrist is still suffering!!! In the summer of 1993, I worked for the Western Region of the Canadian Coast Guard for Marine Emergencies. I was a training assistant. I was also the AV geek who recorded everything that went on. This is the only job I've ever had that gave me the opportunity to travel. I was based in Richmond but I also worked in Sandspit (Queen Charlotte Islands), Ganges (Saltspring Island), Prince Rupert, Hay River, Tuktoyaktuk, and Inuvik!! In 1997, I was hired as a teacher-on-call in Langley. I loved teaching here. I taught Art most of the time and I was personally requested by teachers a lot. I got to know most of the kids since Langley is a small district with only 8 small secondary schools. It was very gratifying. I also did some long-term contracts at a few of the schools. In 1999, I moved to Calgary. I worked as a sub the first year I was there. Calgary is a much larger school district than Langley so I didn't get to know many of the kids or teachers. I was rarely requested but I still worked every day. I wasn't getting much satisfaction out of this. I started to volunteer at the Calgary Humane Society as both a dog walker and a bunny exerciser. I loved it! I really got into it. I would write and illustrate incredible "love notes" for the animals to try and boost their chance of adoption. I took real pride in choosing suitable new names for the animals. People used to call me RabbitGirl and I helped to get some of my favorite bunnies adopted (even if it meant adopting them myself!!!) I later volunteered as a foster parent and nursed a pregnant guinea pig and got to witness the birth of her four boisterous boys. I named the mother Clarabel and her sons: Scribble, Scrabble, Doodle, and Niblet! They were really cute. I also wrote and illustrated an instruction manual on rabbit care for the special needs volunteers at the shelter. I presented a lesson to them and their aides. While this was all going on, I had also taken on a part-time job at the Calgary Humane Society. I worked in the Animal Care Department. This means that I cleaned, fed, monitored, groomed, and loved all of the animals in the shelter. I even got to work with exotic animals (no big fuzzy spiders, though, luckily!) and the really sick animals in quarantine. I got pretty attached to the animals and I put a lot of effort into working there. In the fall of 2000, I got a teaching contract at William Aberhart High School. I had to give up my job and eventually volunteering at the shelter because I was running myself ragged and I needed to concentrate on my teaching. I still feel guilty, but, I realize I can't possibly help all the animals. At Aberhart, I have taught Art and ESL and acted as the Instructional Resource Person and AISI (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) coordinator. I have sponsored the Grad Fashion Show and the Senior Boys' Soccer Team and Awareness Week. I was also and unofficial sponsor of the unofficial Games and Geeks Club at lunch. I really loved it. I do not have a contract for the 2003/2004 school year, due to cut-backs. So, I will go back to subbing. I'm going to make it work for me, though, and only go to schools that I want to go to and that I can get to by walking, cycling, or taking the bus.
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