I remember facing a few challenges during my teaching career at Father Bressani CHS, Woodbridge, Ontario. I do not remember the exact year when an entire quarter of the building had to be shut down due to asbestos found in the walls of that particular area of the building. Both floors were shut down for a lengthy period of time. I received the call from the school Principal, that an important meeting required department heads to attend an emergency gathering. The news was shared at this meeting. Further, the instructions to those teachers working in that section of the building to immediately remove all equipment. Music Room 209 was full of computers, instruments, instructional materials, and cabinets full of other related / connected resources, consumables, recordings, music score library, etc. I was required to move all of this and to place it in the other music room 222, located just outside the identified out-of-bounds area. This was a huge task and I had to act quickly, there was not much time offered. I do not recall how much help I was given to gather all the above, transport it, and then, re-organize it so that I could continue to teach in the crowded space of 222. It was an incredible situation, somewhat unbelievable and unfair. I recall that some classes had to be arranged in the gymnasium with other simultaneous classes. Also, the same in the cafeteria. This did not work well. I suppose I was fortunate because at least I could deliver some instruction in room 222.
The asbestos was discovered by one of the teachers who was dealing with a discipline problem in a classroom. I do not know the exact details, and perhaps the student was merely fooling-around with the teacher, but a whole appeared in the wall of the classroom. Now, was this done by accident? Did it occur with a foot kicking the wall? Did it happen because one student was wrestling with another and the bodies collided into the wall? Do not remember. The teacher noticed the inner portion of the wall had a peculiar colour. This discovery was reported and the wall was investigated. After identifying the substance as asbestos, the other classrooms on the first floor were checked and so were the above classrooms in that particular quarter of the building. If memory serves me, I believe that this particular corner of the building was a newly added portion to the school structure, and was not an original part of the school when it first was constructed.
The other challenge with teaching at Father Bressani CHS: the building was too small! In fact, this was a building constructed with elementary school planning. Therefore, the hall way width was smaller; the classroom were smaller. When I was teaching there, the school campus was known as portable city, with some 40 portables located on the property! We had 2200 students, if not more, registered at Father Bressani CHS. Things improved once Holy Cross was built, to take on some of the pressure. Later, other high schools were constructed. When you walked in the hallway, you basically joined the streams of people moving in all directions, and the momentum (speed) of the chain of people helped to move you from point A to point B. It was challenging to leave the stream of motion when you reached your destination. An interesting note, that just recently, an entire elementary school located near Father Bressani CHS was demolished! Things have certainly changed.
The other challenge while teaching at Father Bressani CHS included the political strike I experienced in the 90’s. Wow, what an experience. In fact, not only did I live the provincial strike, but also the local strike which followed.
An additional crisis that comes to mind is 9/11. I remember teaching when a student returns to class from a requested rest room break, and shares the news of the attack on the buildings. I do not remember the year, but I was a part of the excursion to New York City a few years prior to 9/11. It was a great trip, which included our visit to the World Trade Centre. In fact, we attended a lecture on the 80th floor (I think). I remember looking out the windows: what an amazing view. Many years later, I organized an excursion to New York City while teaching at St. Elizabeth CHS. We did visit the site and this trip was also an amazing experience, visiting the church located very close to ground zero. Another fine excursion completed at Father Bressani after 9/11, because we were not allowed to leave the country, was an organized trip to Alberta, via train! That year, we were expected to travel to Greece, but the trip was cancelled due to 9/11. I replaced the trip with Alberta. We were not allowed to fly, so I arranged the trip VIA rail. It was spectacular to visit Alberta.
Another trip organized while working at Father Bressani CHS was the trip to British Columbia, a combined Rugby / Music Trip. Again, a fantastic experience.
I forgot to mention the additional challenge experienced at this school. On a few occasions, my tires were slashed on my truck. I drove a pickup truck at the time. At this particular school, I would get into some difficulty with some students who did not appreciate my high standard of respect for education; respect for following school rules and policies; respect for other teachers; respect for school property, etc. Unfortunately, my work to correct situations did manage to cost me. There were other situations where, believe it or not, my life was threatened as well. I know, I know, it’s difficult to accept this unexpected sharing of news, but it’s true. Of course, there were other teachers who experienced the same. It was common at this school. Please understand, Father Bressani CHS was an amazing school with amazing students. So many students graduated from that school with amazing success in so many areas. The community too, simply amazing, very supportive of Music Program and my work. I did teach there for 15 years! There were so many rumors about the school - some truthful and some, well, I do not know. I concentrated on my work, and appreciated working with so many wonderful colleagues and students. However, like most schools, you do get a mix of clients - and some students are not very kind.
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