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Gay has been an Educational Assistant with Durham District School Board's Hillsdale Public School in Oshawa for 16 years - long before Educational Assistant became a provincially-apprenticeable trade. She is delighted with the progressive route her career path has taken, and would do it all the same way again. Gay began her working life as a legal secretary. After twelve and a half years, she stayed at home for 10 years to care for her two children. She re-entered the workforce as a volunteer working with students and being a luncheon supervisor at Hillsdale Public School. Two years later, the school Principal invited her to become involved in a pilot program for Learning Strategies at the school. In this program, she worked with small groups of pupils aged five to 13 who were struggling with the curriculum. (Gay believes that she, herself, would have been identified as a candidate for this program, had it been in place when she was a student.) Her involvement started with three mornings a week and worked up to full time as an Educational Assistant. As an Educational Assistant, Gay enhances and facilitates the work of the classroom teacher. She works from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., from Monday to Friday. Her workday can involve assisting special-needs or behaviourally-challenged students, one on one or in small groups, or working in a conventional class to boost students who need assistance in certain areas. She may also be found housekeeping, photographing, planning, organizing sports teams - and, in fact, doing anything that is required for the benefit, health or safety of the students. Her role can change every year, depending on the requirements of the students at that time. She even managed a lunch-hour Rainbows program, as needed. (Rainbows is a volunteer-driven, peer-support group for children experiencing a painful transition from the death of a loved one, or the separation or divorce of parents.) Gay has lots of jubilant moments in her profession, like: witnessing the daily achievements of her students and their elation with their successes; watching them blossom educationally and personally as they grow up; seeing their pride when they graduate; and welcoming them when they return to visit her with their own children. Her biggest challenge is keeping her students motivated when they start to give up on themselves. When her students are unhappy, her approach is to 'cry' with them. On the other hand, if she is having a troubling day, she tells them that so they can know it is alright to feel upset sometimes. She finds it important to understand the family background of her students in order to serve them better. She treats her students like she treats her own children - 23-year-old Jenny, a supply Educational Assistant, and 25-year-old Cherie, an Assistant Manager. She tells them if they can't talk to her, they should find someone they feel comfortable with who is reliable for giving good advice and understanding. Her pleasure in working with children spilled over into her spare evening-time hours when she volunteered as a Brownie Leader at the time Cherie joined the Girl Scouts. Besides her genuine love of children, her readily available sense of humour, her time-management skills and her organizational skills, Gay's natural gift of psychology is a skill that makes her extremely successful in her profession. She knows how to balance discipline and responsibility with kindness and caring. An Educational Assistant's salary is negotiated by the union and usually increases with each contract. A journeyperson can currently earn between $10.51 and $23.10 per hour, excluding overtime. Gay enjoys an attractive benefits package that includes: a wellness program; professional development days; paid vacation that leaves her plenty of time to go motorcycle touring with her husband, Gordie (two months in summer, one week at Christmas, one week at Easter); and a pension on retirement. Gay's advice to anyone considering a career as an Educational Assistant is to: work with the teachers and the school administration; keep an open mind; get visible and involved; ask questions, and keep asking until you get the answer you need. Occasionally, the answers may be negative but most of the time they will be positive. Excellent information is also available through government offices and websites. Students in high school should consider enquiring about getting into a Cooperative Education program or the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program. And, most importantly, "VOLUNTEER, VOLUNTEER, VOLUNTEER. You get back double." It worked for Gay. Gay is the longest serving staff member at Hillsdale Public School, and is obviously very happy there. (Her philosophy is that you have to embrace the school family since you work together six hours a day, and she finds this easy to do at Hillsdale.) However, Educational Assistants can also work in places like Centres for Exceptional Children, kindergartens, nursery schools. With additional training, they can become teachers, facilitators, or psychologists. Gay believes that there will always be an urgent need for her trade. In fact, she believes firmly that there should be an Educational Assistant in every class. The female-male ratio in attendance on Professional Development Days indicates that there are still more females than males in this trade across Durham Region. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
®1999 DURHAM REGION LOCAL TRAINING BOARD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
