Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 06/01) - Back in early 1980s, the territorial education authorities thought it took a special kind of person to make it as a teacher in the NWT.

And they had good reason. Back then, as is the case today, Southern migrants did not always stay long in the North.

Long winter months combined with isolation and the high cost of living may have contributed to staff turnovers.

Claudia Parker, assistant superintendent of learning for Yellowknife Catholic Schools, remembers showing up for her interview in Halifax, N.S., with NWT recruiters -- representing YCS and the territorial government -- also in attendance.

They described a world much different than the one she grew up in. Boisetown, which is about a 70-kilometre drive north of Fredericton, N.B., had very little in common with Yellowknife, or any other NWT community.

"It was basically trying to scare people almost from coming to the North because they basically told us the worst of what the North could be," says Parker, who graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 1980.

"You know, 'be prepared to use the honey buckets, be prepared for high costs of living, and you couldn't get the types of food you wanted all the time...'

"I think what they were doing was weeding out the people that couldn't handle a different type of living."

20 years and counting

But Parker and her husband, Chuck, were like a lot of young people fresh out of university. They wanted to see the country, take the bull by the horns, and blaze a trail of their own.

The Parkers thought they would try it for a year, but... "after one year, we decided we would stay for three years, and after three years we quit counting because now we've been here for 20 years," Parker laughs.

The horror stories offered during her recruiting process have toned down over the years. Parker ought to know -- she participated in two recruitment drives with YCS, including a trip back east last year.

"It's not like that today," says Parker. "When we go out on recruitment trips we sell the Northwest Territories.

"We tell the people all the good things about the Northwest Territories. We give them a picture of reality of what life in a small community is, but the small communities have a lot to offer as well."

Life looks good in Yellowknife

Parker's first job up North took her to St. Patrick elementary, where Weledeh Catholic school stands today.

The grim pictured painted by the NWT recruiters remained with the couple all the way up from New Brunswick, and seemed to be confirmed when they stopped for lunch in Enterprise.

"I started having some doubts," Parker laughs, recalling miles of dusty highway, and no civilization in sight.

But once in Yellowknife they were pleasantly surprised with what they saw. Their apartment on 52nd Avenue was comparable to those had seen in New Brunswick.

Yellowknife was in the midst of a boom, and many amenities of the south -- supermarkets, department stores, a new arena and pool -- were filling up the city scape.

Circle of friends

Parker flourished as a teacher. When first child Melody was born in October 1982, she stayed out of the classroom for only six weeks. "I taught right up until the day I had her," Parker recalls. "I went back to work right after Christmas. I'm not a stay-at-home mom. Some people are stay-at-home moms, but I loved teaching. For all three of my children, I took very short leaves."

Parker describes a close-knit community at YCS, and says making friends was easy.

"That wasn't a problem at all," says Parker. "It was a family atmosphere at Yellowknife Catholic Schools. There was a lot of Maritimers, and we all took care of each other. We became part of a circle of friends immediately."

After six years at St. Pat's, Parker took the vice-principal job at Ecole St. Joseph.

It was the beginning of Parker's career on the administrative side of education. She advanced quickly. A large part of that was her impressive record while teaching at St. Pat's.

"I enjoy taking on new challenges," says Parker. "In the six years I taught at St. Pat's elementary, every year I took on a different teaching assignment.

"I taught Grade 1, Grade 2, kindergarten, core French and music. It was important for myself to grow. It also keeps your job interesting, rather doing the same grade level for several years at a time."

Parker was the vice-principal at St. Joe's for five years. After that she took a year's leave of absence during which time she returned to the University of New Brunswick to complete a masters degree in administration.

Parker returned to St. Joe's, but three years later her husband Chuck was offered the job of Aurora College president at the Fort Smith campus.

Moving on

When the couple moved to Yellowknife in 1981, Parker was the one who had a job lined up at the time. Now it was her turn to follow. It worked out well for both of them.

"I applied for the vice-principal's job at the high school in Fort Smith," Parker remembers. "When I went down for my interview, they asked me if they could interview me for the principalship, and I became the principal.

"It was a whole new experience for me because I had not worked in the high school setting before."

It was a big change from working in elementary schools. The curriculum was different as was the age group.

"You can't go into a high school setting and treat those students the same as you would in an elementary school," says Parker. "They wanted to be treated as young adults. Sometimes my husband would say to me, 'You're using that elementary school tone of voice again.' "

Staying connected with family

Regardless, Parker took to her new job and the community.

"The first time I went to Fort Smith it reminded me of New Brunswick," says Parker. "With the river flowing, and the trees and everything. It really reminded me of home."

The family stayed in Fort Smith for four and a half years. All three of their children -- Melody, Patricia and Marc -- were born in Yellowknife and were all in their teens by the time they returned in early 1999.

They knew no other home but the NWT, aside from the year Parker spent acquiring her masters degree. She says while they feel a deep attachment to the North, Parker and her husband have always tried to ensure the children remain connected with their family roots.

"We usually go home to New Brunswick every second summer," says Parker. "All of our family is still back in New Brunswick. "We have a cottage there that we're building for our retirement years. Our oldest (Melody) is going to the University of New Brunswick next year, so that she can be closer to family."

But Parker adds the North was a great place to raise their children.

"There's lots of opportunities for children here to get into different activities," says Parker. "Our children are very involved in sports. For our two youngest, hockey was the main sport they liked to play. Our oldest was more into individual activities, like gymnastics and piano lessons."

Upon returning to Yellowknife from Fort Smith, Parker intended to take a few months off. But Kern Von Hagen, who was principal of St. Patrick high school at the time, wouldn't take no for answer. The school needed a French teacher and Parker obliged.

"It turned out to be kind of neat because it meant that I had now taught at all three Yellowknife Catholic schools," says Parker.

In the fall of 1999, Parker went back to St. Joe's, this time as principal.

A year later she took on her present role as the district's assistant superintendent of learning.

Continuing challenge for educators

She says that after 20 years working as an educator in the North, the challenges continue to grow.

"There's so much change," says Parker. "There's so many new things coming down: new curriculums, new directives. There's always something new we're throwing at our teachers.

"In dealing with the aboriginal aspect there's the challenge of trying to keep the culture alive, not only within our communities, but in the schools.

Parker and her husband says while they feel strongly attached to the North, but they don't plan on staying forever. After giving the bulk of their adult lives to the North, they will retire and head back to where they started.

Their children, however, are a different matter all together. They started their young lives here.

"All three of our children were born here in Yellowknife," says Parker. "My husband and I have discussed the future, and we feel there's a very strong chance that once they've gone off to school, they'll come back here to work in the North, and we hope they will do that.

"So our plans for some day when we retire, is that we have a place where we can stay in Yellowknife part of the year, and visit with our children and their families, once they begin having families, and then we'll have a place in New Brunswick as well."