CANORA - Zac Fedorak is presently a teacher at Kamsack Comprehensive Institute. He also taught at CCS for a year, when the students in the Class of 2025 were in Grade 8. He must have made a significant impression, because they asked him to be the guest speaker at their graduation on June 26.
“I am a graduate from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in both kinesiology and education,” said Fedorak. “Which meant at the time the only thing I wanted to teach was high school Phys. Ed... but I was stuck with a group of what I imagined as immature Grade 8s. Now I may have been right about some immaturity but it was the kind of immaturity that makes teaching middle years extremely rewarding and what made my time in Canara one of the most enjoyable and memorable times in my career so far.
“On top of being thrown into a new school in an unfamiliar teaching area, this was also the first year back from COVID-19,” continued Fedorak. “That meant a whole new way of having to teach along with a whole pile of regulations. I will never forget our first day of school. Here I have a group of Grade 8s in masks, socially distanced, after half a year of no school and me being a robot reading all the COVID regulations, showing the videos on how to properly wash their hands and essentially uprooting every social aspect that school is so important for. I could tell by the looks on their faces that the first impression I gave them was that of utter boredom and they were not looking forward to a year with their new teacher.
“But as the year progressed we ended up bonding and having a lot of fun within our Grade 8 bubble. And I owe my time spent in Canora to how my career ended up panning out. As they are all probably aware, my favourite subject is math. I was lucky enough to teach both Grade 8 math classes.”
Fedorak fondly recalled the day when he spoke to the class about his idol, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Arnold had 6 rules to success in life. I am going to do better and give you 10 rules to live by.
“Rule #1: Keep your bedroom clean. Now this is one that didn't come easy to me ... and still sometimes slips away from me when things get busy and the laundry piles up. But your bedroom is like your personal living space, you spend a large portion of your life there. The state of your bedroom is a reflection of the current state your life is in. If it is a mess, laundry, everywhere, dirty dishes, even an unmade bed; you will likely have other areas struggling in your life, whether it be something as simple as eating healthy, exercising, or even something financially.
“Rule #2: Always act as if someone is watching you. Now this is not an easy task, especially on those difficult days when things just aren't going your way. Rhett and Hayden seemed to have an early understanding of this rule. I only say this because I never actually caught them doing anything they shouldn't have been, when in fact I know they weren't always innocent. This was apparent when the class would be sitting in silence, and one of them would burst into laughter over something I did not see. Now Briel didn't have as early of a grasp on this rule and that’s how he and I broke the ice and how I got to know him. Grade 8 boys often think that they are quite smart and that teachers aren't very smart. Little did he know I was watching him. And to my surprise that's how I found out about his interest in horses.
“Rule #3: Always be willing to meet new people. Now this is one that I can relate to personally, as I stated before, earlier in my career I got bounced around from school to school as there was no permanent contracts available. Aurora moved to Canora about halfway through our year. It’s not easy having to move to a new school and meet a bunch of new people, especially in Grade 8. However; this was something she did not struggle with in the least, she wasn't shy, talked with everyone and she quickly became part of the class, honestly it was like she was there the whole time. Aurora I commend you on your being so personable, it’s something a lot of people do not possess.
"Rule #4: Never be afraid to be the idiot in the room. Now I mean this in the least offensive and non-literal way. What I mean is its OK to not understand something. It’s not OK to sit there and pretend that you do understand it in the hopes of not being seen. Don't be afraid to ask questions, find a way to help you understand, look like the idiot. And while everyone else may be laughing, you are the one who is going to benefit and before you know it, you will be the one answering their questions. Now when I made this rule I thought of Lucien and Aidyn. Obviously, neither one of them are idiots. Both are quite intelligent, at times. But both of them had an endless amount of questions and questioned everything that I taught them, Lucien heavily in Social Studies often curious about fascism and the world wars, and Aidyn just in everything, even if it was, ‘Why do I need to know this?’ But here's the thing, I always made sure to have an answer for them, something to make them think, something to make them better, and hopefully something to help them recognize the value in it all.
“Rule #5: Never Stop Learning. Even though some of you may be done with your academic career, and you will no longer need to know how to apply a quadratic function, or need to know what an onomatopoeia is, that doesn't mean you should stop learning. Whether it is a new skill, a new job, or even a hobby. Every new thing you learn has merit and will make you stronger and more successful in life. So never stop learning and don't be afraid to try new things. This rule immediately made me think of Lila. Lila loved and I assume still loves to learn, and in Grade 8 she wanted to be perfect. I remember every math test I wrote would be structured into four levels, with the last question being the fourth tier and an indication that you were working above grade level. It was designed to make them think, and apply everything they knew about the topic in order to answer it. I can remember the excitement and the drive that Lila had with each one of those questions, she needed to figure it out, and if she couldn't she was always the first in line to ask, ‘How do I do that question?’ Lila, that is a very admirable quality to have, cherish it, and as long as I am teaching, I will never forget your drive.
“Rule #6: Dream Big, Dream Often, and Trust yourself. Only you can decide who you want to be, and I am not saying what you want to be, but who you want to be. You ultimately need to decide what makes you happy and trust that everything else will work out.
“Rule #7: Don't Be Afraid to Fail. This rule builds off of the last two. Anytime we are learning something new, or take a risk to achieve a dream, failure is imminent. It's going to happen, it's how you respond to it that will make the difference. If you get knocked down and stay there, you are going to have a rough journey through life. But if you embrace it and learn from it, nothing will stop you. I remember Chloe taking risks all through Grade 8, mainly in that she said what came to her mind, and didn't really care what people thought about it. Just remember, any time you face adversity, get back up and remember that every setback makes you stronger and brings you closer to your goal.
“Rule #8: Always try to be kinder than you have to be. Now I saved this one for close to the end because I think about five girls in particular, three of them are up here and two unfortunately moved away. Makayla, Jessee, Ava, Sofia, and Annie. There is a quote that says ‘No matter how educated, talented, rich or cool you believe you are, how you treat people ultimately tells all. Integrity is everything. In a world where you can be anything, be kind." I had a tough time coming up with any one particular story for the three of these girls up on stage. But as I thought back on the year we spent together, they fit this rule more than anyone I have ever taught. I can't think of any moment in time where they tried to bring themselves up by putting someone else down, or where they were doing something that they weren't supposed to, other than maybe distracting me by talking about something completely irrelevant to our subject.
“Rule #9: You have two ears and one mouth, use them in that proportion. Nobody has ever learned anything by listening to themselves talk. So be attentive and listen to understand, not to respond. There’s a famous quote that says ‘A wise man speaks because he has something to say, and the fool speaks because he has to say something.’ Now often times, when people are quiet, or are listening, people think of this as a bad quality, in reality it’s one that more need to possess. So if you want to be successful, take the time to listen, and think about what it is you have to say. Owen, Connor, Alaina, Noah, Jayelle, and Callie, all of you were quieter within the classroom than some of your classmates. This is not a bad thing, because you were listening, and learning more than anyone else may have known. Never feel bad about being the quiet one in the room, but never be afraid to talk, when you have something to say.
“Rule #10: Life is a Game. What is a game? In a game you have an objective and a set of rules to follow in order to reach that objective, often times it can involve an opponent or some form of competition. Now we all decide what game or games we want to play. Whether it be the financial game, the romantic game, or the obvious career game. Within each of these games, we have an objective, or a goal that we want to reach. In order to reach that goal, we need to follow a set of rules, some mandatory, some are our moral decision. But ultimately, how we play the game is going to result in the outcome that is our life. Never stop playing the game, make every strategic move to make sure you win the game, and don't cheat, it may work for a while, but eventually you will get caught and have to face the consequences. When I made this rule I thought of Michael. Now if I remember one thing about Michael, it’s that he did not like math, and he was quite successful at the game of ‘How to avoid doing math.’ He would often distract me by, believe it or not, talking about games. We would often talk about what games we were playing, and the hours he would spend on games instead of doing the math that needed to get done. Michael, clearly you have been playing the game of life, you have beaten the competition that is math, now you get to decide what the next objective is.
“I realize I left Ty out of my rules. Unlike other people up on the stage today, I got to spend a little time with Ty after I left Canora. This year he made it to golf provincials and both KCI and Canora travelled together. It was great that we got to catch up and talk about the last few years, and once again he demonstrated the qualities I explained earlier. I caught this when some of my students were in the van working on their Math Foundations 20 material they were going to miss over the next few days. Ty was looking at it and helping them quite seamlessly through some calculations. Ty helping them and having no issue solving a question in a class he likely hasn't done in a year told me that:
- Mr. Lowes is a far superior math teacher than myself, and
- Ty is an excellent student and most importantly an excellent math student. I tell myself that it is the latter of the two. Ty, congratulations and I wish you nothing but the best in the future.
“Thank you all for listening to me one more time. I wish you all the success in the world.”
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