A lot of things have changed and will continue to change in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic gripping our world. There will certainly be lasting imprints for some time when all of this finally manages to pass us over. In time, life will resume back to normal, or at least as normal as can be, given the circumstances.
In the school setting, the hope is that kids head back to class in the fall as they routinely do after Labor Day. However, one thing will be different when staff and students return to the hallways of Outlook High School – a new principal.
Walter Wood, who has served as Principal of the ‘Home of the Blues’ since August 2015, has decided to call it a career and exit his role, looking for a new challenge in life outside of the education field.
Wood spoke with The Outlook through email correspondence about his time spent in education, reflecting on a lengthy career that included a number of locations before ultimately ending up in our community five years ago.
“I have been in education for the past 30 years,” said Walter. “I interned in Milden in the fall of 1989, but my first contract was in Mankota in the Wood River School Division. I started in Mankota as a subject teacher, primarily math and science. In Estevan, I started as a teacher in the Mathematics Department at the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS). I then served as one of the Vice-Principals of ECS for six years and then the last two years I worked as the Coordinator of Analytical Services for the South East Cornerstone School Division. I then moved here in August of 2015 where I have been the principal of Outlook High School for the past 5 years.”
In his younger years, Wood had two careers in mind for his future, and he wound up being inspired to head down one career path because of the mentors he was surrounded with at the time.
“During high school I wanted to either be a teacher or a sports journalist,” he explained. “The teaching influence came from the teachers that I had, especially my high school teacher. I appreciated everything that my teachers had done for me and I thought this would be my way of paying it forward.”
For Walter, it’ll be the connections that he’s made in his five years at OHS that he’ll take with him as he prepares to leave the hallways and the classrooms at the end of the year.
“For me, education is all about relationships,” he said. “The memories that I will carry forward will be of the people that I have been fortunate enough to work with and the students that have walked the hallways of OHS.”
Making the move to Outlook would end up being one of the best things Wood and his family have done, as he credits the community as being a place that’s not too big, but not too small; a healthy balance that many people look for as a place to call home.
“Outlook has been great to my wife and I,” he shared. “It is small enough that you get to know a lot of people in the community, but large enough that you still have a healthy degree of privacy. We are fortunate to have great neighbours and are proud to call Outlook our home.”
Obviously, a global pandemic bringing an abrupt and noticeably bizarre end to the school year has made for a uniquely unprecedented situation for educators everywhere. Walter remains optimistic about the possibility of reuniting with students before the end of June, but he knows that things are up in the air and the control is out of everyone’s hands for the time being. He credits staff at OHS for stepping up their efforts and trying to make the best of the situation.
“We are hoping that we will be fortunate to see students again in our hallways before the end of this school year, but that will be determined by the Ministries of Health and Education,” said Wood. “The first priority must be the safety of our community because if you don't have your health, everything else is secondary. I am proud of the way that all of our staff have responded to these trying times. Everyone has really stepped up and are concentrating on doing what is best for our students instead of focusing on what this means for themselves. None of us saw this coming and we are not really versed or trained to be working with students in these conditions. We know that what we develop will not be perfect and we will make mistakes but, like all of the parents that are facing the same situation, we will do our best to make sure that the students get what they need until school resumes and as long as everybody is safe and healthy, we can worry about the learning when it is safe to do so.”
Not only has the pandemic dealt a blow to the remainder of the school year, but empty hallways and classrooms isn’t exactly how Wood envisioned his final few months as Principal.
“I would never have dreamed that any school year would end with a worldwide pandemic closing down schools,” he said. “As I mentioned earlier, I hope this isn't the end of our face-to-face interactions with students because that is what our whole staff thrive on. I do hope that I get to see students walking through our hallways, learning in our classrooms and interacting with teachers before I retire because that is what brings life to education.”
As everyone waits to see how things hopefully turn around, Wood says he’s looking forward to the challenge of trying on a new hat as far as career opportunities go.
“I have spent the last 48 years of my life going to school and I want to try something new while I am still relatively young,” he said. “I have plans to take a few classes, starting in the fall, in order to pursue a career in the financial services industry.”
Change has become the constant for everyone in these times we live in right now, and for some, that change may include where you want your professional life to be headed. It may be sad to see him go, but while Mr. Wood may be leaving the school halls, Walter says has no plans to leave Outlook, so he’ll still remain a familiar face in the community.
