In the first quarter of 2024, I had the privilege of visiting many high schools with one of our OSSTF districts. The aim was to promote our new Member Flourish+ program that we had recently co-created and launched in partnership with our OSSTF local leaders. This was an incredibly worthwhile experience on a few fronts. First, it helped us spread awareness about Flourish+. It also allowed us to connect face-to-face with Education Leaders and Teachers to better understand some of the challenges they face in their daily work.
As a Life, Sickness, and Disability Insurer, we are very aware of the types of claims we see for Long Term Disability (LTD). Regardless of industry sector, mental health-related claims now account for roughly 50% of all LTD claims. Stress and burnout in the workplace are real and cost employers on many levels. The Education sector is no exception. Thankfully, companies are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of mental health support programs for their employees.
Our new Member Benefits program called Flourish+ focuses on health and wellness for our Members recognizing that both mental and physical health are inextricably connected. Flourish+ is made up of initiatives that support health and wellness for our Members including an annual $100 Living Healthy rebate. Further, in partnership with OTIP this fall, we are piloting a High School Press Start Program for all Ontario high schools. This program supports teams of Education Leaders and students to develop innovative ideas for social enterprises or school programs addressing the mental health crisis for youth. Those who go through the 7-week program will be eligible for a total grant pool of $25,000 to get their ideas off the ground.
While we are making progress in the right areas, there is more we can do. The challenges teachers are facing whether that is due to budget cuts or post-COVID conditions appeared challenging. Beyond the Flourish+ program, we wondered if there was a small way to show our support and appreciation for those Teachers who go above and beyond every single day despite these challenges. We ran the concept of an annual Teachers Life Service Excellence Annual Award by our local District leaders, and they were open and grateful teachers would be recognized.
This month’s blog is a spotlight on one of our awardees of our inaugural Teachers Life Living Values Spirit of Service Award. This award recognizes extraordinary values, work ethic, and commitment to the teaching profession despite the challenges faced by the Education Community today. The awardee for the OSSTF Peel District is Karen Goodeve.
Karen Goodeve’s Extraordinary Work
In 2022, she created the JoinIn! Program at Stephen Lewis Secondary School. The program celebrates neurodiversity and champions inclusivity. Students in the program join in with a wide range of subject area classes with the other students each morning and then participate in their own community-building program in the afternoon.
Karen has been described as providing the perfect balance between promoting a safe, caring environment, and challenging her students to develop the skills required for life beyond high school. She encourages students to advocate for themselves and others.
Whether she is advocating for facility accommodations for students with physical limitations or providing safe spaces for students and staff to discuss mental health needs, supports and services, and issues impacting the LGBTQIA2S+ community, she is always busy advocating for social justice. She heads up the mental health committee at her school and is one of OSSTF’s Women’s Health Advocates.
Most importantly, her students and her colleagues love her. They look forward to seeing her each day. She speaks with her students’ families daily to connect positive habits building in the school to the home. Her commitment to her students, her colleagues, and her community, ensuring we deliver an exceptionally high standard of care, empathy, and advocacy, shows up in her work every single day.
I had a chance to catch up with Karen and ask her a few questions.
Q: Karen, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Congratulations once again on your nomination and being the awardee of the inaugural Teachers Life Living Values Spirit of Service Award. I am curious, what motivates you every day to do the extraordinary work that you do?
A: Hi Martha and thank you so much for believing in teachers and the jobs that we do, the roles we play, and the responsibilities that we have. The biggest motivation for me is the kids. I work with a group of neurodiverse students and see that they have been excluded from mainstream opportunities. I realized very quickly that with love, support, and kindness you can form incredible relationships – which need to come first. When I am walking down the hallway and I see them down the hall, they will run up to me and so it is the little things like that make all the difference. They are the most incredible humans, and they are so innocent. At first, I was petrified when I was asked to work with them because I did not want to fail them. On my first day, I did not know what to expect and within the first 5 minutes, I fell in love with all of them. They have made such an impact on me. I love my work. I do not even want summer break from them.
Q: In your opinion, what have been the greatest positive or negative changes to the teaching profession over the last 5 years?
A: I would say a positive change that has come out of COVID – while teachers still love what they are doing, I have noticed we are really starting to talk with each other about how we are doing. We rely on each other. We could not do our jobs without each other; we are a strong community of dedicated teaching professionals that support one another. The negative: not a lot of support for teachers or students. COVID really impacted students. I was doing guidance at that time. This can feel frustrating because there is so much need, we could be doing so much. For example, they cut the staff member who helped neurodiverse students transition into the community from school.
“What has always remained consistent throughout the 25 years is my love for the students.”
Q: How has your approach to teaching changed over your career?
A: This one makes me laugh. Simply because of how much I changed. When I started, I was a young Occasional Teacher. I then left teaching and worked in business for two years. Then after I got some experience and perspective I went back to teaching. When I went back, I would say I was strict, fair, and fun, but I had this idea of what I thought a teacher should look like and act like. So, I played a role. Then I moved over to 16 years with alternative youth building programs for kids at risk and teaching teen moms and I am still in touch with them even those who are now in their 30s. When you are privy to a student’s life, you go home at night and cry because it can be so sad. You become empathetic and caring. If an at-risk student does make an unwise decision, you learn to separate the person from their behavior. You tell them, you know what I care about you, and I believe in you. This is a blip, and we will get through this together. Teaching has changed over 25 years. There are things I still love about the good old days, and there are things that I love now. What has always remained consistent throughout the 25 years is my love for the students. Trust me, they have not changed that much. They still search for validation, affirmation, connection, inspiration, appreciation, acceptance, motivation, kindness, acknowledgment, respect, love, empathy…I could go on. Notice, there is nothing mentioned about academics.
Q: What does this award mean to you personally and professionally?
A: I was shocked that I had been nominated. It is an absolute honour, and I am humbled. It took me a while to figure out how to celebrate this award. It is an award for all my colleagues, students, my husband, and all the people who supported me. It is a tremendous gift because it recognizes all the people who have made me the teacher that I am today. Professionally it is nice to be recognized. We do not hear it very often. It was a wow and to be the first inaugural recipient and that adds another level. Such an honour. Truly humbling to know that my colleagues took the time to nominate me. With the award money, I am putting all of it towards a bursary for my students who graduate from the Join IN! program. The bursary will be split equally between each graduate to help them pay for transitional programming. And, each year, I am committed to donating $1,000; this will continue after I retire.
Q: Any words of encouragement or advice you can offer someone entering the teaching profession today?
A: Yes. Be yourself. Do not make the mistakes that I did and assume what a teacher is supposed to be. The first thing you should do is establish a connection with your students. Make sure that you focus on the person as a whole and not just the student. Ask them how their mental health is going. When you ask about your mental health it is a different question than just how you are doing. Take a breath. It is a very political environment. We are a public service. So, when the environment becomes challenging, remember you wake up every day to make a difference in at least one person’s life each day and it does not have to be a big thing.
A huge thank you to Karen for taking the time out of her remarkably busy schedule to speak with me. I will say this – throughout our 45-minute chat, I had goosebumps the entire time. What an extraordinary teacher and human. It was a pleasure speaking to Karen, and I am grateful for the chance to be inspired by her commitment and passion for her work.
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