Interview with Adventist Educator, Erica Dees

Having grown up in the Seventh- day Adventist Church, Erica Dees has seen how God has intervened in her life despite challenges and setback she has decided to follow His leading. Erica believes that teachers truly make a difference in children’s lives. She believes that serving others is God’s plan for her as an Adventist educator.

Ina: Please tell me about yourself. Where were you born?

Erica: My name is Erica Dees. I was born in Woodstock, New Brunswick.

Ina: What school(s) did you attend?

Erica: My family moved a lot which meant that I had the opportunity to attend many different schools. Throughout Grades K-9, I attended a mix of public K-12 schools, smaller country schools, and larger city schools, all of which were in New Brunswick. After our second attempt at moving across the country (a family emergency caused us to turn around once before), my high school and university years were spent in Alberta. I attended my first Adventist school, Parkview Adventist Academy in Grade 10, completed Grade 11 through ADLC (homeschool), and graduated from Grade 12 at Milwoods Christian School. I completed

my university degree through Canadian University College (now Burman University) in Lacombe.

Ina: What led you or why did you choose education as a career?

Erica: At first, I was not sure what I wanted to pursue as a career. I was leaning towards psychology and education as I have always had a passion for counselling and helping others. I would have done both, but at the time, CUC did not offer the 2-year after-degree for education, so I had to make a choice between the two. I decided that my desire was to work with children, so education made the most sense to start with. CUC (Burman) has an amazing education program! You begin in a class in which you get to spend several hours in each of the different levels of education so that you are better able to determine which level of education you would like to target with your career. It was those classroom experiences that confirmed my decision.

Ina: Why did you choose Coralwood Adventist Academy?

Erica: This is an interesting story. I ended up attending CUC because my parents decided they were moving back to New Brunswick once I finished high school. I did not want to stay in Edmonton alone as I was not the biggest fan of Edmonton at the time. (I had also silently determined to never move back again.) CUC ended up being a phenomenal decision and I cannot be more grateful that I attended there. Because of CUC, I was able to graduate dual-certified which allows me to teach at Adventist schools, as well as public. During my senior year, I was able to meet with the Education Superintendents from different conferences across Canada and was hired the day after graduating to cover a maternity leave in Wetaskiwin at Peace Hills Adventist School. Following that, I was supposed to cover a second maternity leave in Medicine Hat. However, plans changed, and I ended up being told I had an interview in Edmonton for Coralwood Adventist Academy, even though I had not technically applied for the job. I call this story my "Jonah moment." I was not happy about returning to the city, and quite frankly, did not want to. However, God saw other plans, and not only did I get the position, but this job has also blessed me immensely. (I have come to like Edmonton a lot more!)

Ina: How long have you been teaching in an Adventist intuition?

Erica: This is my 12th year teaching in Adventist schools. This is my 11th year at Coralwood.

Ina: In what other capacity have you served?

Erica: In the past few years, I have taken up leadership in both the Youth and Collegiate divisions at my church, as well as many extracurriculars at the school, including volleyball coaching, high school coaching programs, Christmas plays, Chimes director, student associations, etc...

Ina: What is it about Carolwood Academy that keeps you there?

Erica: I absolutely love this school! The teachers I work with are like family. The staff meets every morning to praise God and pray for each other and our students. There is no greater way to start the day! God is the head in how we start the day, start our classes, start our meetings, before we eat, and even before we start our tests. I love being able to guide students through curriculum and life by referring to the Bible and being able to pray over situations with my students. Integrating God through everything is crucial. Because of this, we try to incorporate service projects that we can do to bless others, and my class is no stranger to this. I appreciate working in an environment where service is so encouraged. I have always enjoyed the smaller, K-12 schools, and Coralwood is no exception! It is possible to interact with all our school’s students. Smaller schools provide great opportunities to not only work with and help your students more, but to also build stronger relationships with your students, as well. We always look forward to visits from our prior students! Though Coralwood is not a large school, our school is passionate about our students; our long teacher retention rates are a testament to that. Our school is flexible in the sense that we frequently offer different options for our students. It is completely possible to have different responsibilities or to start different opportunities/programs each year. We want our students to know that we not only care about them, but that we want to provide as many opportunities as we can.

Ina: What motivates you when you enter through those doors each day?

Erica: This is an excellent question that I am so excited to answer! A huge part of this answer is simply, my students. I cannot tell you how many days I can wake up, completely exhausted from the things that I've been doing, and yet it only takes a few minutes after walking into my classroom each morning for not only my energy to return but for my students to already make me smile. As much as I support my students, my students support me. It is not unusual for words of encouragement to be found all over my desk (as well as the occasional verbal lecture about how stress is bad for my health). I always attempt to create a welcoming atmosphere in my classroom where every child will understand that they are loved and cared for. I want each student not only to know how much their Heavenly Father loves them, but also to know they have a place where they can feel like they belong. I get to share the Word of God with our students here, a privilege I know I would not have in other schools. I get to see God work in our school through the staff and the students daily. I have witnessed the Bible come alive for those who didn’t know God before. (Though our school is an Adventist school, we have several students attending that are not Adventist; I consider this a great mission work!) I have witnessed students overcome anxieties and fears over things they didn’t think they could. I have seen students rise up to challenges and take on opportunities that were completely unexpected. These are just some of the stories, some of the reasons, that I am motivated to keep going through those doors. God has so blessed me throughout my time at Coralwood and I look forward to everything He still has in store.

Ina: Are there any future plans or goals for you and Christian education?

Erica: As of right now, I have no plans to leave Coralwood. I am very involved with many different things here and so my days are absolutely filled. Teaching Chimes was one of my new classes this year, and although my first Chimes class has been phenomenal (they can pretty much play songs without me directing now!), I look forward to continuing to grow their talents and blessing more churches and audiences with our music in years to come. I also look forward to further developing a mentorship program within our school next year as I had test-run a mentorship program once before and the results were phenomenal. It really is hard to say what I will be up to next, but whatever it is, I pray that God will continue to use me for His work. I look forward to continuing to see God work in our school, so our students will continue to not only be set up for the academics in life, but also to gain an understanding of how to live a life in service to God, growing the Fruits of the Spirit in their lives, and accepting and carrying the tender and all-encompassing love that only our Heavenly Father can give.

Ina: You mentioned forming a mentorship program here at Coralwood. Can you tell me how that program would benefit the students?

Erica: In the previous year, I developed more of a mentorship program between my Grade 5/6 class and the kindergarten class. It started out as a weekly Reading Buddies program but grew into including occasional P.E. and Art classes. By providing the Grade 6s with leadership opportunities to their younger schoolmates, I began hearing reports that this was being carried on even at recess times where teachers rarely had to interfere with Kindergarten issues on the playground because my Grade 5/6s would take care of them first. Mentorship programs provide a myriad of benefits to both the older students (through leadership, providing purpose, and learning how to be a mentor) and the younger students (having others to look up to, opportunities to look forward to, someone else they can turn to at school). I highly recommend developing mentorship opportunities when possible!

Ina: If someone were to ask you what are the benefits of sending their child to Coralwood or what is different about Coralwood, what would you say?

Erica: At Coralwood, we care about more than just the academics. Yes, we provide a fully Alberta-accredited education program, but we have the added benefit of teaching it through the lens of the Bible. At Coralwood, the future of each child matters. We strive to teach excellence in daily activities, but we also seek to prepare each heart for the Kingdom of Heaven. At Coralwood, your child is never just a number, but instead, a part of our family.

Ina: What goals would you like to see the students accomplish at Coralwood Adventist Academy?

Erica: One of the things we love to see our students do is to take leadership positions. I would like to see our students continue to grow and lead, confident of their value and importance in the eyes of their Heavenly Father.

By Ina Martin, Edmonton Central Adventist Church