Teacher Time—Sylvia Moore

Teacher Time

Sylvia Moore

ylvia still smiles as her former students recognize her after many years of retirement. Passionate about teaching in the classroom, she is now involved with learning in the wide world around her. Growing up on a mixed farm, Sylvia’s earliest memory is sitting on a gravel road picking weeds. She was the only person in her grade and she and her brother would walk to school but when the weather was inclement, her dad would pull out the cutter and horse and give them a ride to school. Unfortunately, the farm was let go and the family moved to Calgary. This was a culture shock for Sylvia because her first year was adjusting to being a grade 8 student. She went from quiet and calm to survival mode.

Sylvia’s now 100-year-old mother was also a teacher. There were chores to do growing up but the highlight of the week was taking her brother and sister by bus in the afternoon to the Palace Theatre. She was given 25 cents an hour to babysit. She was a conscientious student and decided that after finishing school, she could either become a nurse or a teacher. Becoming an educator offered her a multitude of experiences from teaching grade 4 in an open concept classroom as a team teacher to ordering calf embryos preserved in formaldehyde for the class to study. Those were “cutting edges in education” in those days.

These days, Sylvia still enjoys gardening, crocheting and knitting and now leading seniors. She and her former husband spent time travelling as far south as Chili and the Falkland Islands, her favorite places and to Norway and Iceland to visit relatives. Seeing the world from other people’s perspective and exploring cultures provided cherished memories for her. When they were in Panama, she noticed the simplicity of life in a native village they toured and when it was too wet to venture up to Machu Pechu, a girlfriend lined up a tour of a chicken ranch instead. Off the beaten path, they discovered Pyramids just like the Egyptian monuments in the desert. Now retirement and being almost 75 years old, has slowed her down.

SThere was a time when Sylvia was involved in so many community activities. She taught young moms at Time Out, helped with Activettes, and fundraised for the Rec Plex in town. She believes in rolling with the changes and has learned through this whole pandemic that one needs to take time and not rush expectations. Technology has changed our lives, but we can get through and overcome our circumstances when we rely on family and friends. Even though her knees have given way, Sylvia still finds time to spend with her grandchildren. The youngest is 10 and the oldest is 22, a food engineer at university. Sylvia didn’t have as many of those choices growing up, but her education and background afford her the opportunity now to make a quilt for each grandchild to give when they get married. Her advice to them and others is to realize that music is very calming and she is now taking ukulele lessons and having fun still involved in learning.