Honouring Emily

 

There are some teachers who have a huge impact on the lives of students. Perhaps they offer a non-judgemental and listening ear, perhaps they silently sneak recess snack to the student who doesn’t have anything, perhaps it is the extra time they put in before and after school coaching sports, tutoring, directing plays or musical groups. Perhaps it is that they listen to their students’ interests and create lessons that are relevant to their students. Perhaps they are motivating.

 

To me, Emily Longworth is one of those teachers.

 

Em was a positive role model for her students and for everyone. She lived an incredibly active life. She rode her bike everywhere and was an avid runner. She was fond of hiking and travelling. Em believed in experiential learning and the more hands on, the better. So that none of the students at her low-income school would ever have to miss out, Em bought school supplies and paid for field trips out of her own pocket.

 

Emily lived every moment of her life to the fullest. She had a rambunctious, mischievous personality and boundless love and energy for learning and teaching. Em taught with authenticity- there was no “teacher self” when in the classroom, there was just Emily. In everything she did, she was never afraid to just be herself. I’m sure she was an unconventional teacher and took learning risks so that her students could have the best possible experiences. Emily’s students knew her to be kind, caring, silly, loving, generous and understanding. They connected with her and adored her.

 

Em died 7 years ago today in a hostel fire in Chile. At 25, she had just graduated as a teacher. Emily’s joyfulness, boundless heart and roguish humour were and are contagious and although she only had one sibling, Katie, her passing, for many, was like the passing of a soul sister or a daughter. To know Em was to have her spirit fill your heart.

 

Although Em is no longer with us, she continues to touch the lives of those who love her, and even of those who never met her. When Em passed, her family wanted to create a lasting legacy of Emily’s life and achievements. Through the Emily Longworth New Teachers Creative Activities Fund, Em continues to impact and change the lives of young students and teachers alike. The goal of the legacy fund is to sponsor “curriculum enrichment or extracurricular activities by student teachers which promote multicultural understanding, healthy lifestyle, environmental awareness, and inspire students to achieve their full potential in life." This seems like a lofty requirement, yet as a teacher, Emily achieved all of this.  The fund focuses on hands-on, child-centered and student motivated learning experiences and “has already supported a plethora of creative projects. It has helped Grade 1 students create “cuddle quilts” to be donated to children who have lost a family member to cancer and enabled Grade 5 and 6 students to start a school-wide composting program. It also financed a permanent, multimedia mural about the oceans, produced by Grade 2 and 3 students under the direction of artist Angela Grossman.” As Emily’s Dad explains, “the teachers don’t receive money themselves; the projects benefit students and the broader community. We also try and direct it to lower income kids who might not otherwise get these kinds of opportunities.” In true Emily style, the legacy fund has turned a tragic loss into an empowering and motivating opportunity for students and teachers.

 

When she was alive, Em had a big impact on me. She and her sister always filled me with happiness and energy- I wanted to have the same approach to life as they did. I wanted to see the positive in everything. Now that Em is gone, forever travelling, she has had an even bigger impact on me. I fight a daily internal battle between my authentic self and my significator self. My authentic self is much like Em- rambunctious, silly, loving, child-honouring, and understanding. My significator self is my survival mode self. She is often grouchy, controlling, impatient and worried about curricular outcomes. My significator self is the self that isn’t my true self. It is the self created by a business or factory model education system. My authentic self is much like John Dewey or Maria Montesorri- she wants children to be honoured, to explore, to learn through hands-on experiences, to become independent thinkers. Almost every working day, the battle rages on between my two selves. More and more often, the authentic self is winning. And even more recently, it isn’t even my own self berating my significator self. It is Em. I aspire to teach and live, like Em, with my authentic self. I aspire to listen more openly to each of my students and to give them the attention that they deserve.

 

Em teaches me to learn and be in every moment with my students, to not worry so much about the mandated outcomes and to honour the curiousities and interests of my students. Em teaches me to scrap the planned lessons for the day and to go explore the living wonders of the park next to the school because there is much more powerful learning in the discovery than in the sitting and being told. There is much more powerful learning in digging in the dirt and sifting the soil through our fingers than there is in just talking about it. It is much more important to follow a child’s interests than to tell them “we aren’t learning that today,” because if that is what they hear, what is the lesson that they are really learning? And how will they learn if they are not interested.

 

Em will never know the impact that she has had on my life as a teacher. But every day, especially today, I teach in her memory and honour.

 

Read more about The Longworth Legacy.

Make a donation to the New Teachers Creative Activity Fund.