An eight-year-old girl lays her head on her school desk and relishes the voice of a caring teacher telling tales that will stay with her for a lifetime.
A teenage boy comes home from school each day to learn from the best teacher he?s known, his own father.
Those experiences shaped Charlene Moss and Matt Sereda and now both share their joy of teaching to such great effect each has won a certificate of achievement from the Prime Minister, two of only 25 teachers in Canada to be honoured for their work in the past year.
Moss found inspiration in Grade 3 teacher Shirley MacMillan, with whom she developed such a bond she?d stay late after class to help.
After graduating from the early education program at Fanshawe College, Moss began work at Arbour Glen Day Nursery in London ? and has been there 22 years.
Colleagues described her ability to connect with each child and talents that included story reading and puppeteering.
?I live in fear that one day a representative from Sesame Street will spot her talent and steal her away,? one colleague wrote as part of Moss?s nomination.
One of Moss?s favourite teaching moments came when she brought in a veteran who had been a paratrooper in the Second World War to show his medal to a class of four- and five-year-olds and they shared tea.
Earlier this year, Moss was selected by Ontario for teaching excellence, the first time the early childhood educators were eligible for the honour.
Not many early childhood educators make a career of it as salaries top out at about $16 an hour.
?When (I was a high school student) and told my guidance councillor I wanted to be an early childhood educator, she said, ?No you don?t?.?
She ignored the advice.
?A child learns more by the age of 6 as they will learn the rest of their lives . . . I don?t see myself doing anything else,? Moss said.
Sereda took inspiration from his father Mike Sereda, who has served as a teacher, principal and superintendent of the Thames Valley District school board, once heading an effort to encourage drop outs to return to school.
The younger Sereda is following in his father?s footsteps: After two years of teaching university-level English to high-achiveing students, he applied to become the first teacher in a special joint program with Fanshawe College for students who dropped out and wanted a second chance ? called School within a College.
Students in the prgram get a chance to earn their diploma and take college-level courses.
Most of the students had dropped out because they couldn?t cope with outside pressures, from drug dependencies to having a child.
Sereda?s focus has been threefold: Teaching life skills to better cope with challenges, making the classroom a welcoming place and teaming with Fanshawe to get students excited about their future.
Wrote one student: ?I could spend days writing about all the unconventional practices that he uses; everything from trying to build a community instead of a classroom, to genuinely caring about every student who walks through the doors . . . He wants us to succeed constantly, and sometimes I think, more than us.?
The program has done so well it has tripled in size with 66 students enrolled this year.
?It?s more about supporting students emotionally and building a sense of community,? Sereda said.
He hopes the honour to him ?which he says reflects everyone involved in the program ? will foster its continued growth.
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