“When I came back in 2000 and I taught my first class language and math class I taught in that room, I taught in that very same room that I had attended as a student.
“I remember it being an overwhelming feeling, I had a real sense of belonging, it was a good place for me to be.
“That school has educated a lot of the youth in this area. We have taught parents and in some cases we are now teaching the children of those we taught.
“Personally I feel that I had an impact not only on the students but on the community at large through the students and the parents who have been very supportive with volunteering and fundraising. I can’t remember there ever being a time when parents said it couldn’t be done. They were always willing to help.”
A decade of achievements is always hard to condense but one of the proudest moments for Ms. Woodward was when Straits became the first school to sign the stewardship agreements with the Limestone Barren Habitat Stewardship program to help protect the Long’s Braya in 2002.
Then in 2004 the school won the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial 15th annual Environment Award based on their work with the Limestone Barrens and their very own recycling program.
“Being a leader of a school that is recognized for hard work and commitment to the environment is very satisfying,” she says.
“We were good stewards in the protection of unique flora.”
Ms. Woodward’s other proud achievements were the partnerships she founded with the ArtSmarts Council.
“With those grants we provided students with outside exposure to drama, music, modern dance and artists,” she says.
“Those grants enabled us to employ people to perform for the kids and after receiving a few grants other schools in the area started calling me asking if I could send over samples of proposals that could help them successfully secure grants, which again is a benefit and great for everyone.
“As an administrator I am a leader of leaders and if something good happened at the school I knew that I had an impact. It has been very rewarding and the school closing is sad but it is also a happy time.
“At Straits we didn’t have access to the internet but here we can have internet in the classrooms and now we have access to Smartboards.”
The closure of the school also means that Ms. Woodward will head back to the school room as a teacher, something she is looking forward to.
“I am excited about going back into teaching because over the years as administrator I have had the opportunity to observe other teaching methods and strategies and I am really excited about the chance to implement those,” she says.
“There have been a lot of nice teachers, no, there has been a lot ofgreatteachers work at Straits.”
On June 25 this year, the very last day of school, Ms. Woodward was approached by one of those teachers, Lois Applin.
“We were so busy packing getting ready to move I didn’t get the time to reflect on just what it all meant, all the years at the school and what its closing meant to me and the community,” she says with that familiar twinkle in her eye returning.
“One of the teachers came up and gave me a rose on the last day of school and I just broke down and cried.
“It was a sad day, change is hard and while some resist it, change is good, we get to move into a new school with better facilities and it is all about the students after all, it’s what is best for them.”
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