After seven years at the helm of 100 Mile Elementary School and 36 years serving as an educator for School District 27 (SD27), principal Donna Rodger has decided this school year, will be her last.
“I love this school. This school has a special place in my heart, it’s like a big family – the kids, the teachers, the parents – everybody works together. It’s just that feel, sort of the culture of the school. It’s fun to come to work every day and I love my job and I still love my job, so that was the hardest part about deciding to retire,” said Rodger.
Even though she said an educator can never fully accomplish everything she out to do in the “complicated” world of education but that she feels like she has moved every school she was a principal in forward.
While she is happy to retire, the decision to finally call her time as an educator went back and forth for quite a while. She said the final deciding factor was because of a feeling there was still lots of things for her to do.
Rodger and her husband want to go on some camping and motorcycle trips. However, she doesn’t have any retirement plans and she was wide open to change.
She couldn’t pick a favourite moment at school, calling it unique and saying every school year was different but overall, working with the kids and staff was fun.
Rodger always wanted to be an educator ever since she was a little kid.
“In the summers when I was growing up, I was a playground leader. I did that pretty much every summer from probably Grade 7 on right through university even,” she said. “It’s always been a passion for me. I love children and I love working with kids.”
Rodger started off her career in Anahim Lake as Grade 1 teacher and teaching children how to read was a “huge” passion of hers, she said. She was also part of the Reading Recovery Program, an early intervention program for Grade 1 students who struggle with reading and writing.
After teaching at Anahim Lake Elementary School for six years, she decided to go to the school in 108 Mile Ranch. There, she would work for 18 years. At one point during her time teaching at the school, she decided not to just work with kids.
“After being a teacher for so long, I realized I didn’t just want to work with kids but I also wanted to work with teachers, which is why I became a principal,” she said.
She would work as a principal for Buffalo Creek and Horse Lake Elementary before moving to 100 Mile House.
In her 36 years within SD27, she said she has learned quite a bit from the students but the biggest one is following dreams and love what you’re doing.
“Kids come to school with such a joy. This office is always filled with laughter, so I think laughing every day, having a smile on your face and looking forward to what’s to come and not be scared, I think the kids have taught me that,” Rodger explained.
Maria Telford, the former principal of Horse Lake Elementary has been appointed to take over from Rodgers. Telford was also the vice principal at 100 Mile before leaving for the other school.
Rodger said Telford was well set up to take over and left some advice to keep the door always open.
