By Chris Brown

Honoured by nomination

PRSD’s Edwin Parr Award nominee can take it to the next level

May 21, 2020 | 5:11 PM

OYEN, AB – It’s not the first year he imagined, but it’s one rookie teacher Michael Harrison will never forget.

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to make changes on the fly and teachers were no different. But even among teachers, even among first-year teachers, Harrison was at a little more of a disadvantage.

“Before COVID the way I ran my courses was really lab-based so lots of my in-class or in-school time was doing labs and preparing labs, things of that nature,” he said. “As we moved into COVID not a lot of kids have chemistry sets at their house so that portion of my course dissolved. It’s been a really big shift as far as how I teach the subject matter and how I assess it as well.”

Harrison, 25, teaches Science 10, Biology 20, Chemistry 20 and Physics 20, and Biology 30 and Chemistry 30 at South Central High School in Oyen. He’s the Prairie Rose School Division nominee for this year’s Edwin Parr Award for first-year teachers.

He called that a huge honour.

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“To hear from your colleagues and the students you teach that they really enjoy the type of teaching you’re doing and thinking that you’re having this impact, it really validates the work you’re putting in and that it’s actually making a difference,” he said.

If one was looking for a silver lining to the quick change of direction, Harrison said now he has a better appreciation for backup plans. With how classes will be taught in September unclear at the moment, he’s already looking ahead. He said he’ll record himself doing labs so that students who are at home due to COVID or other reasons will still be able to participate in some way.

South Central High School principal Jean Kimber nominated Harrison, and calls him a hard worker who takes it to the next level.

“In a small school we need someone who can teach more than just one subject and Michael can do that,” said Kimber. “He is also very dedicated. It’s not uncommon to hear that he started work at 4:30 that morning to prepare his lesson or plan for an upcoming lab.”

In a video posted to PRSD’s YouTube channel, student Carter Johnson said Harrison is doing an excellent job and others also sang his praises.

Years from now COVID-19 forcing students out of class will likely dominate any memories of the 2019-20 school year. But Harrison’s most cherished memory came earlier in the year.

“My mother passed away from cancer and during our Terry Fox Run (in September) I gave a speech about my mom and what she meant to me,” Harrison recalled. “That was a really big moment for me. I connected with some kids that way and I felt like a lot of kids respected me after that day.”

Harrison said he aims to inspire the love of science in his students and understand how deeply ingrained science is in our culture and build resilient students who will pick themselves up any time they get knocked down. So having a resilience-based student who gets knocked down and be able to pick themselves back up and continue carrying on.

The winners are to be recognized at the Alberta School Boards Association fall general meeting in November.