An investment made by Western School Division has paid off — both for the community and an individual passionate about it.
Kassidy Curry, a Mordenite who grew up in the French Immersion program in the division, has now returned in a teaching capacity.
The new French Immersion teacher for grades five and six takes up the position after a decisive educational path that includes support from the division, which named her the first recipient of its bursary designed to attract French Immersion instructors back to the community.
A childhood dream
For Curry, whose parents are both in education, becoming an educator herself has been an objective for quite some time.
“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, and then in high school, I really solidified that, and I knew middle years was where I wanted to be,” she said, adding that when she heard about Western School Division’s special bursary for French Immersion students, it also helped make her decision.
“When it came to deciding on university, [the bursary] was a pretty influential factor there — that Western would support me and bring me back here [to teach in] my hometown,” she said.
An elaborate journey
Although Curry has reached her career destination, it was not without its challenges.
The new teacher said that, as a student who began her studies during the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of university was difficult.
“I was at home on my computer,” she said. “I was [also] switching to an entirely francophone education, which was a little bit of an adjustment, ... so the first year was hard, but I adapted.”
After she completed her undergraduate degree at Université de Saint-Boniface in Winnipeg, Curry said another “nerve-racking” step in the journey was waiting to be accepted into the education program.
When she got the news of her acceptance, she was “elated.”
Curry’s university career wrapped up with a practicum at a brand-new school just as it opened — École Discovery Trails, which is where she is formally beginning her first year of teaching this September, a thrilling milestone for her.
“I am ready for the school year to start so [the students] can just be in here and I can get to know them, and we can make this space our own together,” she said. “It's very exciting, and then a little intimidating at the same time.”
‘My colleagues are my old teachers’
For Curry, returning to where she began is a full-circle experience.
“My colleagues are my old teachers,” she said.
It also heartens Curry to see the strides French education has made since she was in school, including French-first signage, which is different from what she experienced in her own school days.
“Every year I feel like it's getting better and better.”
A family legacy
Although Curry is getting ready for her first year as a teacher, she said that as someone with two parents in education (her mother, Krista Curry, is the superintendent at Borderland School Division and her father, Lane Curry, is the director of the Red River Technical Vocational Area), she’s confident that she knows what she’s getting into.
“Seeing them and how rewarding [their careers are], I knew that's what I wanted to do and it was easy for me to follow in their footsteps,” she said.
“Even my older sister is a teacher now, and my younger sister wants to go into education too.”
The role of Western’s bursary
When it comes to the bursary that Western School Division provided to Curry, she said it made a large impact in her educational journey.
“I was very torn between two schools and the money is really what changed it for me. University is expensive being from a rural town and having to move to the city to pursue post-secondary education,” she said.
“The money helps a lot because you're already at a disadvantage having to move and pay rent in a different city, and you don't get to stay living at home for those extra couple of years.”
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Curry said that to be eligible for the bursary, one must attend a francophone university institution and commit to teaching in the Western School Division for a minimum of three years.
The bursary also requires its recipients to complete their education in five years (three for undergraduate studies and two more to complete the education degree).
Reaping what was sown
According to Darcy Wolfe, the chair of Western School Division’s Board of Trustees, the French Immersion bursary was created to address a division need.
He said the early in his years as a trustee, the division was "going through a really rough time" finding teachers for its French Immersion progam.
“The way it had been growing, we were really needing to find some new and innovative solutions,” he said. “We decided that we needed to think outside of the box, and we decided that [the bursary] might be a solution to our difficulties in finding French teachers.”
Wolfe said the board subsequently established the bursary to “encourage ... homegrown talent.”
For the board chair, Curry’s story is exactly what the division had imagined.
“We're super happy with the results and we're super happy that Kassidy could come back and teach in Western,” he said.
“We are a very successful French immersion program, and when you see one student go through the program and come back, it just encourages us to keep going and to try and encourage more students to continue taking advantage of this.”
Wolfe added that the division is “super proud” of Curry’s accomplishments so far.
A message to French Immersion students
As Curry settles into her new position as a teacher, she is thankful to Western School Division for its role in her career.
She also has advice for current French Immersion students.
“Stick with it,” she said. “Seriously consider continuing your French education. Look into this bursary — it's such a help, and you have a job afterwards .... Your French is good enough.”
Ultimately, for Curry, being empowered to continue her French education is what inspires her to encourage the same in others.
“I'm not going to say it was easy. It wasn't. It definitely had challenges, but it's so worth it [because] I get to come home and teach these kids when I was in their seats not that long ago,” she said.
With files from Robyn Wiebe