Salem principal to say good-bye
Duane McLellan will end his career in education where he started it, at Salem Elementary school in Sackville
"My mother said I'd make a good teacher," kids retiring principal Duane McLellan, of Salem Elementary in Sackville. "And you should always listen to your mother."
Duane grew up in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, where he often found himself helping out with children's activities. He did a Physical Education degree at Acadia University, which gave him a Certificate 4 and allowed him to teach Phys. Ed. His first teaching post was Salem Elementary.
"At that time we were in a wooden four-room school house from the 1800's," Duane reminisces. "Upstairs was the office, library, and teachers' lounge. The downstairs had been gutted and turned into the gym, and from there you went through a connector to the classrooms, which were portables.
"It was so cold in the winter out there that we would put a sign on the drinking fountain, 'no water until spring'."
Duane was on the Specifications Committee for the present Salem Elementary, which opened its doors in 1981. He took advantage of the Education Programme at Mount Allison University to gain his Certificate 5, thus qualifying for classroom teaching, though he didn't stop teaching Phys. Ed.
He and wife Judi, also a teacher at Salem Elementary, did some innovative classroom sharing. One would work on academics with part of the class while the other had the second part of the class for gym, and then they would switch, the effect being to provide freshness and variety to both teachers and students. This is also Judi's last year at the school.
"It's funny how quickly the years go by," muses Duane. "At first I thought I was only going to teach for one year, and here I am 33 years later."
Duane grew to love teaching, and somewhat reluctantly left the classroom for the principal's office for one year. Not long after that he became Vice-principal at Hillcrest School in Moncton, a position he held for two years. He used a study leave to complete his Masters in Administration at l'Université du Moncton, and then took up the position of Principal at Hillcrest.
"We lived in Sackville, so I was commuting into Moncton," he says, "and when an opening came up at Salem seven years ago, I applied, and have been the Principal here since then. I enjoy it; you never quite know what's coming in your door."
Duane and Judi have two sons. When the boys were young, Duane coached minor hockey and was involved with other community sports. Now one of the boys is at university in Regina, and the other a biologist with Ducks Unlimited in Sackville.
As to what retirement holds for the couple, Duane says,
"We're each other's best friend, and we're avid outdoor enthusiasts. We each have a list of things we want to do. One is to explore Newfoundland, and another is to attend a major PGA event."
Asked if he had any final thoughts about his career in Sackville, Duane replies,
"I would like to thank the community. There are so many talented people in the Sackville area who have been so giving of their time over the years."
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