Professionally Speaking

From downward facing dogs to horsepower

Lisa Hodgkinson, OCT

Resurrection Catholic SS, Kitchener

Activity: Owns a yoga boutique and races stock cars.

Why she does it: In yoga, says Lisa Hodgkinson, “You’re fully aware of everything. It’s a really slow activity.” Not so for stock car racing, which is all about speed and split-second decisions. It’s hard to think of two more dissimilar pastimes, yet Hodgkinson is drawn to both. “I like to break down stereotypes,” she says.

Her interest in yoga was strengthened from her 12 years living in Asia, working as a teacher and an editor. “I became interested in the mind-body-spirit connection,” she says. Her yoga boutique in Waterloo, called Soul Awakenings, is an extension of that fascination.

Stock car racing can awaken you too, but more from the rumble. Hodgkinson’s father raced from the time she was a young girl, and her brother later took up the sport. Last summer, Hodgkinson decided to give racing a spin, mainly at Flamboro Speedway in Hamilton. This summer, she’ll race at Varney Speedway in Durham.

Her fellow racers include a pilot, a few mechanics, a tool-and-die maker, sheet metal workers, and the manager of a shipping dock. She’s the only high school teacher. “It’s a chance for me to fine-tune my mechanical skills. It requires that technical use of the mind, and a whole new level of mental focus,” she says.

Classroom link: Hodgkinson, who teaches Grade 11 world religions and Grade 12 social justice and indigenous peoples in a global context, thinks that having two such unrelated outside interests offers her students a great life lesson. “They see that you don’t need to fit into a box,” she says.

She tells her students, too, that much of what she tries to teach — using the different gifts you’ve been given, and taking a leap of faith — have practical applications in her hobbies. She becomes a living example.

Her racing experiences in particular have helped her to be sensitive to the challenges that her students face, as she has dealt with her own share of obstacles and mistakes. “You have big highs, but you also have crashes, blown engines, and you hit the wall,” Hodgkinson says. “That has made me a far more compassionate and empathetic individual, which has made me a better teacher.”

Learn more: soulawakenings.ca and outlawmodified.ca

Role-Playing

Mario Rocchetta, OCT

St. Pius X Catholic School, Sault Ste. Marie

Activity: Organizes appearances of soap opera stars

Why he does it: Growing up, Mario Rocchetta realized he had little chance at the remote control. Between his three sisters and mother, “I was always outnumbered,” he says, laughing. Soap operas were the shows of choice, especially The Young and the Restless. “Some soaps go way over the top,” he says, “but that one stuck more true to human nature.”

Rocchetta was hooked. Years later, still a big fan, he got a notion to try to promote an appearance by one of the show’s stars in Sault Ste. Marie. He managed to reach an agent, give a persuasive pitch, and secure a commitment from actor Michael (“Danny Romalotti”) Graziadei. In 2009, Rocchetta held his first meet-and-greet, for about 100 people — “I pretty much sold tickets to family and friends.” Since then, he has organized annual appearances, three soap stars at a time, for sold-out crowds of 500.

The events led to work doing interviews for the website soaps.com. He even had a chance to walk the red carpet one year at the Daytime Emmy Awards. Last year in school, Rocchetta organized a Skype chat with Graziadei for students who were learning about careers in acting.

If a soap opera was ever made about his life? “The show,” says Rocchetta, “would centre around a small-town guy who is constantly trying to get better, and who can’t take no for an answer.”

Classroom link: Working with actors, Rocchetta understands that in real life they don’t resemble the characters they portray. It reminds him that students, too, often play set roles — the jock, the diva or the class clown, for example.

He talks about that with his Grade 6/7 students, conveying the importance of being genuine. “It helps me to build relationships, and that’s everything,” says Rocchetta.

One time, an athletic student who seemed to care a lot about gym came to see him. “He said, ‘You mentioned being more like myself. Well, I want to be good in math. How do I do it?’”

By getting to know actors as people, Rocchetta has honed what he says is a key skill in the classroom. “I try to peel away the layers, and learn who the real person is,” he says. “Students are often nothing like their persona.”

Learn more: mariorocchetta.com

Sleep Remedies

Debra Will-Dryden, OCT

John Fraser SS, Mississauga

Activity: Board member and volunteer with Sleeping Children Around the World

Why she does it: Teaching may be her profession, but this charity is in Debra Will-Dryden’s blood. Her grandparents, Murray and Margaret Dryden, founded Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW) in 1970, and her father, Dave, chairs it. SCAW has provided bedkits — which can include a mat or mattress, pillow, sheet, blanket, mosquito net, outfit and school supplies — to over one million children in 33 underdeveloped and developing countries.

Will-Dryden has led 13 SCAW trips abroad, to Bangladesh, India and Uganda. She and a team of volunteers ensure delivery of the kits, work with local partners to identify areas of greatest need, and follow up with former recipients of the kits.

Debra Will-Dryden has led 13 trips abroad to Bangladesh, India and Uganda. She helps to ensure delivery of bedkits — which can include a mat or mattress, pillow, sheet, blanket and mosquito net — to children in areas of greatest need.

Arriving from Canada, the team members invariably comment on their jet lag. “Our sleep is such a focus, and that reminds us why we’re there for the kids,” says Will-Dryden. Having a bed to sleep in and getting proper rest helps the children face the next day. “It’s a privilege to be able to participate,” she says, “and feel like you’re making a difference.”

Classroom link: Her exposure to the challenges that exist in many parts of the world has led Will-Dryden to incorporate themes of social justice into her photography and visual arts classes. For one assignment — the theme was “first-world problem” — she had her students depict the ordinary complaints of everyday life in Canada. So having “only” a third-generation iPhone, or a piece of electronics that doesn’t fit in your skinny jeans, are seen as trivial in a larger context. “It’s about making students look at their problems in light of the problems in developing countries,” says Will-Dryden.

Her stories of SCAW and social justice resonate with her students because the charity specifically assists children. Moreover, Will-Dryden says volunteering for a charity that’s active internationally helps her to relate to her students with diverse backgrounds as she has visited some of the countries their families come from. “It gives me a point of connection.”

Learn more: scaw.org

Goal Oriented

Matthew Cootes, OCT

Lively District SS, Lively

Activity: Soccer coach

Why he does it: Matthew Cootes has been a soccer coach since age 16, and those experiences motivated his career choice. “It’s what gave me the passion to want to work with young people,” he says.

He was born in Australia into a teaching (his mother is an assistant principal) and a soccer family. One of his great-uncles once played for the Tottenham Hotspur club in the English Premier League. “I ran around with Hotspur gear as a little guy. So it runs deep.”

Cootes started playing soccer at age five. He advanced through the ranks, played the sport at the University of Canberra, and then played club soccer in Australia and England.

Today he coaches under-12 players in his northern Ontario region through the Ontario Soccer Association. The children receive training to get ready for possible selection to the provincial team in their age group.

“A lot of coaches are driven by results. For me, it’s not about winning a medal but about development, and people enjoying the sport and just being the best they can be,” says Cootes.

Classroom link: As a program leader in physical education and sport, Cootes is also focused on athletic and fitness improvement at school. He feels that coaching younger kids in soccer helps him to assess his high schoolers even better. Physically and developmentally, “I know where they’re coming from,” he says.

With his coaching background, Cootes can bring the most up-to-date approaches to his school instruction, from introducing game-realistic warm-ups to conveying technical information. “My lessons are clearer and more concise,” he says.

Cootes has been a coach a lot longer than he has been a teacher. He says that he relates to his students through those coaching eyes too. “In soccer, you get kids with varying abilities, and see them advance in different ways. I have an appreciation for different styles of learning. I understand how to set expectations and promote each student’s development at every stage.”

Learn more: ontariosoccer.net

Ice Queen

Andréanne Thibault, OCT

École secondaire publique Le Sommet, Ottawa

Activity: Downhill skater

Why she does it: Picture a downhill track in winter, four competitors side by side, ready to race along 594 metres of twists, turns and jumps. Except the track is covered in ice, not snow. And the competitors aren’t wearing skis or snowboards but skates. That’s Red Bull Crashed Ice, an international tour for this extreme sport.

“It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done,” admits Andréanne Thibault.

Thibault has spent much of her life on skates. She earned a scholarship to play hockey at Minnesota State University, and teaches hockey, as well as physical education and English, at her sports- and arts-focused high school.

Looking for a new challenge, she tried out for a Red Bull Crashed Ice event, and made the cut. She has competed in two events; Niagara Falls in December 2012 and Quebec City in March 2013.

Downhill skating is as intimidating as it sounds, but exhilarating too, says Thibault. The excitement of the crowd and the thrill of competing at a high level pump her up. “As soon as they open the gate, you stop thinking of how scary it is. You don’t have time to think. You just let yourself go.”

Classroom link: Being an active competitor herself, Thibault feels that she influences her students to put in the extra effort to reach their own goals. On a more practical level, competing led her to modify her instruction. Thibault found that downhill skating put strain on her hip flexors and groin. It made her more acutely aware of the need for her students to strengthen those areas. She designed new exercises and training for them to reduce injuries and improve their skating.

As a bonus, the fact that Red Bull Crashed Ice is such a wild ride only enhances her credibility with the students: “They say ‘Madame, that’s so crazy.’ They think I have a lot of guts,” says Thibault.

Learn more: redbullcrashedice.ca