Mary Fisher

Mary Fisher was born in Halifax on July 15^th, 1953. She grew up on a dairy farm in Upper Stewiacke with a very supportive family, parents, grandmother and an older brother. Mary was also surrounded by excellent neighbors. Our home was a gathering place for friends. She has been truly blessed to have had such a wonderful, memorable childhood.

Mary was very involved in her community in her early years. She was involved in church, taught Sunday School, member of the Junior and Senior Choir, attended Explorers, C.G.I.T. and Youth Group. She was active in 4H, later becoming a Junior Leader. She was a swimming instructor and examiner for the province.

Mary thrived living on the farm, as she loved animals and the outdoors. She had horses, calves, a pet lamb, chickens and dogs, which all required a lot of care. She was fortunate to have a river passing through the farm so they spent hours swimming, fishing, boating and rafting on our homemade rafts. They had their own pond for skating and playing hockey. They also had an excellent hill for coasting and skiing. There were lots of fields for playing ball and when they weren’t in the barn or playing outside, they would gather in the house to dance, play table tennis or board games. Mary attended a two room school for her elementary years, then went on to Brookfield, a 17- mile bus ride, for her Junior and Senior High years. During these years she was introduced to Physical Education, which made school much more exciting. She played on soccer and basketball teams, as well as being involved in numerous other school activities.

After being exposed to P.E. Mary knew she wanted to be a P.E. teacher and she had taught swimming lessons so she knew she enjoyed teaching.

Mary applied to Nova Scotia Teachers College and was thrilled to be accepted into their three year elementary P.E. Program. N.S.T.C. was a very rewarding experience. The teachers were fantastic, one of those being Dorothy Walker, who taught her what teaching elementary P.E. was all about.

In 1974 Mary applied for a five-school elementary circuit job in Guysborough, having no idea where Guysborough was even located. She was hired to introduce elementary P.E. to the students here and she taught her program in classrooms, basements and the outdoors.

The following year she moved into a new elementary school with a beautiful gym and she was able to order a huge variety of equipment. Mary taught P-6 for years and then the school expanded to include Grades 7 and 8, so she taught P-8 P.E. and P.D.R. Mary had a terrific staff to work with, delightful students and a caring community. In Mary’s words; “We all worked very hard but we also had FUN!”

Later in her career she moved to a new P-12 school on the same site as her first new school. It is a fabulous facility! Mary and the high-school P.E. teacher ordered equipment and they worked side by side for the last years of their teaching career. This proved to be an enjoyable experience.

Throughout the years Mary had many practice teachers whom she always looked forward to mentoring as they added a breath of fresh air and youthfulness to her program.

For two years Mary didn’t teach due to back surgery and complications from that surgery, but she was determined to go back and complete her thirty-five years of teaching P.E. in the community of which she was so very proud.

Since retiring in 2009 Mary has not substituted as she feels the need to give young people an opportunity. However, she likes to be busy, so we has picked grapes at a vineyard in New Brunswick, she also details cars and dog-sit. She has been a caregiver, organized friends’ houses and helped them with various jobs. This past summer Mary helped out at a B&B in Guysborough. She’s also a member of the community choir and on the board of the Chedabucto Place Performing Arts Center.

Mary is very devoted to her home workout program, swims, hikes, cross-country skis, goes boating and she loves to dance!

She spends a lot of time with friends, goes to Florida in the winter and in her downtime she enjoys reading.

Throughout her teaching career Mary had the opportunity to work on elementary curriculum and presented programs to various schools. She developed a Trails Program for Grade Five students. They hiked trails and students kept a journal of their experiences. She had actors, artists, writers, members of the medical community, biologists, Lands and Forest representatives and Christmas tree growers work with her students. She even had wreath makers come in to work with students in making wreaths for all involved. Many parent volunteers also helped out on our outings.

Mary worked with the school Health center to organize a program for Grade Six students where they would work with younger grades to create activities for outdoor and indoor lunch periods. Students also organized and ran an equipment room for the younger students.

During Education Week she worked on a program where guest speakers came in to talk about the importance of being physically active. Both the community and students were involved in this activity.

Many years ago there was a time when it was decided that all specialists would be cut, so Mary organized a community gathering where she invited Peggy Gallant to speak. Following Peggy’s dynamic speech, P.E. became extremely important to all.

Awards

· Award of Excellence – SRSB (1999)

A teacher exemplifies the spirit of Education Week, devoting knowledge, skills and experience to improving and expanding the curriculum and by embracing change as a tool to enhance learning opportunities for students.

· Dorothy Walker Award

The Teachers’ Association for Physical and Health Education.

Personal Life Highlights

· 1^st year of teaching: Attended P.E. Summer School in England followed by the fantastic experience of touring Scotland and Wales with friends. ("I only managed to sideswipe one car.")

· Went camping across Canada one summer with friends

· Swam in Guysborough Harbour with Wilma the Beluga Whale

· Spent one month in Ireland the year she retired

· Participated in several school and community plays

· Won ‘best actress’ award at the One Act Play Festival in Antigonish

· Took part in the International Play Festival and was invited to Corning, New York to present that production.

· Speed skipped for 80 minutes without stopping

· Bought her first home and worked on it becoming a designated Heritage Property. She kept numerous actors who came to work at Mulgrave Road Theater Company and she had many fun times with friends and family in my home.

· Ran a B & B in her home for one summer

· Mary has been very well treated over the years with several surprise parties, housewarming, special birthdays and a great retirement weekend party at Des Barres Manor.

· Mary has a wonderful brother and sister-in-law, three beautiful nieces and their partners and two grand nephews.

· Mary has the best family of friends in Guysborough as well as a special group of friends outside her community. In fact, they recently gathered for our 40^th anniversary.

· This past summer Mary went in the Amazing Race in Guysborough with a friend, a retired music teacher. We had an absolute ball and did not finish last, but "we did nearly kill ourselves".

· Mary spent fourteen years traveling to Truro where her mother was in a special care facility. This took up a vast amount of time, but it was a most rewarding experience.

· Mary leads an active, fun filled life, enjoying each day to its fullest.

Mary is extremely pleased to receive this award and would like to dedicate it to Maureen Rankin, a dear friend who began her career in Physical Education. At this time, Maureen is focusing her energy on making each day count.