When Carolyn Quan got her start with Surrey Schools, the first Trudeau was prime minister.
The Bear Creek Elementary Early Literacy teacher is being celebrated for her long and storied career in Surrey over the last 50 years. But her time with the district actually began just after graduation in 1968, with a job opportunity before she even set foot off campus at the University of British Columbia.
"The district actually came out to UBC and very quickly interviewed us on the spot in one of the old army barracks," said Quan. "They offered me a job, so I decided to go with it."
While she has spent five decades with the district, Quan said she hasn't worked at that many schools, noting she's "something of a homebody" and generally stuck with a school for extended periods of time.
"I started at Crescent Park Elementary," she said. "I moved to Coquitlam, and the drive to Crescent Park was a nightmare - 152nd was just one lane and I would follow all these trucks to get to school, then follow them all the way home.
"After three years at Crescent Park, I transferred to Lena Shaw Elementary, closer to the Port Mann Bridge. I stayed there from 1971 until I retired in 2002. I went through about five different principals, and I actually taught some of my former students' children - I'm like their grandmother."
That would've been the end of her teaching career, if not for her unrelenting passion for learning and the insistence of her Lena Shaw colleagues that she teach on-call.
"I wasn't planning to do that at all but I ended up TOC'ing for 10 years and I got to know quite a few different schools," said Quan. "Then in 2012, Christy Northway [now an assistant superintendent] called and said, 'We have openings in the Early Learning department,' and she offered me the Early Numeracy teaching position. I did that for four or five years, and then went to Bear Creek Elementary and took over the Early Literacy position."
Quan still teaches at Bear Creek Elementary today, and said the connections and relationships she's cultivated with her colleagues and students are what make her work meaningful. And after 50-plus years, she has some words of encouragement for new teachers on longevity, even when the going gets tough.
"The main thing is, don't give up - there are times when you think this is not for me, it can be stressful, but you learn to roll with it," she said. "I always tell the young ones when they leave each day, say to yourself, 'I've done the best that I can, and usually, that's enough.' It's very important to know that you've given all that you can give, and you can always move forward and reflect on what you can do to improve. That's how you actually become better at your job."
Quan said she is grateful to have had such a long, rich career, and though retirement is "always in the back of my mind," she's not yet ready to retire again.
"It's been quite the ride, but it's gone by fast," she said. "It doesn't seem like 50 years."
Congratulations on 50 years with Surrey Schools, Carolyn!
