2026-04-07 16:20:33.832 +0000 UTC
Country Schools: Modern Problems and the Long Haul to Help Kids
<h2 class="deck" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.5rem;margin-block:16px;margin-inline:0px;margin-top:16px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" lang="en">Rural school counsellor drives thousands of kilometres each week</h2><div class="byline" style="-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;align-items:center;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(84, 84, 84);display:flex;font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:0.875rem;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.25rem;margin-block:16px;margin-inline:0px;margin-top:16px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="bylineDetails"><span class="authorText" data-cy="author-text">Collin Gallant</span> <span class="bullet">· </span>CBC News <span class="bullet">· </span><time class="timeStamp" style="display:inline-block;" datetime="2026-03-26T11:00:00.000Z">Posted: Mar 26, 2026 5:00 AM MDT | Last Updated: March 2</time></div></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(62, 62, 62);font-family:articulat-cf, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px 0px 1.5rem;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">CBC online/video story here: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/rural-schools-counsellors-9.7141814">Country schools, modern problems and the long haul to help kids | CBC News</a></p><p>---------</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(62, 62, 62);font-family:articulat-cf, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px 0px 1.5rem;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Slush pushes Sophie Wheeler's compact car back into the lane as she passes a snowplow during an early March snowstorm.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">It's 7:30 in the morning as she pulls out of Medicine Hat toward Oyen, a 190-kilometre drive she makes three times a week, part of a new attempt to bring support to some of Alberta’s most remote schools.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">That distance doesn't buffer the challenges students experience there — bullying, social-emotional issues, anxiety, depression, aggression, self-harm and even thoughts of suicide. These have been increasing since the pandemic.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"I think it's definitely a misconception that everything is easier [in rural areas for kids],” said Wheeler, leaning forward in the driver's seat, her eyes fixed on the road. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"It's just the way that the schools cope with it is a little bit different." </p><h2 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:1.625rem;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.3;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Rural complexity requires 'creative' strategy</h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Teachers in schools across Alberta have been reporting increased complexity in their classrooms — more students who need more help to catch up, or who are struggling with interpersonal and other challenges since the pandemic.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The problems are no different in rural Alberta, but the solutions have to be.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In this case, it’s a roving team of experts, one of whom puts in 1,200 kilometres a week on the roads.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In southeastern Alberta, the Prairie Rose School Division stretches from the Montana border, 250 kilometres north to Oyen, with 18 town schools, plus 18 more on Hutterite colonies. It’s a land of farmers and cattle grazing leases and wind turbines, as close to Saskatoon as it is to Calgary.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The population is so sparse, the roughly 5,000 people who live within 100 kilometres of Oyen wouldn't fill the lower bowl of the Saddledome.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Officials with Prairie Rose started to notice an increase in complexity and aggressive behaviour from students five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working for a school district in an isolated area, they knew community members would turn to them for help. There just isn’t much other support around.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"It's hard to access services — physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health, physical therapists, occupational therapists," said Lisa Lindsay, the assistant superintendent of Prairie Rose. "And so we, the school, in those municipalities, we are everything to everybody."</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The district increased the size of its wellness team to 10 positions two years ago and tried to hire a counsellor for Oyen who lived in the area. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">But without any qualified applicants, it redefined the position as a hybrid travelling counsellor, and Wheeler was hired last fall.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Wheeler lives in Medicine Hat. Her route to Oyen parallels the Saskatchewan border, a two-lane highway dotted with dead patches of cellphone service.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">On the day CBC News joined her, Wheeler arrived late at Oyen Public School, slowed by whiteout conditions and stopping to check on a division bus that hit the ditch. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">She checks in with staff, then heads to South Central High School, tucked beside a farm equipment dealership two blocks away. On the teens heading to class, cowboy boots are as common as sneakers, along with boot-cut jeans and ballcaps from tractor brands and seed distributors.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">High school principal Dawn Peers lives two minutes out of town, but has a sofa bed in her office in case roads close. Every student who rides the bus is paired with a town kid or billet family to have a place to stay during a blizzard.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Peers and Wheeler chat about specific students. Wheeler lets the principal know there’s a bit more to the story behind why one child is struggling, and they make plans to speak again.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Wheeler greets kids by name as she walks the halls. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The school serves kids with all types of needs in the same classroom; one student who is non-verbal eats his lunch with an aide in the cafeteria. Wheeler greets him with a wave.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">On an average day, Wheeler meets one-on-one with students — or virtually as required — to discuss issues ranging from friendship problems to self-harm, or to follow up on coping strategies. She also connects parents with additional help and advises teachers. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Prairie Rose students have access to a class specifically focused on mental health programming but only in Medicine Hat.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"Some days you kind of feel like I could spend every day up here," said Wheeler.</p><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><p><i><strong>Prairie Rose School Division's boundaries reach from the U.S. border to central Alberta. It operates 38 schools over hundreds of kilometres:</strong></i></p></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Later, the 10-person Prairie Rose wellness team will meet to debrief, talk through problems, share successes and support each other, she said.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“It can be heavier work.”</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Peers walks with Wheeler past rows of graduation photos. The principal has spent her 30-year career in the Oyen area. She speaks with pride about graduates, a new baseball academy and the school's place at the heart of the community. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Peers says the school benefitted from the division's focus on adding educational assistants — there are four for South Central High School's student population of about 200 — and now Wheeler and wellness counsellors add "another set of eyes."</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"Every minute that she's in this building, there's a long line of students who want to access her," said Peers. "She's sparked a new interest this year, and students are seeking her out.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"We could use more of that." </p><h2 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:1.625rem;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.3;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Rural teachers 'burnt out trying to juggle' complex classrooms, CBC survey finds</h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">When CBC News surveyed teachers across the province in January, more than 400 out of the 6,000 respondents were from rural and remote areas. They told a tale similar to their urban counterparts' of struggling to maintain classrooms and meet all the needs of their students.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"I love all my kids, but I'm burnt out trying to juggle everything all at once," wrote one rural teacher in an unnamed district.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"No amount of 'raising my pay' will increase capacity or time," wrote another rural teacher. "It's just not sustainable."</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In these rural and remote areas, teachers often described smaller classes — 20 students or less — but with a high percentage of children who require dedicated attention or are disruptive.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">As well, many teach split classes, which require them to cover multiple grades and provincial curriculum outcomes in one classroom. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Teachers stressed the need to negotiate for more support to deal with this complexity. </p><h2 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:1.625rem;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.3;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">New provincial complexity teams won't reach Oyen</h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">After the strike, the province announced $143 million in funding for complexity teams — a teacher and two educational assistants — for nearly 500 elementary schools showing the highest level of complexity.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Prairie Rose received funding for one team for a school near Medicine Hat. But that doesn’t help its small rural schools, so the division is trying to replicate the "complexity team" concept in a roving format available to more than one school.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Recruitment will be a challenge, as it is for employers throughout the region — not just for schools. The municipality is currently running an advertising campaign for teachers, as well as nurses to work at Oyen's Big Country Hospital. A staff shortage caused the 10-bed facility to close briefly in 2023.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The division recently spent two years advertising for a position like Wheeler's, and will be competing with school boards across the province as everyone tries to hire for the new teams.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"Recruitment is probably the biggest obstacle we have at this point,” said Lindsay, Prairie Rose's assistant superintendent. “I think if we could find the people, we will fund it [a roving team], especially in our northern communities where we're seeing significant rise in complexity."</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Oyen is a small town where kids grow up feeling known by all the adults around them. That fosters a sense of belonging. It can be hard to attract new people to a place so far away from the main centres, but many who grow up here choose to stay. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Elementary school principal Deanne Smigelski grew up in a small hamlet north of Oyen, and returned to the town to teach and raise her family.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"I'm very thankful for that every day," she said, describing the community as close-knit, with supportive families.</p><h2 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:1.625rem;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.3;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Reflecting on a long drive home</h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">At the end of a school day in Oyen, students brush the snow off their trucks or settle in for long bus rides.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The two sides of a budding high school romance each take a bus, but in different directions. They live hours apart, with no real chance to hang out away from school.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"That social isolation piece is quite big with our rural kids," Wheeler said. "They rely on phones a lot to communicate with friends, which can … bring connection but doesn't replace in-person connection."</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">For kids with responsibilities and farm chores at home, the bus ride is also a chance to get homework done, and sneak in some down time.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Without reliable cell service on her journey home, Wheeler usually downloads and listens to course material for a master's degree in counselling.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Despite all the driving, it’s a job she enjoys.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"I love it," she said. "You get to really see kids authentically — their personalities — and I see a lot of resilience in these kids.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-family:"Radio Canada", sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin-bottom:28px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">"To see what these kids go through and [still] coming to school every day … it's rewarding." </p>
