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If Education Minister Jeff Johnson really wanted to understand what makes an excellent teacher, he would have stuck around the Annual Representative Assembly (the Assembly) past Saturday morning instead of leaving shortly after 10 am. Then, he would have witnessed the Association’s presentation of its Public Education Award to one remarkable educator and youth advocate, Dr Kris Wells.
Reading a list of accomplishments achieved by an award recipient sometimes can drive an audience to their i-Pads. However, the room of 418 teacher delegates was spellbound by the accomplishments shared by Association Vice President Robert Twerdoclib during his introduction of Wells.
Wells is an assistant professor and the director of programs and services at the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. He is also the co-founder of Camp fYrefly, the only national leadership retreat for sexual and gender minority youth. He works with a seemingly endless number of local and provincial advisory councils and committees, including the Association’s own Diversity, Equity and Human Rights Committee. Twerdoclib highlighted one of Wells’ most recent projects—the “no homophobes dot com” website, which tracks homophobic and transphobic language on Twitter.
Twitter may be the vehicle for some of Wells’ work today, but back in 1998, it all began with a fax.
During his acceptance speech, Wells told the tale of how that year he was a substitute teacher in Edmonton volunteering with the city’s first community youth group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBTQ) youth. According to Wells, the direction the group gave him, as a teacher, was simple – “Do something.” The group believed teachers were their safe contact to the educational system and Wells didn’t let them down. He sent a fax inviting people in positions of power to hear the stories and voices of LGBTQ youth. He sent it to superintendents of local school boards, the minister of education and the Alberta Teachers’ Association. He pointed out ATA president Larry Booi was the only one to respond to his fax.
That response, Wells continued, paved the way for the establishment of the Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities. It also paved the way for the variety of other positive, groundbreaking initiatives that would take place over the next years, like Camp fYrefly, that would be led by Wells and teachers across Alberta.
Wells credited the Alberta Teachers’ Association for leading social change by changing its own policies. He cited as examples amendments to the Association’s Code of Professional Conduct which prohibit discrimination against students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity which were made in 1998 and 2004 respectively. He noted that, in 2005, the Assembly passed a resolution supporting GSAs in schools, showing teachers are ready for GSA policy to be established, but government is not.
In closing, Wells turned the tables on what was fully intended to be an occasion for Alberta teachers to recognize the contributions and accomplishments of an individual who has provided outstanding support to public education.
“While I’m accepting this award, I’d really like to accept it on behalf of all of the brave teachers who have led the way in this province to creating safer, more inclusive, caring, welcoming and respectful schools,” said Wells. “Because again, if we can do it here in Alberta, we can do it anywhere in Canada.”
But it couldn’t be done without people like you, Dr Wells. ❚
