RRDSB Youth Outreach Worker discusses the importance of making mistakes
From a Librarian Assistant to an Educational Assistant, and now to her current role as a Youth Outreach Worker, Rebecca Tolen has 25 years of experience across her various roles in education. She encourages students to make mistakes and learn from them while building relationships with students at Robert Moore School, engaging students in physical activities, and being a supportive person at school.
“I was a librarian assistant and then an educational assistant,” said Tolen. “When this job came up, it was all of the things I’d been doing for free prior to this. So, now I’m getting paid. I teach outdoor education, or land-based learning, and I work with that to help engage them at school.” Adding, “I also get to do a lot of extracurricular activities, like I do sports, student council, and mental health champions. My day is different every day, and I get to do all the different things that make kids want to be at school.”
While Tolen gets to organize and participate in everything that makes learning fun for students at Robert Moore School, it is also part of her job to build and maintain relationships with students, even if they don’t directly involve her.
“[I’m] making sure they know there’s somebody in the school they can trust and they can count on,” said Tolen. “My hope is that every kid has at least one person like that in the school. So even if it’s not me, I have them find somebody who is [a confidant] for them. That’s just like adults, too, right? Like, there are some people you really get along with and some people you totally don’t, for whatever reason. There were people in my life who made a difference and kept me in school and kept me engaged, and I’m hoping to be that person for our students here at Robert Moore.”
She might not be a confidant for each and every student at Robert Moore School, and that’s okay. But that’s not what keeps her coming back to work every day. What keeps her coming back is seeing students overcome obstacles that are in their path, while learning along the way.
“[I’m] showing them that it’s okay to try things and not love them. Because you might love them taking that in that chance, it’s a big part of my day,” said Tolen. “Teaching kids to do that and that it’s okay to make mistakes, and we should be making mistakes. That’s how we know we’re trying. That’s a big part of what I do.”
Additionally, Tolen noticed students are afraid of being imperfect.
“Kids seem afraid to not be perfect. Like that first try, they expect to be perfect,” said Tolen, “We’re not all good at things the first time we try it, right? It’s okay, but it’s hard, and it’s okay if we make mistakes and if we fail, we just have to keep going and try again, or maybe we find out it’s not for us and we try something different to find something that is for us. We don’t know, unless we give it a shot.”
So, Tolen spends a lot of her time and effort helping students fail forward.
“It’s been the hardest thing to teach, but also the most rewarding when you start seeing them take those chances and risks,” said Tolen. “It’s okay to be frustrated. We all are; it’s just how we deal with that frustration. We give grace when we get frustrated, and we give time.”
“I coached for about 18 years at Rainy River High School as well. [It’s the] same idea with basketball and soccer, watching a kid you’ve been working on a skill with for two months, and finally it clicks in a game. I don’t know, that’s just so rewarding for me.”
More than anything, Tolen wants students and their caregivers to know she is a supportive person at Robert Moore School and is open to any feedback or input.
“I’m trying to bring in as many different opportunities to school as I possibly can,” said Tolen.
