Student teacher back on familiar ground

Jessica Lovisa is back in the halls of Fort Frances High School, only this time for a five-week student teacher placement.
The 22-year-old attends Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, where she has taken a four-year Concurrent Education Program studying chemistry and French.
She is teaching three chemistry classes to students in Grades 9, 11, and 12 during her placement at Fort High.
Coming back to Fort Frances was something Lovisa was looking forward to doing. “I wanted to be here with teachers that I know. It’s a comfort thing,” she explained.
But when Lovisa started her placement a few weeks ago, she admitted things weren’t so easy.
“It was difficult. Students had to get used to me. I don’t look as old as I would like to look, so it must have been hard for them to see me as a teacher!” she joked.
“Everything’s awesome now, though,” she added.
All in all, Lovisa felt Fort High was much the same now as it was when she graduated four years ago.
“I don’t think things have changed very much,” she remarked. “The difference for me now is that I’m seeing things through a teacher’s perspective.
“One thing that is very different, though, is the spirit at the school,” Lovisa added. “I was student council president when I was here and whenever there was a sports event or anything, we went crazy!”
Teaching high school students would seem intimidating to any young teacher, but Lovisa has done well so far.
“I haven’t had any troubles with students. Some are a lot more hyper than others, but that’s just how it is,” she laughed.
And students seem to be really enjoying her presence in the classroom. Katie McTavish, one of Lovisa’s Grade 11 chemistry students, felt she was doing a great job as a teacher.
“She seems to be having a really good time in our class. She likes to help out and is very good at explaining things,” McTavish noted.
The transition from student to teacher seems to have been an easy one for Lovisa. She works very well with the staff, and FFHS chemistry teacher Ludger Rittau was very enthusiastic about working with her.
“She is one of the best student teachers that I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “She picked up on things quickly, and is very independent.”
After her five-week placement here and another few months at Lakehead U., Lovisa will be graduating in May. She also plans to marry her fiancé, Ross Anderson, this coming July.
“I would like to come to Fort Frances at some point,” she said. “My [fiancé] has two years left of school, so I will probably be there until then.
“But we’re really not sure what we’re going to do, where we’re going to go.”
Given the response of students and teachers at Fort High, hopefully Lovisa will choose to return to her old stomping grounds down the road.