| Pat Olson (second from left) was recently given honors and gifts on the occasion of her retirement from Schoo! District 88. Olson taught local children for 25 years. Terrace Review — Wednesday, June 8, 1988 15 TLT a hit j in Victoria The Terrace Little Theatre production. of ‘The Creation, and Fall of Lucifer’? was per- formed last Saturday evening at the MacPherson Theatre in Vic-. toria as part of the prestigious “‘Mainstage ’88’’. And Terrace _ Little Theatre vice president Merry Hallsor says it was very well received and the ad- judicator’s comments were most favorable. Hallsor says that adjudicator Don Shipley, who works with the Stratford Theatre in On- tario, praised the visual effect of the set and said he was very im- pressed with the use of masks. ‘*He thanked our group for do- ing that show,”’ says Hallsor, and said, ‘‘It’s a form of theatre ‘that’s practically never seen anymore and therefore it’s quite different and unusual for an au- dience, It was a treat to see that style of theatre.” Drams Fest ’88 was a ‘“‘total immersion of theater for a week’’, Hallsor said. The event began on Monday, May 30, with a Chilliwack. production and ended on Saturday, June 4 with the Terrace production, And in their. spare time, theater members also attended four daytime workshops. The Powerhouse Theatre from Vernon won Drama Fest with a Canadian play, ‘‘Play Memory’’, written by Johanna, Glass. That group is now off to Halifax to represent B.C. at the Canadian Drama Festival. Hallsor added that the Ter- race Little Theatre group is grateful to everyone in the com- munity who supported their fundraising drive, making it possible for them to take their production to the provincial competition. Local teacher honored for 25 years of work in a- long and distinguished ‘career spanning more than 25 years, Pat Olson has touched the lives of hundreds of students and staff in the Northwest. Dur- . ing her retirement. party at ’ Thornhill Primary School, school trustee Lavern Hislop said Olson was a “‘real role model?’ for every student. Olson first moved to the Nor- thwest in 1954 when she and her family left their native Saskat- -chewan for Burns Lake. There, she spent a year teaching at Perow School —. a true one- room, country-style schoolhouse - where she taught grades 0 one to six. Following this introduction to northern B. C., Olson left ‘the public education system briefly while she operated a private kindergarten in Houston for two years, In 1957 she went to work for Silverthorne Elementary Senior School in Houston, where she taught grade six. The following year she moved to the senior - level to teach Physical Educa- tion, Social Studies and English to grades nine through 11. In her last year at Silverthorne, Olson was also the relief principal. In 1960, she moved to Terrace to work asa substitute teacher Regular Games and relief principal. She worked two days a week for Principal Elaine Greig at the nearly new Uplands Elementary School and another two for Principal Fran Labelle at the 46-year-old Kalum School. On the fifth day of each week, she worked as a substitute teacher wherever she was need- ed. In September 1962, Olson took on a full-time teaching. position at Riverside School (an old army barracks located near -where the curling rink is now) and in the fall. of, 1963-returned . to being a student herself in order to earn her Bachelor of Education degree at U.B.C. Olson returned to Terrace. in 1964 to teach at Clarence Michiel Elementary School: which had opened the previous - fall. She remained at Clarence: Michiel School for two years before again returning to univer- sity — this time to work on her Masters Degree at the University of Victoria. . After two years of university, ‘Olson worked as a learning assistant at the Tolmie Marigold Elementary School in Victoria for one year before returning to Terrace in 1970, where she became the first learning assis- tant in the district. DOORS OPEN AT 4:30. P.M. Terrace’s Bingo Place Lucky Dollar Bingo Palace 4818 Hwy. 16 West - SUNDAY: Terrace Athletics Assn. _ MONDAY: Terrace Minor Hockey | TUESDAY: Kermodes or Jaycees | WEDNESDAY: Terrace Blueback Swim club) THURSDAY: 747 Air Cadets: ! Ladies of the Royal Purple: | FRIDAY: Parapelegic Assn. 7 SATURDAY: Parapelegic Foundation _ EVERYONE WELCOME! (Age 14 years and up) Thank youl Have a Nice day! She held this position until 1975 when she received a one- year appointment as the coor- dinator of learning assistants program under Andy Selder, the supervisor of special education for School District 88. The following year, Olson became the girls’ counsellor at Caldeonia Senior Secondary School, and in the summer of 1977 she returned to the Univer- sity of Victoria, where she received her Master of Educa- tion specializing in Language Olson the returned to Terrace to. fill the position of learning © assistant at Thornhill Primary. School — a position she held un- til 1982. During this period, she also worked: the summer months ‘as the supervisor of “English as a Second Language”: for new young Canadians. In the fall of 1982, ,Olson taught at Thornhill Primary — School and this was the begin- ning of what she would. later refer to as the best. years of her * career. The following year she — began a “Family Group’’ class at Thornhill Primary for grades - one to three. Olson describes this class as a . “fun group’ because she had more than one child from each: Extra Games family. ‘This was something | had always wanted to do,’’ ex- plains Olson. ‘‘This was always a dream.’’ ‘“‘A lot of children just didn’t. fit into ‘the regular mold and couldn’t function in a normal classroom setting. So they were put on an individual program at their own level,”’ says Olson. ‘‘It was a rural setting which helped to reach a goal — with the older helping the younger — and. we had a lot of cooperation.” - “It was a lot of hard work but a. wonderful experience,” she says. “J taught the children of three families whose parents I had taught earlier.’’ In the fall of 1985, she return- d to the regular classroom at - Thornhill Primary and the ‘following*summer took a leave of absence and moved to Vic- ‘toria with. her husband. When Olson and her family 5 ~ Representatives of . _ * B.C. Hydro Admission — Free i Ao” * B.C, Purchasing Commission * Supply. & Services Canada will talk about market opportunities in the public - sector for small and medium-sized business. CREST MOTOR HOTEL Prince Rupert Friday, June 10 7:00-8:30 p.m. | A part of lf Provinee of British Columbia Purchasing Commission Honourable Grace M. MeCarthy Minister of Economic Development first moved to Burns Lake in 1954, it was the beginning of a major contribution to education in the Northwest. To begin with, the Twain Sullivan School in Smithers. was named after her father, school trustee in the Smithers area. And following her own contribution, her three children all became involved in educa- tion. Rick Olson was the princiapl of Uplands Elementary from . 1983 to 1986 and is presently the principal of Clarence Michiel Elementary; Mary Ann Martens is the secretary at E.T. Kenney — Primary and the youngest, Albert, taught at Thornhill Elementary and Clarence Michiel Elementary before mov- ing to Victoria to teach at the Elementary level. During her retirement party, continued on page 23 Selling to Government _ a $Billion Market Information 624-3106 who was a long-time. ee ne