Despite the class time spent with teachers throughout the year, many students fail to create meaningful relationships that transcend the boundaries of the classroom. At Sentinel, students are very lucky to attend a school with a considerable amount of extracurricular opportunities thanks to teachers taking time out of their busy and overwhelming schedules to get to know the student behind the mark.
Mr. Hammett, a math and physics teacher, is one of Sentinel’s notable volunteer teachers who spends his time either coaching the girls field hockey team or spending the day with the Ski team on the slopes of Whistler. We asked Mr. Hammett a few questions to gain a new perspective on volunteer teachers.
Here’s what we learned:
Mr. Hammett’s view on his involvement in extracurriculars can be broken into three main factors.
Firstly, he believes that extracurricular activities provide teachers with the opportunity to get to know their students outside the walls of the classroom. Building relationships was certainly a factor that was highlighted a few times during our conversation. Also, since school is often heavily focused on rigorous academics, extracurriculars can provide students and teachers alike a respite from the pressures of the classroom in a more relaxed setting. Finally, growing up and now living on the North Shore, Mr. Hammett believes that he is in a perfect position to give back to his community.
While Mr. Hammett is doing a great job involving himself in these activities, he is also completing his Masters and attending numerous other commitments at the same time. The two biggest takeaways we got from this interview are as follows: students and teachers alike can greatly benefit from participating in extracurriculars and teachers at Sentinel have multiple other commitments and other constraints that limit how much time they can expend, such as the cost of living on the North Shore which leads to subsidizing their income by doing other activities. Therefore, it is especially important to appreciate and applaud those teachers who find the means to volunteer their time, energy and effort.
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