COLD LAKE - It doesn't matter if you ask a student, parent, or teacher at Cold Lake Elementary School (CLES), they will all say the same, Kathy McKale is a principal with heart.
This will be McKale's last school year making morning announcements, dancing with students, and bringing a special kind of energy to CLES, as she steps out of her role as principal and into retirement.
“After 30 great and glorious years with NLPS, I am retiring. My whole teaching career has been about my amazing, awesome, and fantastic students, and helping them become the best they can be,” she told Lakeland This Week.
But, McKale emphasized, this isn't the last the staff and students will see of her. She has full intentions of spending time among the very halls she treasures dearly either as a volunteer or a substitute teacher.
When asked why she opted to retire, McKale said it was one of the toughest decisions she has ever made.
Last year, her husband asked "is it time?" and McKale's answer was "just one more year."
The same happened when this school year came around.
"I just love what I'm doing, being with the kids, the parents, the staff, and the community. He knows what I am all about," she expressed.
In February, McKale made the difficult choice to retire so she can spend more time with her family.
Thirty years ago, McKale started teaching at Grand Centre High School. She taught there for two years before moving over to Cold Lake Middle School where she was a teacher for five years before accepting a job as assistant principal.
Her 19 years with Cold Lake Elementary School came to her in a way she never expected.
“I had a dream that I needed to come to Cold Lake Elementary... I saw the ad, I woke up in the middle of the night, and woke up my husband and said ’I’ve got to apply for this,’” McKale described. “I said, ‘I love where I’m at, I don’t know why I feel this way, but I feel like I have to go to Cold Lake Elementary."
As she shifts into retirement, McKale is often asked her favourite grade to teach, to which she responds "all of them."
“Kids are kids. I’ve given stickers to Grade 11 students and I give stickers to Kindergarteners.”
McKale has simply loved every part of her role her 30 years with NLPS have provided her.
“I’ve always said that I am passionate about teaching and reaching students and I always wanted to make a difference in their lives, and show them that I love and care for them,” she expressed, adding it was about helping raise each student to be the best person they could be.
She explained, "I had a heavy emphasis on moral intelligence and character education. That has always been a big thing."
From concerts to the morning announcements, baking for seniors to volunteering, "it's all about teaching the kids to love and care for others and to do the best they can to help others."
Whether she was teaching or taking on the position as principal, one thing was certain, for McKale, it was all about the kids.
"I still get that tingle in my tummy on my way to school each day because I can't wait to get here and see what great and glorious things these kids are going to be up to," said McKale.
While McKale has many fond memories to look back on of her years in education, she considers starting the pre-school and the construction of the new CLES among some of the best.
Her parting gift to her students is a train set McKale and her husband made. It sits in the lobby of CLES. According to McKale, every day she sees students and teachers gathered around the table, watching the train and taking it all in.
McKale said, "It's never about me, everything I do is for others."
