One-room schoolhouse teacher retires after 35 years in same island classroom

Elizabeth Sutherland's first day on the job at Big Tancook Island Elementary School 35 years ago ended with a moment of doubt. She stood at the edge of the wharf, looked out at the water and thought, "Oh my god, what have I gotten myself into?"

Fresh out of teachers college, the Antigonish, N.S., native was hired in 1982 to teach at the one-room schoolhouse on an island that's about a 45-minute ferry ride from Chester, N.S.

Now, for the first time in 35 years, Sutherland won't be checking the ferry crossings this September.

That's because she retired at the end of June.

"It was not an easy decision. I struggled with it," Sutherland told CBC's Information Morning.

She's working on a book that documents her experience as the island's only teacher.

When Sutherland started, there were about 30 students and another teacher who taught grades 4 to 6.

As enrolment dwindled, she became the school's lone teacher, principal and Christmas play organizer.

At times, she taught as many as 16 students, but in recent years it was closer to two or three.

About 100 people live on the island year-round.

Regular school reviews

The school has frequently been in the news for its efforts to stay open despite several school-closure reviews. The latest one was in March 2016 when a motion to close the school by the South Shore Regional School Board ended in a tie, which meant the motion was defeated.

Sutherland was completely dedicated and devoted to the island. In times of bad weather, she would stay on the island overnight to ensure the school would be open the following day.

Rhiannon Dionne, 13, said she always enjoyed the one-on-one teaching that only a school like Big Tancook Island Elementary could provide.

"She would take us down to the beach a lot and we'd have campfires, but she'd also get all the work done," said Rhiannon Dionne. 

There are now five kids enrolled at the school for September, according to Rhiannon's mother, Hillary Dionne, and a new family is ready to move to the island next month.

The South Shore Regional School Board has hired teacher Paula Baker to fill the position.

Know your mudrats

Sutherland's advice to her replacement is to pay attention to the often unpredictable weather and to get a cellphone app with the ferry schedule.

It also wouldn't hurt to learn what a mudrat is. One day, Sutherland recalls finding a muskrat — or mudrat to those on the island — in the school's compost.

"I had to get a stick and try and chase him out, and they're really, really nasty animals and I thought to myself when I was doing it, 'I bet I'm the only teacher in Nova Scotia fighting with a mudrat this morning,'" said Sutherland with a laugh.