The Western Québec School Board (WQSB) benefits from highly competent, highly trained and dedicated teachers throughout its 31 schools and centres. In each, are experienced veteran educators who have been with the board for several decades and who model high expectations for their students and for themselves.
Meet Kelly Butler, a Physical Education teacher at Chelsea Elementary School. Ms. Butler (or Ms. B, as the students call her) joined the WQSB in 2002 as a consultant in the new Guidance-oriented Approach to Learning (GOAL) that was being implemented across the province that year. She was a highly respected consultant with a strong work ethic, enthusiasm and tons of positive energy. That position evolved and saw Ms. Butler implementing other projects including POP (Personal Orientation Project), Mini U, and some Phys. Ed. Initiatives, notably, the elementary Track and Field tournament.
Her educational background is impressive, with a BSc (Hon.) in Sport and Exercise Science from Northumbria University in Newcastle UK, as well as a Post-graduate Certificate in Education with a focus on Physical Education from Durham University in the UK. She holds numerous coaching qualifications in soccer, gymnastics, tennis, netball, field hockey, basketball, cricket, swimming, dance and group fitness activities such as spinning, Pilates, step, personal training and aqua aerobics. Ms. Butler is passionate about active and healthy living.
In 2015, Ms. Butler wanted to have her own class of students and requested a transfer from her consultant position to Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School (PETES). After the birth of her fourth child, in 2020, she transferred to Chelsea Elementary School which is much closer to her home. Ms. B was a grade 3 homeroom teacher her first year, always incorporating her love for PE, into lessons. The next year she began teaching Phys. Ed 60% of the time and for the last four years, Ms. Butler has been teaching Phys Ed. full-time.
One of the advantages of working in a school is the privilege of fostering connections with the local community, thus broadening the range of activities that can be offered to the students. During her time at Chelsea Elementary, Kelly Butler has developed partnerships with both the municipality as well as other outside organizations including:
- Baseball Chelsea: use of the baseball diamond
- Chelsea Municipality: use of the “pump track” built for cycling
- JungleSport: program which offers students an opportunity to climb
- Meredith Centre: use of spinning equipment, a weight room, an outdoor CrossFit area, an ice rink, bubble soccer, joining fields and forests for orienteering
- Ottawa Orienteering Society: program offering orienteering
- RSEQ: a local organisation in Québec for sports that runs a cross country and track and field meets
Beyond the partnerships, Ms. Butler also works closely with the other WQSB elementary physical education teachers who come together for annual sports tournaments for soccer, football, volleyball, basketball and softball. These events are always packed with fun, fitness and learning for the students. They also nurture community across the WQSB’s elementary schools for both the students and participating staff members.
Kelly Butler believes in the importance of ensuring students experience a wide variety of sports, games and activities at a young age to develop fundamental movement skills. This exposure to a variety of activities also gives students the opportunity to find what it is they enjoy doing physically. When teaching physical education from this open perspective, children have the opportunity to find a modality of movement with which they resonate.
This January, Ms. Butler has been focusing on planning a variety of diverse outdoor winter activities, including a selection of traditional Inuit games. In the harsh Arctic environment, these games are a fun and social way to build attributes that are important for survival – strength, agility and endurance. Ms. B introduced the students to the Muskox fight as well as the leg wrestle. For upper body strength, Kelly Butler also had her students do a seal race on the snow, an activity in which they were not allowed to use their legs. After these games, the students finished outdoor physical education with snowboarding and tobogganing.
Ms. B keeps students active for most of the class, and she also incorporates talks about keeping oneself safe in risky play. She teaches self-management lessons to help students with conflict resolution and is a big believer in exposing students to situations in which they can learn how to handle winning and losing with grace. She is warm with the students and accomplishes this all within a positive, jovial and safe environment, allowing the students to fully enjoy the physical education experience.
Fiercely dedicated, highly skilled and knowledgeable staff members are at the heart of the Western Québec School Board’s schools and centres, going above and beyond to provide the highest quality of education possible for their students. The WQSB is grateful to have Kelly Butler and other amazing physical education teachers like her as part of the team. Thank you for all that you do for our students every day.