Pearl Lorentzen
Lakeside Leader

Erin Mitchell was one of the first people to finish a bachelor of education in Slave Lake. Now, she’s teaching in Slave Lake.

“I knew I wanted to stay here before I graduated,” she says. This was why she applied for the first cohort of the community-based bachelor of education offered by Northern Lakes College and the University of Calgary. She graduated in May 2022.

Mitchell and Kennedy Lukan are the two new teachers at C.J. Schurter Elementary School in Slave Lake. Both teach Grade 3.

Mitchell did both of her practicums at CJS and did some substitute teaching in May and June.

Both Lukan and Mitchell grew up in Slave Lake.

“I did go away for school,” says Lukan.

She studied in Edmonton. Her first two years were at Grant MacEwan and she finished up at the University of Alberta. She graduated in 2021.

“I didn’t expect to come back here, but I’m glad I did,” she says.

Last year, Lukan covered a maternity leave at CJS. Now, she has a regular position at the school.

“I love it here,” Mitchell says about CJS. “Everyone’s so kind and helpful.”

Lukan agrees.

“The school works together,” she says. “It’s such a collaborative school.”

When Lukan was a kid, she liked to teach her stuffed animals. She had her mom buy her a whiteboard, so she could do it more. As an adult, she has the same drive.

“It (teaching) inspires me,” she says. “Those ‘light bulb’ moments keep my juices flowing.”

Asked why she went into teaching, Mitchell says, “My parents were both teachers, so that’s kind of the world I knew. I knew I liked working with kids,” she adds, hence teaching elementary school.

She learned about her love of working with kids working at the daycare in Slave Lake.

Another positive about teaching for both Mitchell and Lukan is that it connects with their desire to be life-long learners.

“You’re constantly learning,” says Mitchell.