Log in & Sign up
You are not logged in.
Most Commented
Teacher of the Week
She is proving that everything is possible
Karen Seidman
The Gazette
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sheri Cameron by the Lachine Canal where she trains (GRAHAM HUGHES/The Gazette)
Teacher of the Week is a new weekly feature spotlighting a local educator.
Name: Sheri Cameron, 31
School: LaurenHill Academy in St. Laurent
Grade: 7
Experience: 7 years
Extracurricular activities: Girl Guide leader
Hobbies:Training and paddling
Most recently read book: The Kite Runner
The message on Sheri Cameron’s cell phone basically sums up her life: “I’m either teaching or training, so I can’t get to the phone now.”
The Grade 7 math and science teacher at LaurenHill Academy in St. Laurent is also an elite paddler who just won three silver medals at the World Club Crew Championship in Malaysia. And, as her phone message indicates, those are the two defining roles of her life.
With one slight difference. She still prefers teaching over paddling.
“Paddling just hurts too much,” she said with a laugh.
The school year got off to a great start for Cameron, who was able to return to the school victorious. The students were so anxious to hear about the competition because they had raised $1,300 for her last year as part of a “Send Miss Cameron to Malaysia” fundraising campaign at the school.
“The whole school was behind me,” said Cameron. “It was really very inspiring.”
Cameron, 31, has been teaching at LaurenHill for six years. Prior to that, she spent one year teaching in New Zealand. She has been paddling for about the same amount of time and the two really are interconnected for her.
Paddling, she says, makes her a better teacher. And teaching allows her to share the inspirational message she has learned from paddling: that you really can succeed at something no matter how hard it might seem.
“They both fulfill different sides of me,” she explained. “I love math and science and sports. Doing both gives me a balanced life.”
Cameron got into paddling on a whim when someone told her she should try it. As a rookie, she looked longingly at the elite team and wondered if she could ever make it to that level.
Well, this year she did.
She paddles with the 22 Dragons club in Lachine and her team, Montreal Women, was selected to go to the world championships.
Dragon boat racing requires 20 paddlers in a boat and, according to Cameron, it is not just about using your upper body, but it’s important to use your whole body when paddling.
She was in the premiere women’s category, for women under 40. There were five teams per category and more than 100 teams competing.
Cameron found Malaysia to be hot, humid, beautiful and simple.
“The kids have no video games or fancy toys, but they seemed so happy playing outside,” she said.
Getting to the world championship was no easy task. Cameron does weight training three times a week, paddling four times a week and cardio three times a week.
“There are no days to be a couch potato,” she said.
Making the elite team really taught her a lot and now she is using her knowledge to teach her students something very important.
“I tell them that anything is possible, your dreams are possible,” she said. “Even if something is hard, you can work at it and succeed. I just tell them: look at me.”