Finding an influencer in our teacher, Miss Harriett Elliott

Who influenced me to choose a career in teaching? Of course, my three aunts who taught in one-room Kincardine Township schools as I was growing up: Mum’s sister, Aunt Evelyn; Uncle Howard’s wife, Aunt Wanita; and Aunt Sadie who was my first teacher not long after she married Uncle Albert. It never occurred to me that there was any other desirable occupation.

As I grew older, I admired all my teachers, but it was Miss Elliott, I think, who had the most influence. She introduced me to French in Grade 9 in the old high school. Our first lessons encouraged us to learn multiple columns of words, “m” or “f,” spelling, pronunciation and meaning, a challenge I enjoyed. The blackboard against one wall in the kitchen was constantly in use as I practised.

The teachers, except for science class, came to our classrooms. In my mind’s eye, I can still see Miss Elliott coming in the back door and walking briskly to the front of the room, a handful of books held at shoulder height and her purse under her arm.

Grade 10 saw us settled into home room in the new school with Miss Elliott. I’m not sure whether it was her choice or organized by the administration, but we remained in her home room for the rest of our time at KDSS (Kincardine District Secondary School). Since she allowed us to address her only in French, I chose a front desk just inside the door beside the cupboard in which resided two huge dictionaries. I was soon very familiar with them.

Miss Harriet Elliott was a native of New Brunswick. She was pleased to remind us that she had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Now that I am living in New Brunswick, trying to sort out the various dialects, I wish I knew more about her background.

Here she is just outside our classroom in 1955.

Since we knew her name was Harriet, we gave her the nickname Haricot Vert. However, she was no string bean. She was short enough in stature that she found it difficult to see the students in the back seats. So, she had the boys who were in shop class make her a four or five-inch platform and install it beside her desk.

Although it worked well for her, it proved a hazard for others. One day Mrs. Stratton, the English teacher, was using our room for some reason. She turned quickly toward the blackboard and tripped very inelegantly over the platform.

Miss Elliott supported us in all our activities. If we were preparing a speech, she took time in class to hear us practise, a break enjoyed by not-so-appreciative French students. When I was fortunate to part of the group to go to Paisley for the county contest, she accompanied us.

As career decisions loomed early in Grade 13, she joined Mrs. Ferris and Mrs. Stratton in encouraging me to consider going to university, something unheard of in my family. They introduced me to the registrar at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London and even took me to tour the campus.

Near the end of that Grade 13 year, Miss Elliott developed health issues that obliged her to leave us. Although we girls were thrilled to meet Mr. Threndyle, who had recently graduated from university and who took over our class, somehow it didn’t seem right to leave without the support of Miss Harriet Elliott.

Four years later, I started my life as a bona fide French teacher, a career I continued for more than 40 years.