The Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) will have a new person at the helm in the next school year.
Pat Jeannot, who has been the principal since the fall of 2013, has announced he will be retiring at the end of the 2019-20 school year, ending an education career that started in Carievale in 1987.
“I’ve been in education for 33 years, and I felt that I’ve accomplished what I set out to accomplish, and it’s time for me to focus more on family,” he said in an interview with the Mercury.
While he started in Carievale and finished in Estevan, most of his teaching career was spent in Oxbow, where he worked at the former Oxbow Prairie Heights School and the Oxbow Elementary School. Then he became the principal of the Oxbow Prairie Horizons School, which opened in 2010. He was the vice-principal of the latter when he took the job at ECS.
“I spent my entire career in southeast Saskatchewan, so I really appreciate the fact that in order to gain new experiences at different schools and new positions in education, I didn’t have to move out of this part of the province,” said Jeannot, who considers his time spent in the southeast to be a highlight.
Jeannot was in the classroom for 16 years of his 33-year teaching career, and was an administrator for the other 17 years.
Making the move to Estevan proved to be a very worthwhile change.
“It’s been fantastic to get to know the kids,” said Jeannot. “Through my position, I’m able to see them in the classroom, in the hallways, through sports and things like that.”
When he arrived at ECS, Estevan and the southeast region as a whole were in the tail-end of the economic boom. The economy is not as strong as it was, and attendance at the school has declined.
But he’s pleased with how the staff members have responded to challenging situations.
“I’ve been very proud of that,” said Jeannot. “That would be the biggest thing that I could say, is I’m very proud of how the staff has responded to all the challenges, and every opportunity we have and how the community has been supportive during my tenure here.”
The students, staff and community all made him feel very welcome, and were very easy to work with.
“I really appreciate the quality staff we have here. They do so much for kids and it’s been great to be part of that. The community has been very supportive, it’s great to be part of the community to help the youth in our community.”
Education has gone through some big changes over the years, particularly when it comes to technology.
“As our society has changed, and with the introduction of new technology, we’ve introduced a lot of that technology into education to stay up to speed as to what society needs and what industry needs in our communities, and I would say that’s the biggest thing, is how we use technology as opposed to how we used to use technology.”
The South East Cornerstone Public School Division is now advertising for Jeannot’s replacement.
Jeannot said he will see what opportunities come up, such as substitute teaching that would allow him to be back in the classroom, but for now he is looking forward to placing his focus on spending time with his family.
