THE DYNAMO
Harold Coughlan
Grade 6 French immersion,
Princess Elizabeth School,
Saint John, N.B.;
10 years in the classroom
Forget rest and relaxation — it’s a mystery how Harold Coughlan finds time to sleep and eat. In just the past year, he helped coach the girls’ and boys’ volleyball teams, the boys’ soccer team, the girls’ basketball team, supervised badminton and hockey, created a girls’ softball team, fundraised for basketball warm-up shirts and a three-day French immersion trip (which he helped lead), and coached the boys’ basketball team to a district title. Even with such a full plate, Coughlan also agreed to be the faculty advisor for the newly formed cheerleading squad when he found out that no one else had stepped up. “I couldn’t imagine letting them down,” he says.
In the classroom, Coughlan uses songs and games to teach, and doesn’t move forward until everyone has understood the lesson. “The way he teaches makes things easy to learn,” says 12-year-old student Elizabeth Gogan. Tara Smith, whose daughter Rachelle is in Coughlan’s class, agrees. “Mr. Coughlan’s ability to instill confidence in the students to do their best is very unique. The fact that he does this in a language other than their mother tongue is even more remarkable,” she says. Coughlan rewards social contributions like humour and thoughtfulness with points that kids can spend twice a year at an auction with prizes that he purchases — with hundreds of his own dollars — and wraps in his spare time. And he loves his job. “My teaching days have been fun, wonderful, memorable and interesting,” says Coughlan. “I am having the time of my life.”
Favourite author: J.K. Rowling
Favourite movie teacher: Hilary Swank in Freedom Writers (“She portrayed a very dedicated teacher who truly cared about all of her students’ accomplishments and successes.”)
Teaching philosophy/creed: “Know myself and know my students.”
