Written by Everett Aiken
Thank you for accepting my request to be interviewed for our new newspaper. Students will be interested in learning a little more about different people in our school and principals are especially important.
Reporter: Could you please tell me exactly what your title is at Galt and when you started working at Galt?
Mrs. Hall: I'm the Cycle two vice principal and that means I work with students from levels 3, 4 and 5. I started this position in July of 2021. Although, this is not the first time I've been at Galt. I was teaching math, dance and science at Galt when I moved back to Quebec in September 2013 and taught here for 4 years.
Reporter: What was your professional career path before this job?
Mrs. Hall: So right before becoming the vice principal, I was the elementary math consultant for the school board which meant that I traveled to different schools and did presentations on the new research on how we could best teach math.
Reporter: What do you enjoy most about your job ?
Mrs. Hall: So it sounds kind of crazy but the thing I enjoy most is how crazy and busy it is. It's never dull and I would really like to be the vice principal that I never had. When I'm able to meet with students and give them enough time to tell me their side of the story to talk about the things that are important to them. Things that they want to see to make it a better place.
Reporter: What do you find most challenging about your job?
Mrs. Hall: So I think what is most challenging is almost the same thing. It’s really crazy and busy most days which means that there isn't enough time to do everything as well as I would like. And because it's different everyday, I never know what's coming. So a lot of things are still new to me and it's kind of stressful to learn new things everyday.
Reporter: Where did you grow up?
Mrs. Hall: When I was born my family actually lived in the Eastern Townships, but when I was two they moved to Montreal. So I did all my schooling in Montreal and went to McDonald High School and then John Abbott College and then I went to McGill University. And after that I decided that I wanted to go into education so I moved to BC. When I was in BC to be honest that's where I felt I really grew up because that's when I was on my own. That's when I realized that I like hiking outdoors and things like that.
Reporter: What is one of the most interesting places you have ever traveled to?
Mrs. Hall: I was really lucky because my dad was an Air Canada pilot, so I was able to travel with him quite a bit. So the two places that I think were most interesting to me is when I went to New Zealand. I was able to backpack through New Zealand for six weeks and that was a pretty amazing place. And the second most amazing place I've ever been to is Tel Aviv in Israel; and I got to fly over with my dad. I had just finished my McGill exams and he said, "I'm flying to Tel Aviv this weekend and there's empty seats. Would you like to come?" I had no idea about what kind of climate it was and what the oceans were like. It was a really interesting experience for me.
Reporter: Where did you go to high school? Do you have a favorite memory from when you were in high school?
Mrs. Hall: So I was a Bulldog at McDonald High School in St. Anne-de-Bellevue and my favorite memory is actually playing touch football. So I didn't really know anything about touch football, but I had friends that decided they were going to play and I didn't want to miss out. So I joined the team and I enjoyed playing touch football so much that when I went to college I actually played for the touch football team in college as well.
Reporter: Is there a particular social issue or cause that you feel strongly about? Can you tell me a little bit about it?
Mrs. Hall: Something that I'm very passionate about is that every student has the right to the best education that they can get. I feel very very strongly about that. To me what that means is – kind of why I've stayed in education and the different roles that I've taken – because I want to help teachers help students be the best versions of themselves they can. I think that it's really important that everybody feels welcome and if they feel they have a space and then they get a chance to improve themselves every day that they come to school.
Reporter: And as a final question, and to be more locally-focussed, if you could change anything about Galt, what would it be?
Mrs. Hall: That's one thing that I really like to see at Galt is a chance for students of all levels to have more time to interact with each other. To get to know cycle 1 to knowing cycle 2. Having an opportunity for students to have more time to get to know others because I think we all should know more about the people in our building.
Thank you for this interview and have a wonderful rest of your day.
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