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‘It’s been a long road’

Middleton woman celebrates high school graduation at 50

CAROLE MORRIS-UNDERHILL ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGISTER carole.morris-underhill@ saltwire.com @CMUnderhill CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Earning a high school diploma has been a long, often tumultuous journey for Terri Marshall, but at 50 years old, she can finally cross that off her to-do list.

The Middleton resident, who grew up in Berwick, dropped out of school in Grade 11. In 2018, she left her husband and moved back to Nova Scotia from Saskatchewan to start over. Part of that fresh start was getting her Grade 12 diploma.

“I did it for myself to prove that I wasn’t as stupid as my ex-husband told me all those years, and to prove that I can do it,” said Marshall, after receiving the diploma in the mail on July 13.

“And I did it for my mom.” Marshall said her late mother, Marion (Rafuse) Drew, also went back to school later in life to get her diploma, and she encouraged her daughter to do the same.

It wasn’t long before the students and staff knew Ettinger’s face well in the hallways.

When wiping down the door frames during class, Ettinger would smile and wave through the glass at the kids.

“The kids in the gym would see me and ask to race around the gym with them,” Ettinger said.

“They’d tease me or tell me to sit in the chair for half an hour, fun stuff.”

Ettinger knew how important it was to stay cheerful when working with kids.

When Ettinger first started cleaning schools, he told a friend who was also a janitor.

Her mother also offered her a place to stay when she returned to Nova Scotia — a kindness not soon forgotten.

Her mother died earlier this year of brain cancer. It was devastating news for Marshall, but she persevered with her studies.

“There has been a lot of stuff happening, but I still managed to graduate,” she said.

That friend gave him some good advice: “Look, if you’re going to work in an elementary school, you’ve got to become a kid yourself.”

Over time, Ettinger became close with the children in pre-primary, and would often stop into classrooms and chat with the kids.

“We would just sit down,

I’d teach them a bit of sign language,” said Ettinger.

Ettinger had taken a course in sign language a few years after finding out some members of his church were deaf.

“I know a few words, and my alphabet and what not. It helped to spell words to them, you know make it short and sweet,” Ettinger said.

Throughout the school year, Ettinger taught art classes and helped with afterschool

“It makes me feel proud that I did something with my life before I die.”

Marshall, who works at the Yogi Bear Campground in Kingston, was in tears speaking about how much she has overcome to get to this point in her life. It hasn’t been easy. But she’s now looking towards the future and what having a high school diploma means. activities. He also built a garden for the kids behind the school.

When the school year ended, the Grade 5 class got Ettinger to sign their yearbooks.

“I would walk around the school and students would thank me,” said Ettinger.

“It wasn’t just one student; it was the whole class.”

In early May, some of the pre-primary teachers learned about the Dr. Robert Strang Community Hero Award through Facebook.

The award was created in partnership with Doctors of Nova Scotia, an association representing physicians in the province, and Izaak Walton Killam Hospital for Children (IWK).

Named after the province’s

“It’s been a long road,” said Marshall, a mother to five and grandmother to 15.

“I finally have a vehicle of my own. I’ve bought a camper, second hand but new to me. I want to become financially stable and eventually get my own place, live off the grid in a tiny home or a camper and live my life out with my two cats and some farm animals and some chickens,” she said.

And she hopes to one day get another dog.

Marshall, who is known by friends as Fluffy, enrolled in 2020 in the Adult Learning Program offered through the NSCC Annapolis Valley Campus, in Middleton, to complete a high school graduation diploma for adults.

“Lots of days I wanted to give up, sure. But I didn’t. I kept at it,” she said.

According to the Nova Scotia

chief medical officer, the award is given to Nova Scotians who have worked hard throughout the pandemic to raise funds or keep spirits high in their communities.

The teachers at L.E. Shaw walked into the principal’s office and handed her a piece of paper.

“Cordelia, we’d like to nominate Wayne,” Gallant recalled.

Gallant looked down at the paper. It was an application for the award.

“This sums up Wayne,” Gallant said as she recalled the application.

Gallant smiled.

“Fabulous choice.”

In total, 179 applications for the award were submitted, with only 20 being accepted as winners.

Community College website, “If you left high school without a diploma, this program gives you the chance to earn one as an adult. Getting a high school diploma prepares you for success in your next stage of life — whether it's to advance your career or continue to college or university studies.”

There is no cost to enrol in the program, and full-time and part-time options are available, with multiple enrolment dates throughout the year.

While attending the school, Marshall also volunteered to give tours to prospective students.

Marshall’s advice to anyone contemplating going back to school — regardless of age — is this: “Go for it; don’t give up. Don’t give up ever. Be proud.”

One day in late May, Ettinger came home from work and checked the mail and saw there was a parcel.

He opened it. It was a plaque with a letter saying he won the award.

“I don’t know what I did, but I must have done something to be chosen. To have this beautiful letter sent in,” said Ettinger.

Today, Ettinger says he is very grateful for the award and feels a sense of accomplishment in his work at the school during the pandemic.

“It is quite an honour. There’s a pile of Facebook pages of people writing comments about it,” Ettinger said.

“If you never knew what people thought of you before, you know now.”

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2021-07-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

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