“Everyone knows who their grade two teacher was, but I bet you no one remembers who the Education Minister was,” says new Education Minister Jeff Johnson. That statement brought a little tug to my heart. Not because it was profound nor was it a quote that in some way hasn’t been said a thousand times; but rather because it is just so darn true. It has been 47 years since I was in grade two but I can remember with absolute clarity the day Mrs. Downey; in her conservative grey dress and sensible heels looked at a shy, insecure little girl in a red ‘smock’ and said “Nancy has anyone ever told you that you shine when you wear red?” Shine? Me? I had never felt that I shone at much of anything. But that day I saw a little possibility of that being so. From that day forward every time she would see me withdrawing a little or not seeming too confident in myself or my abilities she would catch me on my way out the door and say, “You should wear that red smock your Mom made you to school tomorrow because you really shine when you wear red.” The reality is that I didn’t ‘shine’ in that red smock any more than I did it my green or blue smock but I began to believe that I COULD shine. So next time one of my friends or colleagues see me at a social event or a conference and I’m wearing red it is likely because that day I have heard the voice of my grade two teacher Mrs. Downey telling me that “today is a good day to wear red because you shine when you wear red.”
Nancy's Notes 