After 20 plus years as an educational assistant, Shirley Boiteau is trading bus supervision for reading a book on the beach.  

Boiteau will be retiring from Holy Cross Collegiate as an educational assistant this Friday. She said that it is amazing to see how the town of Strathmore has grown in those years.  

“We've lived in Strathmore, my husband and I, for almost 27 years. When we first moved here, there was no Catholic school and I remember being part of Sacred Heart Parish and knocking on doors at the time about 23 years ago to see if there was an interest in a Catholic School.” 

Once the school was started, Boiteau became an asset to the Strathmore Catholic School community. She started at Sacred Heart Academy and then moved to Holy Cross Collegiate, where she has been for 17 years.  

“It's amazing now that 21 years later. Here I am, retiring after 20ish years,” she chuckled.  

Travelling and seeing family is in the plans for Boiteau and her husband as they start this new chapter of life. They hope to tour the east coast and see family in Manitoba.  

“It will be nice come September not having to come back to school. I’ll be travelling to the East Coast thinking of everyone.”  

Boiteau started her career as an education assistant in 2002 when she was about 40 years old.  

She explained that she started in her position because she loves working with children. She has three daughters of her own and worked at a daycare previously.  

It was the kids that kept her coming back to work each day.  

“They just make me feel young at heart actually and I love the relationships that we can build with the students.” 

“I think some of the big ones are, attending the grad services for the kids,” she said when asked about her favourite memory as an educational assistant. "Just seeing some kids that I used to know when I was working in daycare, then come through elementary and high school, and then graduate. Some of those kids really overcame challenges in their lives and to see them cross the stage, it is something that sticks with you.”  

When asked what advice she would give someone beginning their career in education, she said, “As an educational assistant, I would say that the biggest thing is just taking the time to really build a relationship with your students. As you build that relationship, trust and just communicating and taking the time to see them smile every morning. Just showing a happy face and building a relationship is the most important part of the job.” 

Boiteau and her husband are currently preparing for their first big trip to see her mother-in-law in August for her 95th birthday in Manitoba.