Perry Kalynuk was not a good principal. He left scares on my soul which I’m still trying to work out.
Here’s what I would say to Perry if I could still speak to him:
1) The time to tell a newly hired teacher that her reference page has mistakes is during the interview process. Not 10 months later. That you had doubts of hiring me in the first place, only proves that you were an incompetent principal. Competent principals don’t hire people they have doubts about. The only purpose of you pointing out my faults on my reference page was to make me feel bad.
2) Once you fire a teacher, you don’t hand out her private email (without permission) to the new teacher taking over her job. Especially, since you told me that it was “none of my business” who the new teacher would be. What were thinking in telling Elissa that she could write to me for help? You think I was going to help Elissa out of the kindness of my heart?
3)Comparing me to Melissa did not help me. Saying, “The biggest difference between you and Melissa is that she knows how to sell herself and you don’t”. This statement did not help my growth as a teacher. Instead, it made me feel inferior to her. What helped me as a teacher was not comparisons, but focusing on my good qualities and using those good qualities to become a good teacher.
If I could say anything to Perry Kalynuk, I would want him to know that I proved him wrong and went on to teach in my own country. My principals and vice principals have been compassionate and supportive to me. Perry was none of those things.
Although many people say Perry was a wonderful man, I did not find this of him. I never mourned his death.
