After 20 years as a member of the Thompson Teachers' Association and even longer working in education with the Mystery Lake School Division, Linda Markus is setting off for a new professional frontier in an otherwise familiar environment, having taken a one-year position as student services co-ordinator with the Kelsey School Division in her hometown of The Pas.
"I asked Kelsey School Division if they could offer it to me as a one-year term," said Markus. "Officially, I'm on leave from the Mystery Lake school district and I'm working for the Kelsey School Division. Both superintendents were willing to make that accommodation."
The arrangement makes it easier for Markus, who has lived in Thompson since 1980, to return to the place she grew up and where her family has a farm without worrying about how things may work out, but instead getting the opportunity to test-drive the situation.
"I don't have to close any doors," she said.
Markus has been offered the position before, she says, about 10 years ago, but at that time she declined. When the opportunity came around a second time, she decided she had better give it a whirl.
"I think the stars are indicating that I should probably give it a try," she said. "This time my instinct said I needed to say yes."
Markus, who was working as a resource teacher at R.D. Parker Collegiate last school year, was recognized last March by the Thompson Teachers' Association for her 20 years as a teacher in the School District of Mystery Lake and her daughter, Ashley Squires, who is also a teacher, recalled then how her mother first worked for SDML as the Burntwood Elementary School lunch program co-ordinator 10 years before becoming a teacher, which inspired her to pursue her Bachelor of Education degree through the Brandon University Northern Teacher Education Program (B.U.N.T.E.P.). Markus also has a master's degree from the University of Manitoba.
Although her move to The Pas represents a new professional phase in her life, it is also a homecoming for Markus, who grew up in The Pas and will be working in conjunction not only with the schools she attended, but also some of her former teachers.
"My parents are getting older and I want to spend more time with them," said Markus, noting that having a home available in The Pas made her decision to go work there easier, given that the vacancy rate there is about the same as it is in Thompson.
As the owner of a number of properties in Thompson, Markus says her existence for the upcoming year will be a nomadic one, with frequent visits to oversee her investments, visit her daughter, granddaughter and partner - who will all remain in Thompson - and keep up with her duties on local community organizations such as the Thompson Chamber of Commerce executive, which she sits on as past president. She became president of the chamber in 2011 when Keith McDonald's term ended. Prior to that, Markus served the organization as vice-president.
"I'm planning to be a bit of a gypsy," says Markus. "It's taken some juggling to work out the logistics on both ends. The drive is really nothing for me. I'm very familiar with that drive back and forth."
The Pas is actually a more convenient location for Markus to be in when it comes to another member of her family - her son - who works in the air force with the snowbirds based in Moose Jaw, Sask. She also says modern communications technology makes long-distance relationships easier to take.
"I don't fell that I'm away from anything," she says. "That does make it a lot easier."
In addition to serving the chamber of commerce and other organizations like Manitoba Mentors, Markus saw a bit of the local spotlight in April 2011, while she was a district resource consultant with the Mystery Lake school division and became one of RDPC's three vice-principals in the wake of the firing of Ryan Land as the high school's principal. She served in that role until the end of the 2011-12 school year, when the term position ended.
"Linda Markus was a vice-principal on a 'term basis' to provide additional administrative support until June 30," then Mystery Lake superintendent Bev Hammond told the Thompson Citizen in August 2011.
On top of her role with the Kelsey School Division, which will include staffing and professional development responsibilities, enrolment and programming for students, seeking grants and funding for students with special needs and other duties to be assigned, Markus says she hopes to expand her network in The Pas as well, both within education and in general.
"I'm hoping to get more involved in the community in The Pas," she says, and also wants to work with people at the University College of the North campus there to "see where we can move forward in public education."
