Chelsea Wilson
Chelsea Wilson teaches grade eight at Westglen Middle School and has a Master of Education in (General) Teaching, Learning, and Neuroscience. She grew up in Didsbury, but went to Missouri, Calgary, and Lethbridge for her post-secondary studies. Chelsea also coaches the Olds College Women’s Basketball Team and is currently serving as the interim head coach.
During her time in Lethbridge, Chelsea reflects she didn’t really miss Didsbury because it felt like her community had moved with her; many who she had been close to in Didsbury ended up going to Lethbridge for schooling. But as friends and family moved elsewhere, that dynamic shifted: “When everyone started kind of graduating and dispersing, that's when I was like, ‘Oh, I don't know if I actually want to stay here anymore.’ Even going back there now, it doesn't feel the same… I think it felt so special because of the people there and the time and the events that happened there versus the actual city.”
Having concluded her schooling, Chelsea made the decision to come back to Didsbury. She reflects that “it just made sense to come home. I moved to the farm that I grew up on… I didn't really plan for it; [it was] just the way the cards go. Things just happened that made it line up to come home.”
“I grew up with really close friends. My parents, friends, and then, like, all my family are really close. And so, I grew up with that, and I just want my kids to grow up with that. My perspective has changed - yeah, it's just nice, that small town feel, but it's different. It's changed a lot now, looking too. This isn't actually the same Didsbury that I grew up with.”
“It really has evolved in the sense of it's just nice for them to grow up here in the same community. It's funny, a lot of my friends have kids the same age, so I kind of can imagine what my parents felt like, because it was them and their friends and their kids, and now they’re grandparents and now we're all parents and our kids are growing up together.”
Before her time in Lethbridge, Chelsea briefly went to Missouri State University for schooling, but eventually moved closer to home: “I was playing hockey my whole life, and then I got kind of influenced to play field hockey, and I got really good at that. I played on provincial teams and stuff like that, and then I got a scholarship there, and so I took off to Missouri… I went to this huge university in Springfield, Missouri, which was insane. It was amazing. I had so many experiences. But I remember having my first game and having no fans, and being like, ‘Woah.’ I've grown up where I always know somebody in the stands… [M]y parents were amazing, they always were, one of them was always usually at one of my games. But community members, again, that, sure, I'm not related to or not friends with, but I know them. So, they're cheering you on, or teachers or family members—extended family. So, it was a really big culture shock of, ‘Whoa, I'm really far away,’ and ‘Whoa, I have no one here backing me up.’ So that was really tough. I got injured, and unfortunately just kind of got put to the side by a coach. It was pretty tough. It's a different mindset in Div I. You really are just a kind of a number, in a way. It was weird.”
“I was teaching in middle school, and I was seeing a lot of traditional methods. This sounds really intense, but [it] almost gave me a little bit of PTSD… I saw some students really struggling because of the way that their teacher was teaching. And it almost reminded me that that's why I struggle. I was not a good student… Then when things got harder, it became hard. I didn't learn traditionally. I wasn't good at just sitting in a desk. I learned very hands-on, and stuff like that… And it just definitely reminded me of myself, and I don't want the adolescents that I'm teaching to feel like I did. And it did make me think of Tina Heistad, and Amanda Bohnet, and Carolyn Massel, and some teachers at the high school who aren't there anymore that really tried to break that narrative.”
As a result of this experience, Chelsea endeavoured to learn more about the adolescent brain, and to work to give kids in school a better chance to enjoy learning. As part of her thesis for her masters, she created an infographic to help teachers and students better understand the adolescent brain; a poster that is now present in many Westglen classrooms.
Chelsea offered a piece of advice for her fellow Didsburians, reflecting on the nature of community. She remarked that “Didsbury is much larger than just the town of Didsbury. Mountain View County is really a community; there's a lot of involvement in Olds and Carstairs and stuff too. I feel like when I grew up sometimes it felt very segregated… But there is also a lot of crossover, too. And I think we should actually value that crossover a little bit more.”
