News

HRH Teacher Retires After 30 Years

By Mr. Taylor
22 Jun

In seven years since Holy Redeemer officially opened its doors in Edson, it have seen teachers come and go, but it has never had one of its teachers officially retire…until now. Physical Education Teacher Mike McAndrews is calling it quits at the end of June after 30 years in the teaching profession.
“It just feels like the right time to do this,” says McAndrews. “I’ve had a lot of fun, and put a lot of work into our athletics program, but I think it’s time for me to step aside and let someone else take over the reigns.”
McAndrews, known for building a great sports program and helping the overall athletics program in Edson, graduated from the University of Lethbridge in 1979. He began his teaching career that same year at Rosary School in Manning, Alberta. After spending four years there teaching phys-ed, McAndrews applied for a teaching position in Edson. “My wife Bridget and I were engaged at the time, and we decided it was a good idea to apply for jobs together,” he says. “We even put our résumés in the same envelope.” He went onto to say that they were both offered jobs at Vanier Community Catholic School, but there was a special policy preventing the Board from hiring married couples. “Good thing we were only engaged at the time,” he says with a smile. “We were both hired in late June and got married on July 2. Technically, they didn’t hire a married couple.”
From there Mike and Bridget moved to the Edson area and began raising a family. They have two children, Patrick and Gavin, who are now grown up and are living on their own. “Moving here was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” says McAndrews. “Edson is a great community that has allowed me the freedom to develop the athletics program at the school with some very talented students.”
From 1983 to 2003, McAndrews spent hours building a solid sports and athletics program at Vanier, which was a K-12 school at the time. “We were very privileged to have so much support from our administration and the community,” he says. “And that assisted in developing the skill level of the students so much.”
McAndrews did take one year off of teaching and decided to work in a saw mill in Grande Prairie. “I wanted to try something different,” he says. “But after a year in that business, I realized I missed teaching a lot. I missed the sports program, but most of all I missed the interaction with the students.”
In 2003, Living Waters School Division created Holy Redeemer High, which would become the Catholic school for grades 7-12 in Edson. McAndrews moved on to Holy Redeemer and continued to build an amazing athletics program. “It was great to have access to a bigger facility with more up-to-date equipment,” he says. “The students have really benefitted from the resources we now have available.”
Since moving to Holy Redeemer, the sports programs have become more and more competitive. “Some of my fondest memories are from coaching the sports teams,” he says. “Our senior high basketball program never won a zone title, but we’ve been close a few times.” He even remarked on one occasion where the senior girls team lost the gold medal game by a mere two points. “It was a hard pill to swallow,” he says, “but so long as they put in their best effort, I’m always proud of our students.” He went onto say that the junior high teams have become very successful in recent years winning some GYAC championships. McAndrews hopes the new phys-ed teacher continues the sports tradition in the years to come.
And as time winds down on McAndrews teaching days, he has begun looking back at some of the things he’ll miss the most. “Certainly the interaction with the students,” he says. “We were very privileged to have so many natural athletes come through our school, combined with others who love sports. It was such a pleasure to teach and coach all of them.”
Perhaps one of the biggest memories McAndrews has is one that occurred before he even got in the teaching program. While at the University of Lethbridge he was a member of the school Track and Field Team that competed in Canada West. While on this team he learned so much about sportsmanship, camaraderie, and a team atmosphere. “Since then I’ve tried to bring those things I’ve learned into the sports program here.” The team even travelled to Eastern Europe, specifically Hungary, for six weeks. “This was in the 70s, and we were behind the iron curtain, which was a very different place.”
Over the last 30 years, McAndrews has spent much of his time in the classroom, coaching sports teams, organizing tournaments, leading school camping trips, and organizing numerous events and activities. “He certainly has put a lot of time in, that’s for sure,” says Principal Desmond Kilgannon. “And he’s gone above and beyond what people expect from teachers each and every time.” Outside of school McAndrews involved himself in numerous recreational sports teams including mini-basketball and a provincial high school basketball team that travelled to the US for four weeks competing in tournaments.
When asked what he’ll do now that he’s retired, McAndrews laughs and says, “Well, believe it or not, I’m still going to be around the school. I’ll sub here and there, and of course, I’ll still coach as I would never want to give that up. But I won’t be leading the charge anymore, I think it’s time they bring in someone who’s younger and who has a little more energy.” He also explains he and Bridget will continue to live in Edson. “Edson is our home and we love it here. We do plan on doing some travelling, and spending a lot of time relaxing.”
When asked about the replacement for McAndrews, Kilgannon explains that they have hired two teachers to take on the phys-ed responsibility. “That’s right,” he says. “We need two people to take on the work that Mr. McAndrews has started, and I think that says a lot about the time he put into the athletics program.”
In the end, McAndrews has no regrets about his time spent in the classroom. “I enjoyed every minute of it and I wouldn’t trade it in for the world. I’m going to miss everyone at HRH, that’s for sure.”
And there’s no doubt that HRH is going to miss him too.
If you would like more information on this article please feel free to contact the school at 780-723-7437.