Helen Clease has spent thousands of hours in the classroom, neither as a student nor a teacher.
Her career in television allowed her to produce scores of educational programs for Access Alberta.
After 10 years developing, writing, researching, directing and producing school-based TV, Clease had “been in practically every classroom across the country.”
“Even though I wasn’t a teacher, I spent more time in classrooms in those years than most teachers,” said Clease, who studied Communication and Performing Arts at Mount Royal College in the 1970s.
For the latter half of her career, Clease chose to freelance and worked for CFCN, CBC, the Canadian Dental Association and co-produced the Easter Seals’ fundraising telethon. It was with the Seals she had an encounter like no other.
While in charge of promos and vignettes of performers ahead of the telethon, Clease was tasked with looking after The Man in Black, Johnny Cash.
The “air pressure in the room dropped” when Cash walked in, said Clease. Cash showed up and did an interview and spent time with a child from the Children’s Hospital.
“You knew there was something different or spiritual about the guy,” she said. “There was a presence about the man that you wouldn’t think he had. He didn’t announce he walked in, but you knew.”
The same presence and energy Cash brought to music was the same passion Clease brought to her life away from the camera, which was volunteering with her two children.
Initially a skeptic of public education, Clease warmed to the idea once her son began grade school.
“When you’re not involved, it’s so easy to stand on the outside and criticize and I think that’s the way with anything,” said Clease, a Vulcan, Alberta native. “When you get involved and you understand some of the challenges, it gives you a whole different perspective.”
She quickly became vice-chair of the Bragg Creek Community Kindergarten and has sustained her community involvement for nearly two decades.
“I learned to appreciate what was going on in the schools and I saw what it meant to my kids,” said Clease. “I became such an advocate for public education at that time.”
Clease underscored the importance of knowing your roots and knowing yourself. When she visits Vulcan, Clease sees many familiar faces and feels home despite having lived away from the area for more than 30 years.
“We talk about global learning, but I want my kids to know where their roots are,” she said. “No matter where you go in this world, at least you know who you are and where you come from.”
She jokingly referred to herself as the “accidental trustee” and said she wasn’t aiming to be a trustee. Clease admitted that she had done all there was to do at a school level. It was time for the next step. In 2007, Clease became the Ward 4 trustee for Bragg Creek and Springbank.
Today her efforts are geared toward giving the most opportunity to Rocky View Schools’ students any time she can.
“I think the digital learning is really important, it’s the way of the future,” said Clease. “But we can’t forget the people and we can’t forget the basics. Technology is a valuable tool, but we can’t forget it’s just a tool.”
Clease makes sure she utilizes as much face time as she can within her division as well.
Daily meetings, school concerts and plays, seeing special guests in schools and learning staff ands students on a first-name basis are the things Clease holds dear.
“It’s not about me and I’ve always felt that. I’m a representative of my community,” she said. “I believe in community, that’s why I do this job. Because someone did when my kids were little. This is my way of giving back.”
