Valérie Caza of Canora may be new to her position as a Good Spirit School Division speech language pathologist for the new school year, but it’s easy to see that she enjoys her work.
Caza works with students at Canora Junior Elementary School, Kamsack Comprehensive Institute, Norquay School and Springside School. She said many people she meets are unfamiliar with the role of a speech language pathologist.
“I remember a university professor who said that “our expertise is from the neck up,” and that’s a good way to describe it,” said Caza. “I work with all aspects of communication including written, spoken, understanding and reading. It can include swallowing disorders and the voice.”
Caza was born and raised in South Mountain, Ont., a small town in eastern Ontario and is bilingual in French.
“I grew up enjoying a variety of activities including softball, pottery and reading,” she said.
“When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher. But in high school I began tutoring four and six-year-old brothers who were having trouble in school, and worked with them for four years. At that point I started to become interested in being a speech language pathologist.”
Caza took her post-secondary education at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont., achieving both bachelor and masters of health sciences degrees in speech and language pathology.
Before moving to Canora, she spent a year in a volunteer internship at Mother Theresa Middle School in Regina.
“I taught math and helped with literacy groups,” explained Caza. “I did some explicit teaching for grammar and spelling, working with students who had some trouble in areas such as grammatical rules that most students might learn on their own.”
Caza said she is fascinated by the opportunity to help students with their literacy skills.
“I really enjoy seeing the impact it can have on someone’s life if I can help them develop and improve their literacy skills,” she said.
Caza said she appreciates the welcoming and friendly greetings she has received at the Canora, Kamsack, Norquay and Springside schools.
She is looking forward to meeting the parents of students she works with. Parents can have a significant impact if they get involved in helping their children with literacy development.
“It’s important for parents to read books with their children and talk to them about various aspects including rhyming and different sounds they hear in words,” said Caza.
After experiencing a Regina winter with long stretches of near minus 40 C wind chills, she is reasonably confident she can make it through a Canora winter, but admits she is “hoping for better this winter.”
She said she appreciates the “small-town feel” in Canora, where everyone seems genuinely friendly and most have noticed that she’s a newcomer. In her spare time she enjoys badminton, reading and going on walks.
