Justine Kuntscher said she always wanted to be a teacher when she was growing up. She was also a fan of the fictional Ms. Frizzle and The Magic School Bus.
Small wonder, then, that she has become a magical teacher at Bertha Kennedy Catholic in St. Albert.
“I am a sorcerer,” she joked — she has the magic wand to prove it.
Kuntscher, 23, is a first-year Grade 4 teacher at Bertha Kennedy who was last year’s Greater St. Albert Catholic nominee for the Edwin Parr Teacher Award. The award recognizes the top six new teachers in any year; each district puts forward one teacher for consideration.
Kuntscher joined Bertha Kennedy in December during the height of the second wave of COVID-19 in Alberta, said principal Nicole Baker.
“She jumped in with both feet and ran an incredible program,” Baker said, creating fun lessons and strong bonds with her students despite pandemic restrictions.
“[Her students] trust her immensely.”
Miss Magic?
Kuntscher said she had many incredible teachers growing up who inspired her to get into education herself. Chief among those mentors was J.J. Nearing principal (and presumably secret sorcerer) Scott Johnston, who would always come into her class to do magic tricks and dubbed her “the Great Justini.”
Kuntscher said she started teaching in Fall 2020 at Sister Alphonse Academy, the principal of which happened to be her Grade 8 art teacher. She moved to Bertha Kennedy at a time when all Alberta K-to-12 students were learning from home due to the pandemic.
Those were challenging times, she recalled: students weren’t allowed to share markers or mingle with friends in other classrooms, and for the first week of January she couldn’t even meet them in person.
Kuntscher said her top priority was to create strong relationships with her young charges. That meant sharing jokes and plans about their day at the start of every online session and being available to talk to students any time they wanted.
“These kids, they just needed a lot of love,” she said, adding that it was a huge relief when they were able to meet in person.
Baker said Kuntscher’s efforts to get to know her students put her a cut above other first-year teachers. In addition to her outgoing personality, Kuntscher also made effective use of technology and games to keep her students motivated.
Kuntscher said she originally went by “Ms. K” in class, as her last name is tough to pronounce (it’s “coon-shur”), but students soon started calling her “Miss Magic” after she started doing magic tricks.
Kuntscher said she uses games and magic tricks to engage students in their lessons. Students might not like math, for example, but get excited when she demonstrates a mathematics principal through a card trick. Good behaviour earns students spins on a virtual prize wheel to earn candy and applause.
“Even the smallest little trick wows a kid,” she said, but what wows her is when her students start figuring out the math behind a trick before she explains it.
“Those moments of them understanding something are my favourite.”
Baker said Kuntscher has the skills to teach any grade and will have a very successful teaching career.
Kuntscher said teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world, as she gets to celebrate student success and growth alongside a supportive school community.
Her top tip for new teachers is to simply open up to their students.
“In the end, they just want to learn about you, and if you’re able to make those connections with them right off the bat, it’s magical.”
