The sound of early morning chaos at Colchester Early Learning Centre is something Barb Boyce has looked forward to everyday for the last 45 years. Boyce was a 21-year-old early childhood education graduate, when she got the job at the centre. “I started in 1981. May 11, 1981,” says Boyce. “I love going with the school kids. I love being with the little ones. I love being with the mixture. I love it all.” She officially retired from the centre on Friday, after decades of love and leadership. “I have a lot of emotions. Sad. Happy. Excited,” she says. Boyce happily took on various roles over the years, even a stint as the school’s bus driver. “I enjoy it. It’s never the same. There’s never the same thing ever… sometimes they’re happy when they come, sometimes they’re sad. So, you just work through every emotion they have and go with it,” she says. Barb’s longevity at the centre meant she got the chance to teach the grandkids, of some of the kids she taught in previous years. “You just don’t hear that now. There’s such a turnover in a lot of places. Early childhood education has just come so far, and to have one educator work in a place and share her love and her professional growth over forty-five years I think is an amazing accomplishment,” says Tonia Hyslop, the centre’s director. “She’s a pillar of our center but represents the multi-generational world that we live in childhood education now…. the recognition that this is the end of an era... it is bittersweet." It’s no surprise the silly, energetic faces of the children are what she’ll miss the most. But Boyce has promised to stop by and say hello from time-to-time, because even as a retiree, nothing can separate her from the job she’s dedicated her life to. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
