At 79, a former Rivière-du-Loup teacher came out of retirement to help out at the school where he spent more than half his life.
“I went to class, I would have liked to have had a camera just to film the faces of the students. Ah! It was wonderful! It’s as if they were wondering what a grandpa is doing here,” said Claude Lizotte, supervisor and ex-teacher at the Collège Notre-Dame, with a laugh.
“I was still surprised because we’re not used to, say, seeing older teachers,” said Eliane Longval, a junior high school student.
The school needed volunteers for supervision: Mr. Lizotte immediately offered his help.
“I started by saying to them, ‘I’ll answer your question right away. I’m 79.’ “They laughed. There are several in there, I taught their parents. I even taught their grandparents,” he says.
“He taught me French when I was in upper secondary school. I’m retiring soon. It gives you an idea. It’s special because he came to class as if nothing had happened, ”recalls Guy April, Director General of the Collège Notre-Dame.
50 years earlier, Claude Lizotte made a contribution to the Fondation du Collège Notre-Dame. Until 1998 he taught full-time in the facility and then accompanied individual students individually.
Three years ago he was supposed to finally go into well-deserved retirement.
“I was there from the beginning, then it was basically my whole life. Then it’s my school, it’s my home, ”he confides.
“I think it’s really impressive that he’s coming back here to study despite his age,” says Coralie Dubé, a 4th-secondary student.
In the last three years, the number of workers aged 65 and over in Quebec has increased by 12%.
“If only old people knew how good that feels! (…) I think society treats us too much like old people,” believes Mr. Lizotte.