Mel Menz will be moving away from La Ronge this summer. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

going away

Industrial arts teacher ready to build a new life in retirement

Jun 20, 2022 | 2:30 PM

La Ronge teacher Mel Menz is ready to relax and take in more of the joys in life.

He will officially be retiring from Churchill Community High School at the end of this month. He has been the industrial arts teacher there for more than 20 years.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time. It’s time to move on,” Menz said. “Financially, I think we’re pretty much ready for that. I’m slowing down. This job requires being on your feet perhaps more than some other teaching positions. It is time to take a look at something else and enjoy some of the work that I’ve done.”

Menz was born in Muenster, Sask., about nine kilometres east of Humboldt. He was raised on a farm in the area and graduated from high school in 1972. Menz took one year of university classes and spent some time in British Columbia, before returning to the family farm to work for next three years.

During that time, Menz learned how to weld and then, in 1973, he left the farm for Saskatoon where he worked in construction and carpentry. He earned a journeyman ticket in carpentry in 1982.

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“The economy was very uncertain and there wasn’t that much for work, so I was able to, with the support of my father’s estate, go back to university and take education,” Menz said, noting he earned a Bachelor of Education degree in 1987. “I thought it was a good choice and I wanted to help and work with people. The fact I could combine my carpentry and welding skills into helping people, education seemed to be a good fit.”

His first teaching job was at Saskatoon Community Regional College (Saskatchewan Polytechnic) and he remained there until he accepted a job with Northlands College in Pinehouse Lake in 1991. In 1993, he relocated to La Ronge for a job at Senator Myles Venne School and, in 1999, he accepted his current position at Churchill.

“The beauty of being an industrial arts teacher is you get to work with your hands and you get to do stuff you really like,” Menz said. “I’m teaching something that’s enjoyable and I think is quite valuable as well. There’s a number of kids who have gone on into the trades. Just giving them the exposure to an alternative choice of employment, I think, is some of the rewarding parts of that.”

Throughout the years, Menz mostly focused on carpentry and welding. When students arrive in his class in Grade 7, they build a toolbox and a simple shelf. In Grade 8, students create a treasure chest and the following grade they make a folding table. Once in high school, Menz teaches students how to make cabinets and garden sheds.

When Churchill went through a major renovation in the 2010s, Menz was involved in the design and layout.

“The old shop was adequate, but we didn’t have the welding space,” he said. “This one has 22 stations, so there’s quite a bit of room for students.”

Menz explained the school division already has a teacher chosen to replace him, adding that individual might also begin teaching mechanics in the next school year.

In the coming months, Menz has plans to leave La Ronge. He wants to retire with his wife, Joni, on a piece of land near Macdowall. He’d like to spend more time with his son, daughter and two grandchildren.

“We’re going to move and that will happen this summer,” he said. “We’re selling our place and we have an acreage by Macdowall. We have about 18 acres out there. We will build a house out there as well. Right now, we have a mobile home out there already.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno