Talk About Energy!
by Lee Hunt
Wow! Talk about an energetic person! I recently interviewed Rachel Shutt, whose family moved to Brentwood when Rachel was only one year old – and they are still here.
As a younger person, Rachel played soccer and tennis organized by the Brentwood Community Association. She learned to swim at Sir Winston Churchill Rec Centre and took tap and ballet lessons at the McDonald Wilson Dance academy in Brentwood’s “Old Hall”.
Rachel attended Play Group at Hope Lutheran Church and takes joy in the fact that a number of the students from that Play Group went on to attend U of C together. Even more astounding is that some of the group still teaches together at Senator Patrick Burns (SPB), located right next door to Brentwood.
And that brings me to Rachel’s teaching career. Initially, she was a substitute for a music teacher on maternity leave at Webber Academy. There Rachel taught and thoroughly enjoyed her students, aged 3 to 9. When that posting ended in spring 2023, Rachel moved to SPB to substitute in Spanish and Physical Education. In September of that year, Rachel became a full-time teacher for some 200 students in Grades 6 to 8. The day that I interviewed Rachel, she had been teaching rock climbing; SPB has a climbing wall on the stage in the gym. All instructions and conversations are in Spanish.
But Rachel’s talents aren’t only in teaching – she is also a musician. Rachel began playing piano when she was only six years old, then took up the accordion at age nine, “when I was just big enough to hold it” she said. Now Rachel has two full sized accordions for her own use, plus several smaller ones for the children to whom she teaches accordion. During our interview, Rachel took time out to play for me on the accordion a German song entitled “Snowball”. That was certainly the first time in 16 years of doing interviews for The Bugle that I have been treated to a concert!
Rachel’s story doesn’t end there. She is also a keen traveller. Many of her travels have taken her to Europe – Belgium, Norway, England, plus destination Spain to help her maintain her Spanish language skills. She frequently visits the Italian town of Castelfidardo where many accordions are made and where she has taken a number of accordion classes.
In addition to teaching and travelling, Rachel finds time to volunteer at the Alberta Children’s Hospital once a week, providing a music therapy program for the young patients.
Rachel also cares about her Brentwood community. From her very first paycheque, she donated to the creation of our tennis court mural on Northmount Drive. She is also grateful to have had long-time Brentwood volunteer and Whispering Woods organizer Polly Lee Knowlton Cockett as her U of C Practicum professor.
As I said at the beginning, Rachel has incredible energy. She has a zest for all that she does –teaching, creating music, travelling, and volunteering. Rachel does it all! I thank her for agreeing to be interviewed – and especially for the mini accordion “concert”.
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