Engelson, Monte (1939-2021)

 

Monte Engelson graduated with a Bachelors of Physical Education in 1962, and soon become a physical education teacher at Mount Elizabeth Secondary School. This was just to be the start of his long journey in education. Having discovered his passion for teaching, Monte returned to UBC to obtain a degree in the Faculty of Education. He then spent the next 25 years working as an elementary school PE teacher. In his last 10 years before retirement, Monte switched from PE to IT and became the Technology Coordinator for the school district. Though he declares that he is more of a “PE/math type of guy who can’t write”, his family encouraged him to write his memoirs once he retired. And so Monte continues his busy retirement lifestyle as a published author of two books that relay his Swedish family history in Canada, ‘New Kid in Town’ and ‘Letters to Mother’—both of which are available on Amazon and Kindle.

Reminiscing about his times at UBC, Monte says his favourite memories are of the UBC Gymnastics team. “During those times every UBC student had to have a year of physical education training. What I liked best was gymnastics. I was in for a shock the first time I arrived in class, because I didn’t even know you had to wear shorts – and the instructor was the top UBC gymnast at that time, Dieter Weichert. Nevertheless, two classes later he told me I should try out for the gymnastics team. I did and shortly thereafter, I was with the team heading to Pullman, Washington for my first gymnastics competition. I was on the gymnastics team all 5 years that I was at UBC and on the way I earned three big block sweaters!”

With an abundance of wisdom and knowledge up his sleeve, we asked Monte if he had any advice for those wanting to pursue a career in teaching, and with this he said “work hard, enjoy yourself! Don’t be afraid to try new things. My second major was in mathematics and when I started using computers, I developed a program to teach arithmetic. Soon I got a marking program for the school district and then became the district’s tech coordinator.”