Welcome to the Shitshow – My Co-op Nightmare with the Catholic Board
Let’s rewind to a time when I was working full-time hours as an EA and juggling a full-time online course load — all while raising kids. Nights were for assignments after bedtime stories. I was doing it all, pushing toward that diploma that I needed just to be considered for full-time status, even though I was already doing the damn job.
And then I hit the wall.
Mohawk College had a rule: you had to do one co-op with each school board — Catholic and Public. I had already done my Catholic co-op, and now it was time for the Public side. Simple, right?
Wrong.
The Catholic board — ever the supportive employer (sarcasm fully intended) — told me I’d have to resign just to go do my Public board co-op. Then, I’d need to reapply if I wanted back in. Imagine that. I was a dedicated employee, pulling full-time hours, and this is how they treated me. I fought it. I was pissed. But they didn’t care. Typical.
I tried going through Mohawk to find a workaround — maybe do another co-op with the Catholic board instead? No go. They said I was already working there and couldn’t count it. What they did say was, “This board is holding you back. Get your union involved.”
Yeah… about that. The EA union is a joke. They talk tough, but in reality, they’re just HR’s little helper. So, I passed on that route.
Eventually, Mohawk and I agreed that I could do a summer school co-op with the Catholic board at one of the city’s high schools. A solution — finally — but one that my employer had zero part in creating. This should’ve been the end of the stress, right?
Nope. It was just the beginning of the bullshit.
The Summer of Hell
On day one, the summer school teacher — someone I barely knew — asked for my personal cell number. I politely declined. I don’t hand out my number to strangers. She pushed. I caved. “Only for emergencies,” I said. Big mistake.
A couple of days later, the program was actually going well. The students were great — the kind of kids that remind you why you got into this work in the first place. Then one night around 7 p.m., I get a call on my personal cell.
Guess who? The same teacher.
I pick up, confused, and after some awkward small talk I ask, “Why are you calling me?” And she hits me with this:
“I wanted to talk to you about who you’re associating with.”
What the actual fuck?
She goes on to warn me that hanging around certain EAs could affect my grades. GRADES. The woman literally threatened my academic standing based on who I talked to. At 7 p.m. On my personal phone.
I saw red.
I told her where to go, used a few well-earned F-bombs, and hung up.
Then I did what any responsible adult would do: I contacted the SERT and principal to report the incident. No answer. Left messages. Waited until morning.
When I arrived at school, no one said a word. So I brought it up. Cue the drama. I got pulled into a room with two principals, the useless SERT, and someone recording the whole damn thing. I asked for a union rep.
They said I wasn’t considered “employed” during co-op. I was just a student. Translation: no rights.
They tore into me. Their priority? That I swore at the teacher. Not the fact that she harassed me outside work hours and threatened my academic standing.
I didn’t back down — and that pissed them off more.
I told them to move me to the other summer co-op. They agreed. What they didn’t mention? That the SERT at the new school was the same toxic person who likely encouraged the call in the first place.
So I endured a summer of disrespect and mistreatment all because I had the nerve to defend myself. And I’m not guessing — this woman made it clear for years afterward that she had it out for me. When I was sent to her school later in my career as an itinerant EA, I wasn’t even given a lunch or breaks. Twice.
Eventually, I told them I would never work under her again.
The Bigger Picture
This was early in my EA career — and it was my rude awakening.
I saw the truth: EAs are treated like garbage. SERTs and principals — especially in the Catholic board — see us as disposable. They protect each other and look down on us. That summer was my wake-up call. And the SERT I dealt with? Hated across the board. No joke — she was so bad, she ended up being assigned to schools without any EAs at all. A SERT that no one trusted.
And yeah — I do hate her. Because she represents everything wrong with this job. The culture of control. The lack of support. The constant disrespect. The lies. And most of all, the silence.
No one talks about this. Mohawk sure as hell didn’t prepare us for it. If I had known what I was walking into, I wouldn’t have chosen this career.
But I’m here now — and I’m speaking up.
I give what I get. And if that makes me “disrespectful,” so be it. I won’t stay quiet while EAs are bullied, dismissed, and shut out.
So here’s to the ones still trying to do this job with integrity. You’re not alone. And this blog is for you.