Robert “Bob” Sutherland
Bob Sutherland started teaching at the Robert Service School in Dawson in 1979. Over more than thirty years he organized many events for his students.1)
In his first year, Sutherland had the idea to get high school kids playing competitive volleyball before they went to the championships in Whitehorse. He contacted Peter Cassidy, who was teaching in Mayo, and they organized a tournament that soon spread to include other rural schools. The event became an annual Dawson fall activity, and 2019 was the fortieth anniversary of the Dawson Invitational Volleyball Tournament. A mass assembly was held at the school and Sutherland and Cassidy were presented with memorial gifts. A memorial plaque expressing gratitude to the two men was installed in the Dawson school gym.2)
Over the years, Sutherland took many students to the Engineer Creek campground on the Dempster Highway for camping/hiking trips. Sutherland retired from teaching in 2009.3) For many Dawson students it was the first they had an opportunity to see the Dempster Highway country, so different from the Dawson landscape.
Two teachers from the Robert Service School were awarded Excellence in Education Awards in 1990. Betty Davidson and Bob Sutherland were among five teachers who received the award in the first year it was presented.4)