Joanne Norquay, elementary school teacher, agrees to anger management

A B.C. elementary school teacher with a history of being disciplined for physical contact with students has agreed to take an anger management course from the Justice Institute of B.C.

A discipline decision released by the Teacher Regulation Branch reveals that Joanne Marie Norquay has a discipline record that stretches back to 2004, when the Peace River South School District sent Norquay a letter informing her physical contact with students was prohibited.

The district cautioned or disciplined Norquay several times since 2010, and suggested anger management strategies back in 2012. Twice that year, the district found Norquay had struck students in the arm.

In the latest incident in January 2013 the branch says Norquay hit a student with a pencil because he wasn't listening.

Norquay is listed as a teacher on the website of Rolla Discovery School, a small rural school outside Dawson Creek that up until recently was known as Rolla Traditional School. Traditional schools in B.C. are part of the public school system, and place more emphasis on discipline and structure.

The school was re-named this September, and is now a discovery school, which the school describes as one that gives students opportunities to learn based on their own interests and hands-on experiences.

Norquay has acknowledged professional misconduct, and has agreed to take anger management courses through the Justice Institute, and will face possible suspension if she doesn't.