Artist: BeatsFreestyle

My passion for education began the moment I started attending school. I was THAT kid who LOVED school. In grade two I would complete two “Mad Minutes” in one minute, and I would help the teacher grade them. I set up my own library at home, putting barcodes on all my books and asking family members if they wanted to take one out; writing down the barcode and signing them out a book to read. I read veraciously myself, proudly reading all the Nancy Drew novels in the Vernon Library.

My mom was a teacher – I would help her set up her classrooms each summer and learned that it was a job that extended beyond the hours of school. But the passion extended beyond the hours, too. My mom loved it. In fact, she lived it.

I attended the University of Victoria for my Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Psychology. I loved sitting in the library and researching topics and I also loved to socialize and enjoy Victoria. After completing my first degree, I dove into my Bachelor of Education.

I didn’t teach for long before I decided to take a break and try the entrepreneur life – building a successful business in the Okanagan. My passion for digital marketing grew during this time, as I developed the website and social media content creation, for myself as an athlete, and the business. Photography and video editing became second nature and I LOVED the ever-changing trends and technologies.

Covid impacted our business, and I was ready to go back to teaching. But what shocked me was… it felt like nothing had changed. Teachers were still teaching the same old books they had taught me in high school, pen to paper was still the norm. I felt like I needed to prepare the students more for the rapidly changing environments they would be immersed in when they entered the workforce.

I started researching and became obsessed with Digital Portfolio’s, implementing them in my classrooms to facilitate student’s to have something tangible they could walk away with after high school. I love the concept that they can take their most authentic work and display it, reflect on it, and share it.

Here I am, thirteen years after I graduated with my teaching certificate, ready to dive in again. I’m a mother now, of a beautiful three year old son, and I am ready to learn, expand my mind, and become a better teacher.