“COMING FORTH INTO THE LIGHT
I was born the day
I thought:
What is?
What was?
And
What if?
I was transformed the day
My ego shattered,
And all the superficial, material
Things that mattered
To me before,
Suddenly ceased
To matter.
I really came into being
The day I no longer cared about
What the world thought of me,
Only on my thoughts for
Changing the world.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
I was born and raised in Saskatchewan with Ukrainian Settler roots. I have a wonderful husband, a busy five year old, and a crazy 9 year old mutt! I am a lifelong learner and education is my passion. My hobbies include snowmobiling/quadding, fishing/hunting, gardening and painting. I love to be active in my school and community, serving on the Recreation Board, Daycare Board and Golf Club Committee, as well as coaching Senior Basketball, Archery, and coordinating our school yearbook.
My background is in Early Childhood Education. I’ve worked with children for as long as I can remember — babysitting my siblings as a child, babysitting in the community as a young adult, working at a daycare throughout University, and then jumping right back into teaching upon convocation. I began my teaching career subbing and picking up temporary contracts, but my first teaching assignment was to establish the PreKindergarten/Kindergarten program in my school.
Robert Fulghum famously said, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” — and it’s true! I’ve always been pretty straight-laced and a high achiever, but you can’t stay inside your rigid comfort zone when you are painting with your feet! PreK/K taught me to look at the world through a child’s eyes, and to hold the principles of play, care for others, honestly and unbridled enthusiasm close. I stayed in PreK/K for 5 years, and after becoming a mom, I decided to make a change, spread my wings and fly through the fiery gates of Middle Years! Shockingly, some rules of PreK still apply: “Keep your hands to yourself,” and, “Don’t put that in your mouth!” If you want to talk about honesty and unbridled enthusiasm, try arguing with 14 year old about why they need to choose a better spot, while you are wearing THOSE shoes and your eyebrows look like THAT! I absolutely loved it.
It was during this time that I had the opportunity to dip my toes in the water of the Instructional Team Coach role. This was a .3 FTE that allowed me to collaborate with the brilliant staff in our building about learning improvement. I found a new passion for challenging the status quo, disrupting the way we think about learning and knowledge, and trying new things. I became more aware about instructional design and the ways I could collaborate with my peers to improve equitable student outcomes. The following year, the Principalship opened up in Kelliher, and in the last minute, I decided to throw my name in the hat. Here I am, in year four! I still have imposter syndrome, and half the time I have no idea what I am doing — but I can confidently say that I know where all the forms are now! I am blessed to work with the best staff, students and families out there. Areas of passion that inform my practice, or that I am currently exploring include: Learning Supports, Holistic Approaches to Learning, Land-Based/Outdoor Learning, Designing Learning Environments and Strengthening School-Community connections. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge about digital citizenship and media literacies!