Tell us about yourself and your childhood
I was blessed to have had a beautiful childhood filled with such wonderful memories! I come from a loving and large family, mixed with, Scottish, Canadian, Caymanian and Trinidadian Heritage. My parents are both loving people who have always been kind, thoughtful and generous to others. They taught me to be true to myself, helpful always and to have a deep respect for those around me, no matter what their circumstances. My Dad was always kind hearted, easy going, full of stories and fun. My Mum was ever loving, nurturing, hard working and strong in her Christian Faith. These attributes have made me who I am today and have guided me through any hard times I had along the way. I thank them both for the wonderful examples they set as parents.
I grew up in a magnificent West Coast Canada setting, first in a rural and mountainous town when I was very young and then eventually on Vancouver Island in Victoria B.C. This climate inspired the adventurous and free loving spirit within me!
I spent most of my time as a child exploring outside, riding my bike along the coastal shores with friends, frolicking the wild beaches and old growth forests, making pine needle tea and other magical concoctions, free from computer screens and T.V.’s. It was a different time entirely.
As a young adult in my twenties, my fondest memories were backpacking around Europe with my friends and traveling across Canada on my own by train for a few months. Those trips were filled with self-discovery and the passions of life well lived.
What inspired you to become a teacher, and what keeps you motivated?
When I was in my teens I volunteered at a daycare for the summer and I then fell in love with teaching!
I remember feeling surprised by how much I loved being there. I felt as though I could understand the children and relate to them in a way that I couldn’t relate to adults. l used to say that all of my emotional needs would be filled before 9 am every morning by these amazing humans!
It was such a gift to be able to be present with them, through play and to spend time with them in discussion and discovery. When I am with children the rest of the world melts away and everything is new and magical, as if you are seeing it for the first time along side them.Body
The children themselves keep me motivated. As a teacher my worst fear is that a child is not comfortable or able to be who they are. I never want a child in my class to feel unloved, or unheard. Therefore as I teach I aim to hear every child from the space they are in. When they become excited about a topic or subject matter it inspires me to take their learning further and fuel their enthusiasm and wonder.
There is nothing better than teaching a class full of children who are happy, full of life and excited to learn. That is the reward. In my past 22 years of life most of my best friends have been 4 years old. I always say that at the age of 4 you are the purest form of yourself. Filled with the wonder and innocence of life and free in spirit to be exactly who you were designed by God to be, unaffected by the demands of society and impressions of others. To be with them is an absolute privilege.
How do you inspire creativity and curiosity in your students?
I love to meet the children where their interests are and then take their learning to the next level. I feel that the minute you involve children in on meaningful and personal hands on experiences and discovery, then they themselves lead their own learning and their curiosity grows. My favourite way of doing this is to start by asking open ended questions like; I wonder who lives in this tree? What would happen if we mix all of these colors together? How do you think you would feel to fly in a rocket ship? The world is full of endless curiosities and discoveries. Once the questions are in the mind of a child, then discovering the answers is all of the fun, and in my mind, the bigger the adventure the better! I love nothing more than to set up a classroom area filled with exploration activities, dress up and role play- one that thrills a child to their core! Or better yet to involve them in the creation of something magnificent, like a giant dinosaur mural. Showing them that they can create and discover anything at all that they desire leads them to a life of endless educational possibilities!
What are some of your favourite things to teach young children and why?
My favourite subjects to teach children are ones that involve a sense of magical wonder; where children feel an emotional connection and are inspired to creatively use their imaginations. There are soooo many I could elaborate on, but the top 2 would have to be: Vincent Van Gogh and Outer Space!
When I teach about Vincent Van Gogh, the children learn about a man who was rejected by society and misunderstood by many. As the children create their own painting masterpieces and study his works, we act out his life’s story through dramatic role play. When the topic is finished, we have all not only explored several forms of artistic expression, and why art is an important part of life, but we have also discovered what it means to be human and why love and kindness above all else are the most important things in the world.
In our Outer Space theme my aim is to marvel alongside the children at the great universe around us and explore our Solar System through books, art and very exciting imaginative role play! Each day we travel to a different planet on the Imagination Station Rocket Ship. It is amazing how simple climbing frames, mats, bed sheets, lights and sound effects can transform a dark classroom into the enormous craters on Mercury or the great Red Spot on Jupiter!
During this theme the children role play in the cockpit of a homemade rocket ship, and we undergo real astronaut training in our own assimilation gym! Our final week ends with a trip to the moon a very realistic but homemade rocket ship! When each child feels the anticipation of leaving the earth to go into Space and shows up in an Astronaut suit for their trip to the moon, then I know I have succeeded in transporting them away to another land. That is the pure Magic of teaching! That memory stays with the children for a lifetime.
Tell us about something challenging that you have been through, or are going through, and how you have dealt with it.
Although I have had many challenges in life along the way, I would say my biggest one yet is my current state of health. This diagnosis has uprooted my day to day life and taken me to places I never thought I would go both spiritually and emotionally.
I was diagnosed last year with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. It was an unexpected diagnosis, as I felt mostly healthy before I found out. It has been the most uprooting life experience I have ever had as I have had to contemplate my own death and come to terms with the life I have lived so far. To be forced into such deep introspection has been a great gift to me. I have always been busy and a doer, always on the go. But to just sit still in my spirit has changed who I am today. I have always believed that this life is just a short stop on the train, and that there is so much more we all cannot begin to understand.
I am a Christian and feel very close to God. Once I accepted that I could die from this disease I realized that I did not actually fear dying for I have had the most incredible life and could not ask for an ounce more. But yet I felt in my soul that I am not yet done here on planet earth. So I decided to have a deep and heartfelt conversation with God to let him know that I have more to do on this planet first and that I am not going anywhere for a very long long time. Once I made that up in my mind I have never looked back. I am determined to regain my health and I always succeed at anything I put my mind to!
I look forward to one day being a great grandmother, I am meant for it, and as well I have always desired to actually start another career as a Naturopathic Doctor. So now this is my time to learn everything I can about how the body works to survive disease and move back into perfect health.
Therefore I have decided that this next chapter of my life is the training I need for the next half of it. I am on a mission, not only to cure myself of cancer, but to later help so many people with this same disease. I have undergone several different forms of treatment, of which I would not have been able to do with out the support of all of the loving family and friends I have found in our Cayman Community and beyond.
The most emotional I have felt through this experience is oddly not from my diagnosis itself, but from the outpouring of love that has been layered upon me. That has been profoundly moving to my core. No words can express my gratitude for the love I have received from everyone. God is at work!
What advice can you offer parents on achieving a work/life balance?
Oh this is a hard question. I am likely not the right person to ask as this is one of my biggest life challenges.
I would say I will speak from my own mistakes on this subject. I have lived the last 20 years of my life, running from one job to the next, eating on the go and praising myself for my incredible multi-tasking skills. I realized a lot of my self-worth came from feeling I could do it all and do it well!
I know that this is one of the major reasons that I am actually battling an illness at this point in my life.
What I would say I would do differently is, I would prioritize myself and my family first above work. I have always done this the other way around. I felt I could never relax if my work wasn’t done up to my exactly perfect expectations, or if my kitchen sink had too many dishes. My husband and children are so supportive and independent through the years and for this I have been grateful. However looking back, I wish I had listened to my children more, not just heard them, when they rambled on in the car, and I wish I had spent more time nurturing my relationship with my spouse, not to mention taking the time to pamper myself with the occasional spa date or even just a nap!
You can’t get back the years that have passed, but what I would say is that I am excited to start now with making sure life has that balance. I used to say I don’t have enough hours in the day. I learnt that actually you do, you just have to repriortize what you use those hours for. Also sometimes getting everything just perfect all of the time, actually doesn’t matter as much as you think it does.
What are the most important lessons you’d like your children to learn?
Above all else I will feel like I succeeded as a parent if my children are kind to others, non-judgemental, loving and helpful humans in today’s world.
It is also important to me that my children find their own personal faith as they travel through life.
I believe that these attributes will allow them to receive love, experience heartfelt community and make a positive difference in the world around them.
What are your dreams and hopes for your children?
Above all else I want my children to live life. Today I worry about the youth who have been raised into a world of screens and virtual relationships.
I wish with all of my heart that my children will get to know the depths of people, and who they are in a real way. I wish for my children to experience true love, belly aching laughter and deep friendships. I hope they learn through sacrifice and selflessness to find their own sense of who they are capable of being. I wish for my children to value family and how important it is to be a part of one that is loving, nurturing and supportive.
I hope they earn the resources to travel and experience all sorts of adventures, uniting them with other cultures, other traditions and overall teaching them a respect for all living things. I wish for them to be a part of something greater than themselves, with an ultimate purpose for good in the world.
