Tell us why you became a teacher

I was never the easiest student to deal with when I was younger. I was energetic, easily distracted, and impulsive. But I was hungry to learn. I loved reading and learning new things. My teachers fed that curiosity and school became the place where I started to feel the most myself. I felt at home and I never forgot the impact that my teachers and school had on me. I wanted to show up for others in the same way my teachers had for me.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

When I was working with seniors we were able to have them work on a capstone project where they presented to a panel about their post-secondary decisions. They had to defend their decisions to attend school, community college, enter a trade, or the workforce and then answer questions from the panel. The whole experience created this sense of anxiety but also celebratory energy at the end of the year for students and getting to see their presentations was truly amazing and inspiring.

What would you do with the $25,000?

Pay off student loan debt and then be able to create a fund for student developed projects around the school community (i.e students would create proposals for new classroom designs, service learning projects, school beautification projects, etc.) and then we would use the money to fund those projects.