Teacher, Greater Victoria School District #61
2008 - 2024
Leadership & Governance
Organized and co-led a whole-school musical production involving teachers, staff and about 250 students. To meet fire safety regulations for the gym, while at the same time accommodating all the students and their family members, each performance was presented twice. This entailed putting on two identical shows with two different casts for a total of four performances.
Participated in updating the by-laws for my elementary school.
Operational & Program Management
Managed curriculum implementation and reporting over the school year requiring strict adherence to timelines to introduce concepts and bring them to mastery.
For the musicals, I created a rehearsal schedule incorporating both strictly timed deadlines and flexibility. Key performance indicators showing the pace at which each cast was learning the material informed the direction of the flexible part of the schedule.
As a Hybrid classroom teacher during the pandemic, I was responsible for following strict distancing and hygiene practices with a maximum of 8 students in the classroom. This required creating two groups of students, Grades 1-3 & Grades 4/5, with each group attending in-person classes for 2 days.
Responsible for incident tracking and reporting, often in confidential settings.
Communication & Interpersonal Skills
Built strong relationships with the families of my students and excelled in navigating their various emotional responses with calm communication, discretion and confidentiality.
For the 2020/2021 school year, I quickly established relationships with students and families from another school which had been combined with mine to support a single Hybrid classroom.
Monitoring and Evaluating
Responsible for not only tracking final marks from multiple sources but also tracking work in progress in order to identify areas in need of support.
Coaching and Facilitating
As Social Emotional Wellness Advocate, I designed and ran a professional development workshop called How to Incorporate Wellness into Your Teaching with an accompanying facilitator’s guide.
Designed learning experiences to support a variety of learning styles grounded in self-regulation strategies.
During the first months of the pandemic, I facilitated online learning for my Grade 1/2 students. Activities were created for whole-class and grade-based groups, and for small groups organized by skill level and 1-to-1 support for individuals.
During the 2020/2021 school year, I researched and sourced materials to support online and self-guided learning. I provided 1-to-1 sessions for learners needing more support than the hybrid model could provide.
Emotional Intelligence
Ensured that my students felt comfortable and supported in their learning. I filled my classroom with a variety of calming tools that students were allowed to access at any time, and I led them in a five-minute mindfulness session once a day.
Completed an 8-week Mindfulness for Educators course to develop disciplined personal mindfulness practices and strategies to support others in group settings.
Led weekly mindfulness sessions for staff.
Music Director, The Allegra Singers Society
1996 - 2021
Leadership & Governance
Within my first two years, I rebuilt the Board of Directors, cleared existing debt and increased choir membership by 285%.
Supported the Board through the process of transitioning from a non-profit to a charitable organization.
Helped the Board maintain efficient meeting strategies. For the AGMs, I delivered a report reviewing the past year’s events, presented a plan for the upcoming year and made recommendations for new opportunities.
Coordinated short local tours on the Gulf Islands, and a major tour of Ireland. Each new performance space required immediate planning for singer and audience experience aligned with the choir’s high standard of show delivery.
Operational & Program Management
Planned the choral year, including two concert series and rehearsals, an informal summer choir and two community days performing at various locations.
Specialized in leading the group of non-auditioned singers to a high level of performance excellence. I managed the high emotions of singers while navigating the pressure of running the concert and the considerable number of variables involved.
Ensured the choir was welcoming and accessible to anybody regardless of their musical ability. I provided opportunities to accommodate performance challenges by ensuring an accessible path to the stage and alternatives for standing or holding the choir folder for long periods of time.
During the 2020/2021 choir year, I facilitated music appreciation Zoom sessions as a mechanism for continued connection during isolation.
Financial Management
Supported the Board in their fundraising efforts and grant applications.
HR Management
Led the Board in their pursuits of various accompanists by creating qualification criteria, running the auditions, and recommending the successful candidates.
Communication & Interpersonal Skills
Singing is a musical activity that requires people to find comfort in allowing their voices to be heard. I provided emotional support for people who were often trying for the first time something that they had always wanted to do.
Many choir members stayed with the group for decades often citing my leadership style as the reason.
Monitoring and Evaluating
Monitoring the singers’ pace of learning informed the flexible parts of the rehearsal schedule in order to meet the performance deadline.
Community Engagement
Began the tradition of donating some of our concert proceeds to a local non-profit organization in our bi-annual concert series. Recipients were given time in the concert program to highlight their work for our audience and set up an engagement table in the lobby.
Twice a year, I brought the choir out into the community to perform at local seniors’ centres. I chose publicly funded homes and enjoyed bringing the residents a high-quality performance. I did not accept an honorarium for the day as my way of giving to the community.
Coaching and Facilitating
Developed and facilitated workshops for the choir’s retreats. Each workshop included a facilitator’s guide, and I designed learning experiences to support a variety of personalities and differing levels of engagement.
During the 2020/2021 choir year, each Zoom session consisted of an overall theme for which the members submitted relevant videos and prepared to speak about their choices. I guided the conversation to allow others to contribute to a larger discussion about each selection.
Developed and created practice materials to support members for each season.
Emotional Intelligence
Added social events and dedicated sectional rehearsals to the annual plan for the purpose of creating a social net to support members’ performance anxiety, ultimately creating a more engaging audience and performer experience.
Lead Central Poll Supervisor, Elections Canada
2025
Leadership & Governance
Created polling place map for supervisory team and visited site prior to voting day to ensure health, safety, and procedural requirements were met.
Operational & Program Management
Created a task list based on government guidelines and worked collaboratively with the two supervisors on my team to assign tasks for each of us.
Because of strict rules regarding the placement of the entrance and exit doors to the gym, I utilized my knowledge of school building operations and adapted the wheelchair accessibility plan to minimize the amount of walking required with the existing plan.
Voting happened during regular school hours which required pulling an officer out of their assigned duties to manage traffic. Supervision expanded to become internal and external while managing staff and equipment shortages.
HR Management
Authorized to hire electoral officers if needed. Due to a shortage of available workers on the final voting day, I hired an officer midday which included administering the Solemn Declaration.
During the first training session, I was asked to monitor the group to suggest any other potential Leads and any people who may not be appropriate for the Supervisor position. Following the session, I provided my recommendations along with specific reasons for my suggestions.
Supervisory Voting Officer, Elections BC
2024
Leadership & Governance
Authorized to access singular Wi-Fi connected computer during final voting day for the purpose of submitting voting place status reports every 30 minutes.
Ensured staffing resources (including new technology), supplies and voting place layout aligned with provincial requirements.
Operational & Program Management
Supervised election officers to ensure proper procedures were followed.
Managed safety with excessive rainfall and water pooling at exterior doors. Sourced additional floor mats and a mop and moved officers to the doors to support electors.
Communication & Interpersonal Skills
Worked in partnership with the Voting Equipment Officer and created a leadership team environment for the final voting day.
HR Management course assignment
Demonstrated skills: DEI, Creativity & Innovation, Project Management, Budget Planning, Community Engagement, Risk Management
Coursework, Non-Profit Management Certificate Program, SFU
2025 – 2026
Leadership & Governance
Most learning materials were dated after 2020, including sector reports and governance practices.
Operational & Program Management
Created strategies for minimizing the cost for an organization to engage in M&E practices. Strategies support embedding evaluation practices into existing events rather than a costly and time-consuming dedicated event.
Financial Management
Learned and practiced the application of a variety of financial ratios to measure the health of an organization and its services.
Monitoring and Evaluating
Created an evaluation mechanism to add to a fictional promotional event to support gathering information regarding peoples’ experience with the mental health system. I designed the information gathering activities to provide a variety of ways to share information and strategies to align stories with evaluation goals. The activities are trauma informed and grounded in Indigenous evaluation practices.