My journey started in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories…
I was an athlete, a student, and a tennis coach. I began as an instructor with the Yellowknife Tennis Club. My job was to run an all summer long multi sport camp. We would would focus on tennis, but also take the kids swimming, play soccer, basketball, and adventure as a typical summer camp would do. I learned so many valuable lessons, like not to walk into a bear (seriously though… it’s a great story!).
Becoming the head pro of the club was a dream come true. I was organizing and running ladies nights, men’s nights, co-ed nights, kids nights, tournaments and match play, private lessons, and overseeing the multi sport camp where I once started.
In college I upgrade to Head Pro of NWT tennis…
This is when I realized anything is possible if you put your mind to it. My job was very similar to the head coach role for the Yellowknife tennis club, in fact, I still held those duties; however, now I was responsible for the entire Northwest Territories.
There were times when I would drive up to 3 hours out of Yellowknife, to remote communities like Fort Providence, Bechoko, Deline… and when the drive wasn’t possible, a small two seater plane to Gameti. I would bring all my rackets, portable nets, and a ton of different levelled tennis balls.
I had the pleasure of staying in each community for a week, and sharing my passion for tennis with the locals. It was an incredible way to explore the north, build connections, but ultimately, have an impact on the lives of others.
I was also a volleyball coach…
And I was so fortunate to coach the U18 team Northwest Territories Women at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg in 2017. I had been to the Arctic Winter Games (badminton and volleyball), Canada Western Summer Games (tennis and badminton), Canada Summer Games (tennis), and Canada Winter Games (badminton) as an athlete before, but never as a coach.
With it came a sense of responsibility. Responsibility to create life long passion for sport, while at the same time, fostering good culture and citizens.
I met and learned from so many amazing people. We won 1 game, which was a record for NWT volleyball, and I’m so proud of the way the team showed up every day just trying to get a little better.
I became an outdoor education teacher…
My first teaching position was at a Hutterite colony, and so I don’t have that documented quite well as photo memories, but I do have some incredible stories. The colony continued to teach me that growing a human is always more important than the curriculum. The goal wasn’t to graduate the students, it was to empower them to thrive in the workforce that they would enter in grade 10.
I was fortunate enough to also assist with a nearby school’s outdoor education program. Teaching life experiences and skills–like how to start a smoke signal fire if your lost in the woods, or how to survive if you’re lost and alone, or how to fly fish, or even how to properly handle a firearm as a hunter–was an incredible opportunity I am forever thankful for.
The outdoor education program had deep roots in establish a love for the outdoors. Some of my best memories are still in the Kananaskis Country Mountains, spending a full day with kids getting to the top of a ridge no one thought they could do by lunch time.
I lived my childhood dream…
I remember in kindergarten class I wanted to be a firefighter so badly another student and I fought over a helmet my teacher had as a toy. He bit me and got the helmet, but I got to experience the real deal. I became a paid on firefighter with my local RM.
From fire calls to vehicle collisions to false alarms I experienced all of the hidden realities a firefighter truly lives. I made some incredible life long connections, and I learned the value of discipline.
When things get tough, like a 14 hour grass fire where it’s so spread out you don’t have enough water lines… so you get a shovel to literally beat the fire out with… you find a way to get the job done.
That being said, I also learned an incredibly valuable lesson, someone else’s emergency is not yours. This has directly transferred not just into my education pathway, but my life.
Sometimes in life we have to decide where our time should be spent, and as my next steps in life formed, I let go of firefighting. I have aspirations to return in the future.
I started a beautiful family…
Okay we, my partner and I, started a beautiful family. I am so lucky to have three happy and healthy girls. At the same time of starting a family, I also started school leadership. Becoming an assistant principal, and now a principal. I’ve learned so much from the people that have mentored me in these roles, and I hope to pass that along to the staff, students and wonderful family I have some influence with.
At the same time, I also completed my Masters in Educational Administration. My capstone was on the impact of Response to Intervention (RTI) on graduation rates. I also find myself at the tail end of my Doctorate where I am student school principal decision making processes.
My goal in creating this platform is to triangulate the work of my doctorate and professional life, the case studies of world leaders within my book, and the stories and lived experiences of the guest on my podcast to create some clarity around what should people value, how can we make tough times a little easier, why is change so hard and what can we do about that, and how do we make decisions we don’t regret.
And if you’re still here, thank you for taking the time to learn about my journey. If you’d like to share yours please reach out, tyler@elementaleducator.com