A desire to share the stories of extraordinary historical women led VIU Education grad Haley Healey to become a published author in 2020. Four years later, the high school counsellor by day, author by night has published five non-fiction adult and children’s books highlighting boundary-pushing women as well as a fiction novel featuring a strong female protagonist.
Paige Pierce’s first exposure to poetry came about in her last few years of high school. But it wasn’t a smooth introduction.
“A lot of the poetry I was interacting with did not feel relatable or accessible to youth, so I started my writing career as a bit of a poetry hater,” she says.
Still, Paige persevered.
When the opportunity to help set up a teacher education program at VIU (then Malaspina College) presented itself, Les Dickason left his job with the school district to be part of it. After his retirement in 1997, he established a bursary through the VIU Foundation. The fund has grown and now supports two students going into their second year of the Education program.
Safe, supported and valued are three words Rayan Zeineddine uses to describe how he feels in his current job as Housing Admissions Coordinator with VIU Residences.
Rayan grew up in Lebanon. After high school, he pursued a degree in medical laboratory technology. He was good at chemistry and biology, so his first thought was to go into medicine.
A self-described lifelong learner, Mary Clare Massicotte enrolled in VIU’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership program in 2020 at age 64. By this time, she had retired from her full-time career with the federal government and started her own consulting business. Completing a master’s degree had long been a goal for Mary Clare.
Members of the Vancouver Island University community may remember Kayla Passmore for her role as team captain of the Mariner’s women’s volleyball team, helping to lead her team to four national championship victories. But she was an active member of the VIU community in many other ways, organizing major events, leading tours and helping new students in residences.
When Heather Finlay decided to pursue her Master of Education in Special Education, she knew VIU was the place to do it.
“I had done my teaching program with VIU and they were so supportive throughout,” she says. “When I decided to go back to school to complete my masters, I knew that VIU would be a good fit for me.”
Now, having graduated this past June, Heather says she is excited to share her research with others.
Students in Grades 10 to 12 will still receive letter grades and percentages on report cards. Education Professor Dr. Paula Waatainen, a former high school social studies teacher, studies classroom assessments and reporting and designing assessments of competency. She weighs in on the changes.
At the start of her university journey, Bachelor of Education student Sherry Wessel was very shy. So shy, she shook when she had to talk in front of the class. As her program progressed, she became more confident in herself and as a teacher. Fast forward to today and she’s representing the Class of 2023 as a valedictorian at convocation. Sherry shares more about her VIU journey and some advice for students following the same path.
Since graduating from Vancouver Island University in 2011 with her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees, Ashley Kuramoto has been working her dream job as a teacher. She’s also a mother and, most recently, a published author.