Catherine is an energetic and experienced educator with a diverse background. She holds a double major in biology and English, enabling her to teach both STEM and humanities subjects. While she initially intended to pursue a career in medicine, she discovered her passion for teaching.
Throughout her career, Catherine has worked extensively with at-risk youth, including those involved with the law. She has also gained valuable experience supporting neurodiverse students and providing learning assistance to those with learning disabilities in school settings. Her expertise includes social justice work and literacy initiatives, with teaching experience spanning from large public schools to small private institutions.
Catherine’s involvement in curriculum design is notable, as she previously held a position building a curriculum for Nelson publishing. Currently based in Toronto, she is embarking on a graduate program in expressive art studies at Lesley University in Boston and is considering a potential move to Thailand.
In her teaching experience, Catherine has worked with students ranging from kindergarten to grade 12 in various class sizes. She has dedicated much of her time to marginalized populations, including racialized individuals and students with mental health diagnoses. Additionally, she has supported students with multiple exceptionalities such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, both in-person and through remote teaching, within Toronto and its surrounding areas.
Catherine’s teaching career has involved instructing English, mathematics, and credit recovery courses at various public high schools, particularly focusing on alternative schools. She has also facilitated the training and implementation of the JUMP Math program for grades K to 8 at learning centers. With a strong emphasis on meeting the needs of low-literacy and low-numeracy learners, she has taught executive functioning skills and direct-instruction programs.
More recently, Catherine has focused on teaching smaller class sizes and providing one-on-one support to students with multiple exceptionalities and mental health diagnoses. In her roles at private alternative schools such as The Study Academy and Waldorf Academy in Toronto, she has integrated expressive arts to enhance engagement and foster deeper learning experiences.
In addition to core literacy and numeracy instruction, Catherine has developed educational materials for math and literacy. She has also enjoyed teaching essential skills, including social-emotional learning and executive functions, as well as non-competitive physical education, science, cooking, outdoor education, yoga, creative movement, Dungeons and Dragons, improv, and a game development club.
Currently, Catherine is completing her advanced yoga teacher training, further enriching her holistic approach to education.
