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Written by: Zara Paterson
Photos by: Zara Paterson
Contributor(s): Chloe Rovinelli and Zara Ahluwalia
Mme. Telford has had the most adventurous and exciting experiences as a teacher, as she has been across the globe pursuing her dreams. Mme. Telford has always known she’s wanted to be a teacher. “I have always been drawn to teaching ever since I was a little kid,” she says. “When I was younger and people would ask what do I want to do when I’m an adult I would always say things like ‘I wanna be a marine biologist or a teacher’ being a teacher was always one of the options.” Mme Telford’s first experience teaching was when she was 13 and did karate at a dojo. Her sensei asked her to move up from student to instructor. “I was teaching a lot of the younger students and I realized I really enjoyed teaching, that's how I began my journey.”
Mme Telford with her book of choice, The Rose Code
Mme Telford has taught all over the world, she moved from Brampton, Ontario to Lincolnshire, England. “I’d always wanted to move abroad so I moved to England then I taught there for two years.” Mme Telford then found out about a teaching opportunity in Malaysia from a friend who taught at a school there, she applied and got the position as a French and social science teacher. “I was supposed to go for a year and ended up staying for three years. Afterwards, I came back to Canada in July 2020, where I taught for an elementary virtual school during the first year of the pandemic and then I came to Blakelock.”
The high school experience was a fun and educational opportunity for Mme Telford. She was a very studious person, eager to learn and do well. “I was very academically minded but I think that also came from training in karate. One of the main tenets of karate is respect and discipline so if I didn't do well in school not only would I get in trouble with my teacher, I would get in trouble with my parents and my sensei.”
If Mme Telford wasn't a teacher, she would have followed a career path that led her to animals. “I had for a really long time wanted to be a veterinarian and then a marine biologist but I wouldn't have wanted to deal with the negative side of being a vet such as having to put an animal down.”
Mme Telford has always loved animals, she currently volunteers for a dog and cat rescue organization called HelpAWS. “I would like to pursue something along the lines of working with some sort of rescue organization with animals.”
Although Mme Telford has only been apart of the Blakelock community for two years, she has already made a big impact on the school and we are very happy to have her.
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