Behind the Curtain with Ms Gonçalves

Written by: Ava Puhlmann, Avi Pillai

Edited by: Kayla Strike 

Ms. Gonçalves has been an integral part of the Blakelock community since her debut in 2001. Intending to teach at Blakelock for a single semester in the social sciences, she instead taught a semester of drama, and has never looked back. 

Ms. Gonçalves’ education began at York University, where she earned a degree in political science with a minor in theatre. Since then, she has worked in numerous productions, specifically participating in devised theatre, a type of art that is workshopped with the whole ensemble. Each member stages, revises and rehearses the play together with the help of a director. 

The most fulfilling part of drama for Ms. Gonçalves is seeing the growth in students within one semester of drama.

“What I can’t get enough of is that I’ll have students that are so afraid to even speak, or speak on stage above a whisper, and by the end of the semester they’re singing and they’re dancing and they're making weird noises.”

She is an avid believer that, “life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” and pushes her students to step out of it. Additionally, she believes that drama is a perfect course to strengthen transferable skills that can be applied in future endeavours of her students and prove to be useful. 

Regardless of future pathways, whether it be business or engineering, drama skills are essential in students' personal and professional lives. 

In addition to her love for drama, Ms. Gonçalves also teaches Blakelock’s English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL) program. She connects to the students on a personal level, as she was an ESL student herself. Her first language is Portuguese, and she did not learn English until the age of five. 

Ms. Gonçalves also understands the feeling of belonging to two nationalities, as she is a dual citizen. Most of her family except herself and her parents live in Portugal, and she finds herself drawn to the feelings, smells, and senses of home in Portugal.

She admires the determination in her ESL students, acknowledging some are learning English at the same time as subjects like biology, while also working a full time job. She also enjoys learning about their experiences in different countries, like schools, stories, and backgrounds: “Where else do you get to meet people from all over the globe, learn about them and their country first hand and their culture? I think it’s such a beautiful thing.”

Ms. Gonçalves' encouraging words of wisdom and determination to help students reach their full potential makes her a crucial part of the Blakelock community. A wise word to all reading: “Take drama!”