Name: Simone Smith
Born: Toronto, ON
Currently living: Vancouver, BC
High School Education: The Etobicoke School of the Arts (Ontario High School Diploma with Distinction)
University education: Queen’s University (Bachelor’s of Arts with Honours, major in Drama), The University of British Columbia (Bachelor’s of Education, Elementary)
Passions: theatre, dance, outdoor education, leadership development, decreasing bullying in schools initiatives
Journey to Teaching
“Archery…is like life.”
After coming to the conclusion that being a professional music theatre performer was not in my future, I turned to my other love in life- camp. Being a child of Ontario, I attended over-night summer camp every summer for many weeks, learning skills of the outdoors. However, most importantly, I learned who I was and what I could contribute to the world.
As I moved up through age groups and into the leadership programs, I started to really enjoy all the content and activities we engaged in. I loved planning lessons for the younger campers and spending time with them as a “big sister” figure. Answering their questions and opening their eyes to new experiences never got dull.
Then, switching locations to BC, I joined the world of outdoor education centres for schools. After that, I was hooked. We would see hundreds of students each season and show them how to climb the ropes course, the proper technique of shooting an archery arrow, and even teaching some how to ride a bike for the first time. The debrief at the end of my lessons was always my favourite. To hear what the students had to say, how they made connections and expanded their understanding of the world always amazed me.
This is where my quote “archery…is like life” comes from. Teaching archery was always one of my favourite activity areas. Within my repertoire of phrases and teaching techniques, I would tell students that I read this quote once in a book on camping and that I wanted to know why they thought it was there. I was never let down by those kids. Every session had more and more ideas that expanded upon it, such as, “when you don’t hit the target, you have to realize that you have more arrows in the bucket and more chances to try.” Rarely did I have to prompt; these insightful ideas came straight from their heads and in their words. It was then that I knew I wanted to be a teacher.
This year, my journey continued into a more structured educational training at UBC to obtain my Bachelor of Education. The B Ed program extended my love for teaching even more with many engaging classes and a wonderfully insightful practicum placement. Even though my teacher training year has ended, there is still more road to travel and more puzzle pieces to gather.
Finally, as time goes on in my career, I am slowly learning that I still have a chance to be a musical theatre performer- teaching can truly be a song, dance and acting experience. You have to give the audience what they want!