As an educator, Teresa taught 37 years in the public school system teaching mainly elementary, some secondary, and as a faculty associate at Simon Fraser working with student teachers. Teresa completed her Master’s degree at Simon Fraser in the area of literacy in particular reading and writing.
Following retirement from public school education, Teresa worked for 7 years with FNESC (First Nation Education Steering Committee) as a literacy coach. The schools were all over B.C. on First Nation reserves. Her role with FNESC was to work in partnership with First Nation people to help build their basic literacy skills of reading and writing so students would have the ability to access jobs, and build
positive self-esteem.
Since leaving FNESC, Teresa continued her work as an independent consultant for First Nation schools and as a literacy coach. This work expanded to include working with Simbi, an on-line reading program that instills the love of reading for readers of all ages. Teresa’s role with Simbi has been to connect the organization with First Nation schools to share their indigenous stories both in English and in their First Nation languages. The hope is to help restore the First Nation languages that are rapidly disappearing.
Homelessness and lack of literacy skills are often interconnected. Teresa wishes to help address this issue with literacy programs within Lookout that will promote the basic literacy skills in order to increase self-esteem and confidence for employment opportunities.