Meet our teacher Jessie
Jessie Gamarra is a certified teacher and lifelong learner. Her specialty is in visual arts, but she is also very passionate about history. Jessie completed a Bachelor's in Art History at Carleton University in 2016 and a Master's in Art History at Carleton in 2018, wherein she completed a thesis project that focused on the architectural and material design of postwar elementary schools in Ontario. These experiences sparked Jessie's interest in teaching and she went on to complete a Bachelor of Education with the University of Ottawa in the spring of 2020. Jessie has worked in both traditional and alternative educational settings, including as a sixth-grade teacher for the Limestone District School Board's Elementary Virtual School and as a lead educator in an art studio. As an educator, Jessie excels at connecting with and respecting students; creating and sustaining positive learning environments; and calmly navigating the many random obstacles which can arise throughout the course of a regular school day. She has experience working with students who face learning and behavioural challenges, students who face poverty, and students who face adversity due to their race or gender identity, and is passionate about supporting students' social-emotional learning needs.
Meet our teacher Nicole
Nicole Binnington is a passionate, creative, and positive educator with diverse backgrounds in various types of education. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in History and Psychology at Dalhousie University, followed by a Bachelor of Education at Nipissing University, becoming an Ontario certified teacher in 2018. Nicole also has spent many years in the world of Outdoor Education, running the YMCA of Toronto’s overnight camp for two years. This included sending campers on whitewater canoe trips to the Yukon! Nicole also is educated in teaching dance, and currently teaches in the evenings at a studio in Ottawa.
Having spent the last two years with the Ottawa Carleton School Board, Nicole is eager to embrace a different approach to schooling. Her passion lies in creating an inclusive environment where every child can nurture their curiosity and sense of belonging. Nicole firmly believes that collaboration is very important to a successful community! Nicole is very excited to bring these experiences to Blue Whale, and to help show kids there are always new, cool things to learn!
Having spent the last two years with the Ottawa Carleton School Board, Nicole is eager to embrace a different approach to schooling. Her passion lies in creating an inclusive environment where every child can nurture their curiosity and sense of belonging. Nicole firmly believes that collaboration is very important to a successful community! Nicole is very excited to bring these experiences to Blue Whale, and to help show kids there are always new, cool things to learn!
Meet our teacher Lindsey
Lindsey Barr is the mother to two amazing kids and the Founder of World-Changing Kids (WCK), a social enterprise dedicated to igniting social justice and environmental activism in kids, while supporting them to become confident, inspired, compassionate leaders and citizens. Lindsey started WCK to build a community of like-minded friends who would support one another in the raising of all our children, and to provide all of our children with learning opportunities and activities that will help them find their gifts and how they want to bring them to the world. Through WCK, Lindsey has written a book, “Plant a Garden of Kindness”, with 75 Acts of Kindness children can do in their community to make it a friendlier place, while also learning that they have the power to make a positive difference now, not just in the future, but right now. She created the Year of Kindness for Schools program, which pre-COVID, she had run in 10 schools, impacting thousands of students and empowering them to be changemakers in their school community. Since COVID, Lindsey has been running the Upstanders Academy, an online social justice experiential learning program for youth ages 7 - 13, where they talk about real world issues and come up with actions the kids can take to help make things better. Through this, Lindsey has spent hundreds of hours chatting with amazing youth about the issues that they care about and learning alongside them. With everything that Lindsey does, she strives to ensure that the children are in the lead, that they feel connected and safe, that they know that they are valued, and that they know that they have a voice and important things to say. Lindsey is so excited to be bringing all that she has built through WCK into the classrooms at Blue Whale Children’s Centre
Meet our teacher Kelly
Kelly Oczkowski is a dedicated and passionate educator who enjoys exploring the world we live in and sharing that enthusiasm with her students. After completing her B.Ed with the Queen's-Trent concurrent Education program with teachables in history and geography, she followed her military spouse out to Alberta for several years. In Alberta, Kelly worked at the Military Family Resource Center (MFRC) as the Child and Youth Program Coordinator. Here, she strived to engage children and youth in fun and educational activities while delevelpong programs that aimed to support military families and their children with their unique and sometimes difficult life situations.
During her time at the MFRC, Kelly developed a strong passion for alternative education. She saw students become disillusioned with the traditional education system and hoped to foster and develop their interest in learning and exploring the amazing world and communities we live in. Kelly feels strongly that learning can be extremely exciting and very engaging when approached with a fresh and welcoming atmosphere. She's passionate about creating an engaging and inclusive environment for students to learn and thrive in understanding a variety of subjects. With a strong passion for world issues Kelly's background in history and geography help her tie in diverse perspectives into any given subject. Kelly also loves science, music, international studies, her pets and all other animals.
During her time at the MFRC, Kelly developed a strong passion for alternative education. She saw students become disillusioned with the traditional education system and hoped to foster and develop their interest in learning and exploring the amazing world and communities we live in. Kelly feels strongly that learning can be extremely exciting and very engaging when approached with a fresh and welcoming atmosphere. She's passionate about creating an engaging and inclusive environment for students to learn and thrive in understanding a variety of subjects. With a strong passion for world issues Kelly's background in history and geography help her tie in diverse perspectives into any given subject. Kelly also loves science, music, international studies, her pets and all other animals.
Meet our teacher Jordan
Jordan, a former teacher with Blue Whale, is now an incredibly valued part of our supply team. She is a passionate and playful educator who enjoys pondering life's big questions alongside her students. Following her Honours Bachelor of Social Science focusing on Conflict Studies & Human Rights, Jordan began her career developing workshops and programs to support marginalized youth in fortifying and rebuilding their self-esteem and relationships. Through working for Kind Space Ottawa as the Youth Program Development and Facilitator for LGBTTQIA youth as well as for the Black Community Resource Centre (BCRC) developing and delivering programming for ‘at-risk’ youth in the English Montreal School Board, Jordan gained the skills and perspective to understand that the tools of socio-emotional learning were desperately needed in the mainstream traditional educational system as well. Now she is on a mission to blend skill and curriculum-esque learning with self-development and relationship building. As a recent graduate of the University of Ottawa's Global Cohort Teacher Education program, she continues to develop inquiry-based educational programming for growing minds with big feelings who push the limits of the mainstream. Her personal teaching philosophy is rooted in engaging the whole child; mind, body, spirit, and relationships. She believes children are whole, multi-faceted beings with their own lived experiences, ideas, interests, and complex inner worlds. Making meaningful connections and centering student identities, experience, voice, and perspective in her pedagogy is her top priority. No matter the topic, Jordan incorporates lots of dialogue, discussion and hands on activities with a focus on skill building, history, storytelling, and imparting tools for emotional wellness and healthy relationships. She is currently doing an absolutely amazing job teaching language arts, writing, media, current events, psychology and community skills in our older classroom, and our kids love the authenticity, compassion, creativity and abundant laughter and play that she brings to Blue Whale each and every day. Jordan also loves history, political science, making music, gardening, and planning fun surprises and acts of kindness for her students.
Meet our teacher Marisa
Marisa Yeoman, a former full time teacher with Blue Whale, is now an incredibly valued part of our supply team. She has a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa with the Developing Global Perspectives Cohort and a Bachelor of Kinesiology from Acadia University in Nova Scotia. Prior to obtaining her Ontario Teaching Certificate, Marisa worked in the health and education fields as a clinical exercise physiologist, an outdoor education and leadership instructor, and an early childhood educator. With a personal passion for outdoor and physical education, Marisa has, throughout her teaching career, been committed to facilitating the connection of her students to the many positive impacts of nature, movement, and outdoor experiences. An intensely positive, nurturing, and creative teacher, Marisa understands the importance of building relationships with her students and has a deep appreciation for inquiry based, child led, holistic learning.
Meet Founders Ashleigh & Lillian
Lillian Domin and Ashleigh White are both mothers in the Ottawa area who came together because of their shared vision to create a truly alternative learning environment for their own children. They believe learning should be a joyful, deeply engaging and meaningful experience that allows each child to grow into their most secure and confident self.
Lillian is a former teacher with the Toronto District School Board, the Kasabonika First Nations Education Authority, and Ottawa’s Algonquin College. Her specialties have included working with at-risk youth and ESL children and adults, blending learning across areas as diverse as science, civics, drama, visual arts, and English language. She is now the acting director and one of the teachers for the Blue Whale Children’s Centre.
Ashleigh is the principal at Blue Whale. She has worked in non-profit, government and the private sector, and as a yoga teacher in Ottawa and Victoria, British Columbia. Passionate about birth and maternal child wellness, she has also supported families during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum.
Ashleigh is the principal at Blue Whale. She has worked in non-profit, government and the private sector, and as a yoga teacher in Ottawa and Victoria, British Columbia. Passionate about birth and maternal child wellness, she has also supported families during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum.
Meet co-director Nadia Sherstyuk
Nadia Sherstyuk joined the Blue Whale Children’s Centre in January 2018 to spearhead its expansion and the opening of an additional classroom for younger children. Her own educational experiences as well as the wonderful journey of parenting led her to seek out alternatives to the traditional educational systems. Nadia wants to see children to grow up with a deep sense of self-worth and purpose, with the skills and the desire to be life-long learners, and with their innate curiosity and imagination intact.
Nadia is now an active director for the second classroom of the Blue Whale Children’s Centre. Her background is in rehabilitation and women’s health, and she continues to have an active Physiotherapy practice in the Ottawa community.
Nadia is now an active director for the second classroom of the Blue Whale Children’s Centre. Her background is in rehabilitation and women’s health, and she continues to have an active Physiotherapy practice in the Ottawa community.