Meet our teacher Sarah
Sarah Formsma is a graduate of the Bachelor of Education program at Queen’s University, specializing in Outdoor and Experiential Education. Her previous Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Chemistry and Environmental Science, was received from Trent University. In addition to being a core member of the Blue Whale team since 2015, she has also spent time facilitating children’s education at the Little Cataraqui Creek Outdoor Education Centre, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society in Ottawa and through various summer camp programs in Western Canada.
Sarah has a lifelong love for the outdoors and environmental education. With her family, she has spent numerous summers canoeing and camping around her home in the Kawartha Lakes area. She also has a passion for horses and has been riding and competing from a very young age. She competed in the Hunter disciplines as a teenager but is now more focused on training young riders and horses in her free time. As an educator, Sarah believes that students thrive in a hands-on learning environment, and that the educational journey is as important as the goal. She encourages students to be actively involved in their learning and is thrilled to be a part of the Blue Whale Children’s Centre education team.
Sarah has a lifelong love for the outdoors and environmental education. With her family, she has spent numerous summers canoeing and camping around her home in the Kawartha Lakes area. She also has a passion for horses and has been riding and competing from a very young age. She competed in the Hunter disciplines as a teenager but is now more focused on training young riders and horses in her free time. As an educator, Sarah believes that students thrive in a hands-on learning environment, and that the educational journey is as important as the goal. She encourages students to be actively involved in their learning and is thrilled to be a part of the Blue Whale Children’s Centre education team.
Meet our teacher Telsing
Telsing Andrews has always loved learning and helping other learners to nurture their own natural curiosity. She has taught primarily math, science and nature studies for many years to diverse groups, covering grades and age ranges across both elementary and high school levels. Combining a love for all that's creative, she works to enable positive, inclusive STEM experiences for learners of all ages and skill levels.
In her “spare” time, she runs Aster Lane Edibles, a small edible plant nursery and seed company from her farm in Kinburn, where she lives with her family and runs workshops to share her knowledge and love of farming and nature.
In her “spare” time, she runs Aster Lane Edibles, a small edible plant nursery and seed company from her farm in Kinburn, where she lives with her family and runs workshops to share her knowledge and love of farming and nature.
Meet our teacher Kelsey
Kelsey Walsh is an arts-educator who completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) in Theatre and Development through McGill and Concordia Universities. Through art making, Kelsey encourages her students to explore themselves and the world around them. She creates a space where children are supported in being 100% themselves and nurtures a learning environment where students fall into wonder, take fierce ownership over their creations, and are not afraid to express their most wild and wonderous ideas. Kelsey encourages students to use their lived experiences and individual perspectives in the creative process and carefully models behaviours that teach students to celebrate each other’s unique strengths and perspectives.
Previously holding positions with Concordia University, the AOE Arts Council, and Joan of Arc Academy, Kelsey, in addition to teaching at Blue Whale, is the current Performance Company Director and Head of Youth Programs at Dandelion Dance, a uniquely holistic dance school for girls in Ottawa.
Previously holding positions with Concordia University, the AOE Arts Council, and Joan of Arc Academy, Kelsey, in addition to teaching at Blue Whale, is the current Performance Company Director and Head of Youth Programs at Dandelion Dance, a uniquely holistic dance school for girls in Ottawa.
Meet our teacher Elissa
Elissa Stoddart is a graduate of the Bachelor of Education program at Queen’s University, having recently completed Additional Qualification courses in Special Education, Reading, and English Language Learning. She has spent the last few years gaining valuable teaching experience in a variety of contexts, which includes supply teaching with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, tutoring students with a focus on literacy, and teaching English in Guatemala and Honduras.
Completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Development is what sparked Elissa’s interest in teaching abroad and seeing how education and development intersect. In 2017, Elissa and her husband spent a year volunteering and teaching with a non-profit organization that serves marginalized families in Guatemala. It is with this experience that Elissa is excited to bring a focus of global development, social justice, and geography to the students at Blue Whale Children’s Centre. She believes in the importance of students expanding their view of the world and becoming active, involved citizens. Through nurturing and supporting critical thinking, Elissa hopes to build in her students the confidence they need to become advocates and create positive change in their communities.
In her spare time, Elissa loves to be outside doing various sports and activities. In the summer months, she loves to hike, camp, and water ski. In winter, Elissa loves to skate, having grown up figure skating and competing on the varsity team while at Queen’s.
Completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Development is what sparked Elissa’s interest in teaching abroad and seeing how education and development intersect. In 2017, Elissa and her husband spent a year volunteering and teaching with a non-profit organization that serves marginalized families in Guatemala. It is with this experience that Elissa is excited to bring a focus of global development, social justice, and geography to the students at Blue Whale Children’s Centre. She believes in the importance of students expanding their view of the world and becoming active, involved citizens. Through nurturing and supporting critical thinking, Elissa hopes to build in her students the confidence they need to become advocates and create positive change in their communities.
In her spare time, Elissa loves to be outside doing various sports and activities. In the summer months, she loves to hike, camp, and water ski. In winter, Elissa loves to skate, having grown up figure skating and competing on the varsity team while at Queen’s.
Meet our teacher Susie
Susie Shapiro is a multidisciplinary artist and educator who has enjoyed playing and learning alongside children for over thirty years. Susie's goal is to help bring more compassion and resilience into children’s lives by providing a safe, non-coercive learning environment where their ideas are honoured, and where they are free to explore in their own way, at their own pace. She aims to provide meaningful instruction that is relevant to children's experiences and interests, and to provide tools for developing emotional intelligence, stress reduction, and self regulation.
Susie brings with her a diverse range of experience, including a background in early childhood education. At Canadian Mothercraft, she helped implement an emergent curriculum that focused on being responsive to the children's needs and interests. Her reverence for children's imaginations has inspired her to develop and facilitate numerous programs over the years in visual arts, music, creative writing, and drama. She has also worked extensively with seniors and with adults with severe long term mental illness. These experiences have led her to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of supporting young people during their formative years.
Susie is delighted to be amongst Blue Whale's eclectic mix of families and educators where she can bring her passion for children's well-being through a holistic approach that fosters emotional, social, and cognitive growth. Along with being the full time teacher for Blue Whale's younger group, Susie also gives lessons in art, photography, voice, and songwriting, working with all ages and abilities.
Susie brings with her a diverse range of experience, including a background in early childhood education. At Canadian Mothercraft, she helped implement an emergent curriculum that focused on being responsive to the children's needs and interests. Her reverence for children's imaginations has inspired her to develop and facilitate numerous programs over the years in visual arts, music, creative writing, and drama. She has also worked extensively with seniors and with adults with severe long term mental illness. These experiences have led her to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of supporting young people during their formative years.
Susie is delighted to be amongst Blue Whale's eclectic mix of families and educators where she can bring her passion for children's well-being through a holistic approach that fosters emotional, social, and cognitive growth. Along with being the full time teacher for Blue Whale's younger group, Susie also gives lessons in art, photography, voice, and songwriting, working with all ages and abilities.
Meet Founders Ashleigh & Lillian
Lillian Domin and Ashleigh White are both mothers in the Ottawa area who came together because of their shared passion 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 his or her 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.
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Co-founder and co-director, Ashleigh is a proponent of democratic education. Drawing from research and her own experiences- she believes children can contribute to the decisions involving their education, and that this can be a force that empowers them in all aspects of their development and lives.
As a certified yoga teacher, therapist and doula, Ashleigh provided labour and postpartum support to women and their families in Ottawa and Victoria, British Columbia. She has served as a political advisor, in the Office of the Minister of Health and the Status of Women. She teaches yoga and dance to the Blue Whale and Little Whale classes. |
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.