Student testimonials

Megan Keilty and Cheryl Whiting

Megan and Cheryl (pictured above) are two of our outstanding students. In 2008, Megan acted as coordinator and tutor for the Tools for Success program, a program developed to help students with Epilepsy. Cheryl acted as a tutor for the program. Tools for Success continues to help students with epilepsy maximize their learning potential. The program pairs K-12 students living with epilepsy with Special Education students for weekly tutoring sessions that identify challenges and create individualized learning strategies. It is conducted in partnership with the Victoria Epilepsy and Parkinson's Centre.

After graduating, Megan plans to work as a psychometrist for her current employer, A.T. Malcolm and Associates in Victoria. Here's what Megan had to say about her graduate experience: "Being involved with [Dr. Gina Harrison's] research greatly enhanced my graduate studies and gave context to the material I was learning in class. I have learned that there is a lot of time and care that goes into planning education for Canadian children, but that there is a lot more work to do." Her advice to current and future students? "Get involved with the UVic community. There are a lot of interesting research opportunities, sports, clubs, and extra-curricular activities."

Alana Ladd

Special Education MEd Program Graduate (2011)

I had my " aha moment" this week, when I realized my Masters has put me in a place where I wanted to make a change. My classroom is not working and neither are those of the other Early Education teachers. In listening to teachers, the same thing is going wrong with every classroom. This got me thinking and I realized it's not the classroom compositions, it's our model. The model does not work for the children we serve. I mentioned this to a colleague, and she said, "What are you going to do, take on [the school district]?" My response, "Why not?". My project is in motion and I am figuring out who I can start talking to. For now, I will do my best to create "the new model" in my classroom. It feels exciting to be able to identify what is not working, and I now have ideas on how to make it better. My masters gave me that. My masters gave me the "how" for implementing inclusion in Early Education. I imagine it will be years before I can make some sort of change, but I have my challenge with a plan now.