Shelley Sandquist

Time in nature is not leisure time; it is an essential investment in our children’s health. ~ Richard Louv

Welcome!  Thank you for stopping by and learning about our amazing little school.  I feel proud to be a member of the Redfish community.  Feel free to come by and say hello if you are in the building.  You can find me hard at work in Room 3 or in the Library.

My experience spans over 20 years as a primary and early intermediate teacher.  I hold a Bachelor of Arts (History) from the University of Victoria; a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia; and recently, a Masters of Education from the University of British Columbia in Curriculum Studies: Practitioner Inquiry and Place-Conscious Pedagogies.  Redfish has been my home since 2008, where I have taught exclusively in grades two to four. 

One of my many passions is literacy, both personally and professionally.  Watching children develop a life-long love for reading and knowing I played a small part in nurturing that makes my heart full.  As the Teacher/Librarian, I get to share my enthusiasm for books and literacy with the whole school as well.   I am always excited to share the latest books in the Library with students and staff.  One of my favourite children’s books will always be any of the Scaredy Squirrel books by Melanie Watt.  There is a little something about Scaredy Squirrel that I can connect to.   

Another of my passions is environmental and place-based education.  Having lived in this area all of my life, I am deeply committed to sharing my love for this land and these beautiful communities with my students.  You can often find us outside; playing games, observing and learning in the schoolyard or in the nearby forest beside the spawning channel.  We are so lucky to have this amazing environment to learn and grow in and am grateful that I have a role in educating future stewards of this land.

If you are ever in the school, please check out what is happening in the Kokanee salmon tank, located just past the front entrance.  Early each September, our school receives Kokanee salmon eggs from the Redfish Creek Spawning Channel and our class gets the honor of releasing them as fry.  Each spring, we send these little fish, with a wish for a healthy future, out into our gorgeous Kootenay Lake.

My classroom is also home to our school’s glass observation beehive, a live learning tool on loan to us from the Bee Awareness Society.  Feel free to visit our busy bees, as they are fascinating to watch.  They are such a vital part of our ecosystem and we are so fortunate to share our classroom with them. We can learn so much from bees.  They are excellent role models for diligence, teamwork and a well-functioning community where everyone has a gift to share; three things that are valued and promoted in our classroom.

If you are interested in contacting me, please don’t hesitate to email me and thanks again for looking me up.