Painting in my spare time, when I have it.
At a park with my boys.
Early Life and Family
I am originally from the Niagara Region, in Ontario. I was raised by a single mother, her name is Pauline Rachel Breton. My mom comes from a large family of six siblings, her background is a blend of French, Huron, Metis, English and her grandmother was adopted from the United States and brought into Canada. My mother spent a great deal of her upbringing in the hospital dealing with the health issues from rheumatic fever, and a heart condition. The majority of her schooling took place in the hospital in an unusual setting. My father Michel, Joesph, George, Rudolph Desgagnes also comes from a large family of seven siblings and his background was French, Nippissing, and Mohawk. My father was born in Quebec, French was his first language until his later years of life. He passed away at the age of 28. I have two siblings an older brother Kevin and younger sister Melissa. When I was 5 years old is when my father passed away in a car accident leaving my mother to raise her children without him. My mom met my stepfather when I was fairly young and he has been an integral part of our lives. I attended 3 elementary public schools. I attended Plymouth Elementary for Kindergarten to Grade 1. Then I went to Fitch Street School from grades 2-7 in Welland, Ontario. I have always enjoyed spending my spare time doing something artistic and creative. I tried to take as many art classes as I could. I remember getting in trouble when I was little because I was always trying to do something creative instead of what we were supposed to be working on. I got yelled at once for sharpening my crayons in the school pencil sharpener within the classroom. I moved to Port Colborne, Ontario and finished my final intermediate year at McKay Elementary School. When I graduated elementary school I was chosen for the Valedictorian Award- which went to 2 students who were good representatives of their classes. The criteria for this award was that students should possess good public speaking skills, be well-respected by their peers, possess positive attitudes and display good citizenship qualities. I attended High School at Port Colborne High School from grade 9-12 and while in grade 10, I received a leadership award and was sent to a leadership camp in Orillia with other scholars from around the province. I also received the Canadian Citizenship award during my grade 12 graduation.
Teague and Axton
Growth
After high school, I immediately went on to post-secondary studies into the Travel and Tourism program at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario. Then following that, onto a 2-year Graphic Design diploma at the Brantford campus, where Wayne Gretzky is from. During this time my sister started having children, she now has three kids, my goddaughter Jade and two nephews Tyrin and Cyrus. After I completed my college education, I move on to study Sociology at Brock University and after two years moved on to the workforce within the Call Center environment for the next 7 years. Where I built up my public speaking and communication skills then moved into a Travel Agent role, where I was able to utilize my education and also pursue further training within this industry from Flight Centre. The call centre experience I obtained led me into a position within the education sector working as an Admissions Advisor for the George Washing Universities Online Master of Political Management Program. My office was located in Toronto, Ontario. While there in the city, I worked in Recruitment for Randstad, as well as, the Tal Group, where I was recruiting pharmacists for pharmacies. Then from there I relocated from Ontario to British Columbia and landed a position here in Kamloops working for Sprott-Shaw College, as an Admissions Advisor here. From that position, I moved into working for Work BC Employment Service Centre for the next 8 years. During that time I got married and had two children. After having my second child I separated from my husband two years later due to irreconcilable differences. My sons are Axton, who is 6 and Teague, 4. While I was pregnant with my first son, I returned back to school to work on completing my degree. Since I was working fulltime I had to return through online studies in order to support my family. My plan during this time was to work on obtaining what I needed to get into the Bachelor of Education Program. I have always wanted to become a teacher and having my own children showed me this even more.
Little Teague at Cultus Lake Amusement Park
My sons Axton & Teague
Where I am today
That September when I was accepted into the Bachelor of Education Program, in the Indigenous Cohort I had to make the decision to leave my employer to commit to the program full-time. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this with two little children at home and being a single parent but decided that I needed to pursue my dream to become a teacher. I gave my work notice after over 8 years of service. This was my second family here in British Columbia and a difficult thing to do but I knew this was the right path for me and my family too follow. Since returning to school I have had some pretty great experiences and am meeting lots of amazing people, especially in the Indigenous Cohort. I am working under Roxane Letterlough and am proud to be able to Indigenize education here in BC and honored to have Roxane leading us along the way towards success. I feel truly blessed to be where I am today.
In my personal life, my brother who is two and a half years older than me just welcomed his third child, a daughter named Pipper. My brother also has two sons Landon and Grayson. I have spent the majority of my life surrounded by children. Children and family have always been a huge part of my life and the driving force to where I plan to be in my career. I will be fulfilling my dream and dedicating my professional work to teaching students.
My son’s Axton ( Teague in the back) at the pumpkin patch
Our little family