Mrs. Tara Garrioch’s (She/Hers) Educational Portfolio
Welcome! This portfolio includes some of my teaching philosophies, experiences and a few examples of my lessons completed throughout the Bachelor of Education program at Thompson Rivers University and my practica placements. I want to acknowledge that I feel privileged to work, live and play on the unceded lands of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. I am blessed to live within the stunning beauty of the Secwépemc territory.
I am a mother of two children who bring me great joy.
A Brief Bio
I started my educational journey in Kamloops. I attended George Hilliard elementary school and graduated from Norkam Secondary with honours. I first attended University College of the Cariboo, during my time in the institution it transitioned to Thompson Rivers University, while I was working on my Natural Resource studies.
In 2008 I began working as a Science Assistant in rural schools. In my time as a science assistant I had the pleasure of working at Twin Rivers Education Centre (TREC) and Bert Edwards Science and Technology School (BEST) as part of my first school rotation, which was seven schools. These two locations hold particularly special places in my heart. I found TREC to be an amazing place that provided stability, hope and redirection for many of the students that walked through the doors and BEST was a place of curiosity during the time I was there. I found activities like hands-on lab days, Rivers day, Indigenous drumming groups and the fisheries program running out of the school, made BEST a really hands-on and experiential place for students to learn.
In my years as a Science Assistant I had my two daughters that I have had the privilege of raising in Kamloops. An enormous amount of my adult learning has happened in these years, with and through these lovely human beings. Becoming a parent has taught me deeply the precious beauty in the diversity of children, and helped me appreciate them as individuals with unique needs that have a desire to be seen, heard and feel valued.
In my free time, I helped to form the executive of the first Brocklehurst Community Association (BCA), during my time on the executive we hosted a community safety meeting with the RCMP and city community services staff and worked on a petition to save the Brocklehurst outdoor pool. We met monthly, put out a quarterly newsletter, created processes and administered a Facebook group and website. Soon after working with the BCA, I joined the executive of the Kamloops Skating Club (KSC) and have spent thousands of hours volunteering with them. Over the past seven years, volunteering with the KSC I have built relationships with skaters, families, coaches, Pacific Sport Interior, Kamloops Sports Council, as well as, region and provincial officials. I have organized and managed multiple large scale multi-day regional and fun competitions, as well as, training seminars with Olympic coaches and athletes for our communities benefit. In 2022 I was awarded the Bill Nielsen Volunteer Award from Skate Canada for the Okanagan region. February of 2023, I was the organizer/manager for the Local Organizing Committee with the Special Olympics BC Winter Games. All these experiences involve immense planning and organization, which are all skills that I bring to my teaching.
I have reached a place in my personal life where I was able to return to school to take my teaching degree, through the Bachelor of Elementary Education program, at TRU. I love to learn, and being a teacher means I get to be a lifelong learner, which is a passion of mine. I am a creative thinker and I look forward to getting to exercise this piece of myself in my career. This is a very exciting time in my life, getting to expand my knowledge base, learn from my practica teachers and get to teach young minds. I am thrilled to be getting to live my passion, by being a professional educator.