“What’s your background?”
Written by LYKKE Kids founder, Lainie Holmes
I’m often asked:
“What’s your background?”
“Have you done something like this before?”
I usually keep my answer pretty general, “I used to be a teacher.”
And if my husband, Eric, is there, he often jumps in and starts sharing more on my behalf. He knows that I’m not one to get into it.
Because how do you explain your skill set in a succinct way that will make sense to someone outside of your profession? You probably find the same thing.
Saying, “I was a teacher” feels like the easiest route, even though I know there’s more to it...
I began my career as a teacher, became a leader in the field of education, and chose to leave it to make an impact for kids and their families in a different way. Here’s how it happened…
Child and Youth Studies Major
I chose Brock University. They offered the competitive child and youth studies concurrent education program. It meant that while I was doing my undergrad, I would also be taking courses for my teaching degree. I would consecutively do two degrees at the same time.
I had to apply after my first year and spots were given based on grade averages. I worked my ass off that first year - hours spent studying, reading, working on assignments.
I got in.
I was taking courses about child development, educational law, children and youth with exceptionalities, focus on early childhood education, children’s literature… I was spending time in a variety of environments that support kids, like public school classrooms and The Niagara Children’s Centre that delivers a continuum of therapeutic supports and services for kiddos with physical, developmental and communicative delays or disabilities. I was loving it.
Post Graduate Student
As soon as I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts and teaching degree (primary / junior qualifications, which means I could teach kindergarten to grade 6), I decided to go back to school to complete my Masters in Education (with a focus on teaching and learning).
I was teaching kiddos during the day and then going to classes and writing papers at night. When it came time to choose a thesis or a project, I went with project. I appreciate and love theory and research, and then want to make it tangible and practical. I need to see it play out in practice; that feels like play to me.
So for my research project I chose to create a resource for fellow educators - sharing snippets of research about the benefits of creativity and different ideas for bringing creativity into their classrooms.
Classroom Teacher
I began teaching when I was 21 years old. I began as a school art teacher and librarian; fitting for a creative girl who had worked in a library as a kid.
In my second year of teaching, I was a grade 6/7 teacher. By the end of the year, I was approached by educational leaders in the school board to see if they could record me while teaching - to use the videos in their professional development sessions for educators.
I started facilitating workshops in the school board (for fellow teachers with way more experience and knowledge than I had), by the time I was 22.
I continued to take additional qualification courses: Special Education Part 1, English as a Second Language, Intermediate English (meaning I was now certified to teach kindergarten to grade 10), and completed my mathematics specialist.
I was curious about the teaching of mathematics (math never really made sense to me as a kid; I wanted to teach it in a way that made sense for kids). I started reading everything I could about it. My principal at the time saw my interest and invited me to join her for a provincial mathematics conference for educational leaders. That created a whole new path for me…
Teacher Leader
I began my career with the District School Board of Niagara, then made the move to York Region District School Board (YRDSB). In hindsight, I’m so thankful to have worked in two progressive school boards - meaning they were known for investing in professional learning for teachers and had high expectations for teaching practice.
In York Region, I signed up for every workshop being offered in the board about teaching math. So much so that one day I was asked if I would like a consultant from the math team to visit my classroom on a weekly basis, as an instructional coach. Yes! How amazing would that be?!
Fast forward a year, with the support of a coach and the incredible learning made possible because of the math curriculum team, I was having a lot of fun teaching math. It was so exciting to see what the kids could do. This led to our classroom being used as a space where teachers from different schools could come and observe (as I was teaching math) and then debrief afterwards.
This then grew to curriculum consultant teams and International delegates from different countries coming to our classroom to observe the kids and I. It made me feel like throwing up; I felt so nervous. Yet, I knew what a difference it had made for me - to have someone to learn with. So whatever I could do to share, if it was helpful to someone else, I would suck it up and feel nauseous.
And then during this time, a mentor asked if I would be interested in contributing a piece of professional writing to David Booth’s newest educational resource for teachers called, Caught in the Middle. It was so exciting to be included. For those in education, we know David Booth, his books are on most of our shelves. For his book, I was asked to write about how I intentionally created community in my classroom.
At this time I felt like I was making a difference for the kids in my class and potentially making a difference for hundreds of other kids by learning with their teachers. Knowing that was the reason I applied for a curriculum consultant position for York Region District School Board. I was hired to join a team of 40-50 educators (elementary and secondary teachers) out of hundreds who applied. I was the youngest on the team. I was 29.
Literacy and Mathematics Consultant in YRDSB
I joined the math team and experienced what it meant to truly be a part of a team. They loved learning. Everyone was reading research, the newest professional resources, attending conferences and always thinking about what we could do to best support kids. It was very exciting.
And it was SO out of my comfort zone. I was used to being in a room with my students and was now speaking in rooms of hundreds of people. I was planning and facilitating workshops for teachers. I was co-planning lessons with groups of teachers, using research to inform our instructional choices, thinking about where kids were at and deciding what materials or experiences would support their next steps to move towards an understanding of the concepts and skills in the curriculum, then teaching the lessons in classrooms together and debriefing afterwards. It felt cutting edge; we were all challenging ourselves. And it was exciting to see what the kids were able to do and were capable of.
While being a consultant, I decided to get my principal qualifications in Ontario. Not because I wanted to be a principal of a school, but because I wanted to better understand their role. At the time, I was supporting principals - helping them look at their school’s EQAO results, trying to understand the needs of the kids, and then deciding how to plan professional learning for staff that was meaningful for them and would support the identified needs of kids.
Instructional Designer
While I was a consultant, I also joined an e-learning team. Our role was to take the latest research and theory, and figure out how to share it in a way that was helpful to fellow teachers, principals, and consultants (so they knew of best practices to inform the work they did in their roles). We were designing and creating websites that educators could go to for their own professional learning and to access materials they could use in their classrooms.
I was attending conferences to learn more about how to design websites and conduct user testing (UX) and working with a team of web and graphic designers. It was fun to learn this whole other world. A fun new challenge that was creative.
Curriculum Coordinator
Fast forward a few years, I spent some time as a curriculum coordinator for a digital literacy team, supporting a team of 10+ Digital Literacy Resource Teachers who spent time with teachers in classrooms sharing digital tools for student learning and also considerations for student privacy and safety online.
I applied for the role so I could be a part of senior team. I think there were 10 - 15 members of senior team - people who made decisions around what professional learning looked like in the school board and how resources and funding was used. I wanted to be a part of the conversation.
I learned that I didn’t love the role of booking meetings, sending emails, and “coordinating” … I wanted to do the work and spend time with kids in classrooms. This was the last official role I had in York Region before going on mat leave.
Course Facilitator for the Math Specialist Course for Ontario Teachers (ETFO)
While on maternity leave with our three kiddos, I taught the math specialist course for the province. Because why not facilitate an online course for teachers and provide feedback on their assignments, while you have a newborn and two toddlers at home?
But I loved to think, it was a new challenge, and it provided some income while on leave. I taught the math specialist course for 3 or 4 years. It was a neat experience, and I liked the idea of being able to make a difference for kids by supporting their teachers, in different schools across the province. Again, I was supporting kids, just in a different way.
And then I left the public system. I “retired” from YRDSB in my 30’s.
I wanted to be with our kids during their early years, and I didn’t see further leadership opportunities within the board that were a good fit for me. I wasn’t interested in being a superintendent or a principal. What would I do next?
Achievement Officer with the Ministry of Education
This is a role I didn’t do and often wonder what it would have been like.
While on maternity leave with our daughter, I was tapped to apply for a role with the Ministry of Education. But our daughter was only months old and I wanted to be home with her and the boys.
It would have been an amazing opportunity. As a classroom teacher you get the reality of what it’s like to teach in public school classrooms. As a consultant, you get a bigger picture; you see how schools function from a different perspective. You learn more about all the moving parts - the role of superintendents, system leaders, how funding works, and the politics. Working within the Ministry would have been interesting to see what was happening at the provincial level.
Mom
My learning continued while I was home with our kids. I kept in touch with teacher and principal friends; I was concerned about what they were observing in classrooms and schoolyards. Kids were having difficulty socially; kiddos as young as kindergarten and grade 1 were fighting in schoolyards and having a hard time navigating relationships and solving problems. Teachers and principals were seeing a high prevalence of anxiety in kids, so much so that school teams were doing book studies around texts like, The Anxious Generation. They were worried about the kids, and this was before Covid.
So I decided to take an 8 week course through the LEGO Foundation - Coping Through Change: Social-Emotional Learning Through Play. I wanted to learn more about supporting kids socially. Maybe there was something I could do.
After resigning from the board, I knew that I wanted to do something for kids and their families. There had to be a way to use my background and skills in a new way. I just didn’t know what that looked like, yet…
Founder of LYKKE Kids
It took close to 7 years and having all of our kiddos in school, before the pieces finally came together and I had the idea of opening a space for kids.
It wasn’t a lifelong dream or an idea we saw somewhere; it was created solely out of concern for kids. I was willing to take on a lease, find a lawyer, figure out commercial insurance, think through how to create a business from scratch… for kids to be able to play.
Simple on the surface, but beneath it all, I knew how it could support kids socially, emotionally, and cognitively. And so I was willing to try.
At LYKKE Kids, you are stepping inside a space that was imagined and thought out by someone with 20+ years of experience working with children. Someone who designs without even realizing sometimes all the connections to research and learning theory. It’s so embedded in how I see and do things, how I interact with kids.
And there’s so much more I want to do with the space. It’s actually discouraging at times, that what’s in my head hasn’t been executed yet. All that I wish to do with programs is still coming together. But I try to give myself grace because I’m also a mom to 3 young kids, running a space, with a laundry mountain at our house too and our kids’ soccer and baseball games to watch; I can’t do everything. And, I’m proud of how far we’ve come already in two years.
There are still times I cringe at how I interact with kids, because I know there was a better way I could have asked that question. I’ve read professional resources and Ministry documents on the topic. I myself have written resources for teachers and hosted sessions around how to ask good questions to elicit thinking. And yet I just asked that simple question to your kid, ugh. But I love that there’s always so much to learn and so much I could improve. That’s the fun of it.
I’m often asked, “what’s your background?”
“I used to be a teacher.”
I’m still learning how to share a bit more and writing this post is a place to start.
Because that person you see picking up toys, tidying the art studio table and putting on another pot of coffee has experienced a whole other professional life before this one and has much to offer kids and their families. It’s why I’m here.
So, What’s Next?
This is exciting to think about! It’s a big question that I’m having fun with right now.
The wheels are starting to turn and I’m talking with friends and colleagues.
I have big goals that I don’t want to do alone. Not because I’m not capable of it or I’m afraid, but because I want to have that feeling again of working as a member of a team. To be with others who care about kids too and are willing to do the work in service of kids. People who know more than I do, have different perspectives and strengths to share. All of us working together to do amazing things with kids.
I’m excited to find my people and make it happen.
My friend and former colleague once wrote, “I worked with Lainie for years when she was an educational leader for our large school board. She was a gifted leader and had an illustrious and lucrative career. Yet, she knew in her heart of hearts that there was something out there that would bring her more joy and inner happiness. She left this amazing job to be able to find a way to make a living doing what she loved most…”