Janice Henderson

Background

About Janice Henderson

For over twenty years now I have been working with children in a variety of contexts, and I love it. I love the energy they have, the spontaneity, and the creativity that seems to come as easily as breathing. It was both my passion for working with children as well as my desire to teach that led me to take the Second Language Teaching and Bachelor of Education programs at the University of Ottawa, and I enjoy putting that teaching knowledge into practice in a variety of different contexts. As an Occasional Teacher in varied schools across the Ottawa area, I love getting to meet new students, sharing my skills with them, and helping to provide consistency even while their regular teacher is away. As an instructor at Little Medical School, I’ve been thrilled to get to put science into practical contexts for a variety of age groups, and to inspire them into medical pursuits. When I taught a several long-term classes in 2019 at Corpus Christi, I relished the adventure of finding ways to bring 15 different curriculums into reality for all my 63 students. On the Rideau Canal, working as a Skate Patroller has given me an incredible opportunity to put all my years of first aid skills into practice, and to work in a team. I enjoyed my first year so much I took a Medical First Responder course with St John Ambulance, and have been volunteering with them as well since then. Those experiences have been a great asset as I have continued working on the canal, and I hope to continue learning more skills to help others. At the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, I often had the privilege of working with a wide range of school and adult groups, and I loved tackling the challenge of adapting the lessons and programs to suit their diverse needs. I was well known among my colleagues for my organizational skills, mostly because I found it easiest to learn new programs by summarizing them into convenient one-page lesson plans. As an Embers Leader I have developed many different strategies and techniques to get and keep the attention of the girls as we teach them different skills. I try as much as possible to be prepared for any situation, but working with special needs campers at Ontario Pioneer Camp taught me to always be ready to change the plan and try a different approach if necessary. Outside of work, I love to make things! Whether it's a pair of earrings or a quilt, or even building a piece of furniture to organize my wide variety of craft supplies, I exercise my creative gifts on a regular basis.