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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Annie Strus began caring for children at a young age by helping to look after her five younger siblings while growing up in Yellowknife.

Annie Strus, who is pursuing a career as an early childhood educator, is preparing to continue her education at Aurora College in September. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

"I guess it's always been part of my life," said Strus, 23. "Being with kids has always made me happy. I like seeing the kids laugh, learn and play."

This month, Strus, who has born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, took a big step on her chosen career path toward becoming a professional early childhood educator with support from staff at the Association for Community Living.

Strus completed a four-month online early childhood education certification program through Stonehenge, a private international educational institution based in Britain with an office in Montreal.

"She completed it with distinction. She surprised everyone and moved quite fast and furious through it with high comprehension," said Gordon Ross, the association's manager of employability and employment support. "She has the capacity and passion for childcare. Desire and will from Annie's part is what led us to think about this approach."

Strus has been part of the association's Open Doors program, which provides support for clients as they prepare to join the labour market, for the past 18 months.

After completing the association's job readiness "boot camp," Strus worked in housekeeping at the Yellowknife Inn for six months. During that job, she learned about employment-related social skills while working as part of a team, Ross said, which helped her at her next job, an eight-month position as a dining room attendant at Tim Hortons.

Strus was supported in her studies by the association's job coach Kristina Kopp and literacy instructor Stefan Superina. The curriculum features seven modules, which involved numerous quizzes and two 1,000-word essays.

She submitted the final essay as part of her application to serve her practicum with the Centre for Northern Families' daycare program.

"It was a really impressive essay," said Mira Hall, the centre's family programs manager. "I just think it's fantastic that the Yellowknife Association for Community Living supported her through the online learning process and I can tell from her work that she's really smart and I'm glad that we have the opportunity to help her put the book learning into practice."

Strus is scheduled to meet with centre staff to prepare for her practicum sometime this week.

"We'll be working with her based on what we need and what she's comfortable with," Hall said.

The centre's daycare program serves about 15 to 20 children aged one to five each day. Strus would be working alongside four other centre staff.

Strus said she is "a little bit nervous, but eager.

"I'm a fast learner," Strus said. "I guess you could say I've got talent."

Strus is scheduled to continue her early childhood education studies at Aurora College in September, where she will prepare to meet NWT certification standards.

"I don't let my disability hinder me," said Strus, who describes herself as "caring, hardworking, responsible and dependable."

Strus is also a Special Olympian who has traveled throughout Canada competing in figure skating, bowling and gymnastics, and also plays piano in her spare time. She reads music and writes her own songs, which are rich in metaphor.

"I just want to learn everything I can put my hands on," she said. "I'm not just good at one thing. I'm good at anything I can put my hands on. I make less mistakes than most people and I'm willing to learn more."

The association works with 16 other clients as part of its Open Doors program, five were part of a school-to-work program run in partnership with the high schools.

Program participants are working in jobs at the Smokehouse Cafe in Ndilo, running an entrepreneurial project in which they sell smoothies at the association's summer cafe, and volunteering at Aven Manor.

The one-and-a-half-year-old program, which subsidizes employer's wage costs for participants during a probationary period, suffered a blow this fiscal year when the Department of Education, Culture and Employment cut its budget by more than half, from $72,000 to $30,000. Ross said the association is seeking other funding streams to keep the program going.

"The program is intended to provide gainful employment for a very under-represented group in the labour force," Ross said. "We want to make sure we don't end up turning away anybody that needs support."

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