Samantha from Fernie

Samantha wanted to be an Early Childhood Educator

Samantha lives in Fernie and is a member of the Qalipu First Nation. Becoming an Early Childhood Educator was always her plan, but life got in the way of her gaining formal training.

She liked working with kids and excelled at providing childcare. She had work experience but needed credentials to be able to work in a formal childcare environment. She went to WorkBC Centre Fernie to find out if they had training options to help her reach her employment goal and was pleased to learn that they did.

With WorkBC funding support, Samantha began her training as an Early Childhood Educator. An Aboriginal Client Case Manager from the Ktunaxa Nation Council and WorkBC combined efforts to support Samantha. The Aboriginal Client Case Manager is also an Indigenous Skills and Employment Training (ISET) service provider. This relationship ensured Samantha was connected to any additional and supplemental resources the ISET was able to provide. This combined effort provided Samantha with daycare for her own children, as well as other costs during her training, so she could focus on her studies.

Samantha was offered a job while she was still in training. Once she did finish, she quickly started her job fulltime as an Early Childhood Educator at the Fernie Child Care Society.