Celebrating student achievement

While the Werklund School of Education is fortunate to have a large number of accomplished students, it is a passion for education, drive to carry out original research and a commitment to community that allows a select few to stand apart from the crowd.

Each year, the school awards these individuals with Werklund Community Engaged Leadership Scholarships and Werklund Doctoral Scholarships.

In celebration of student achievement, three award winners from the past five years shared some insight into their academic journeys.

Victoria Bouvier

Born and raised in Calgary, Vicki Bouvier is proud Michif-Métis and a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Her ancestry is rooted in the St. Francois Xavier community of the Red River and Boggy Creek, Manitoba.

Vicki’s education and professional path began in the field of Aboriginal early childhood education. In the twenty years that followed she invested herself in preschool education, Aboriginal youth leadership, and Aboriginal student programming and advising.

After completing her BA in International Indigenous Studies, Vicki pursued a Master of Arts at the Werklund School. Today she is a doctoral student in Curriculum and Learning at Werklund, where her research focuses on Métis ways of knowing.

Currently, Vicki is exploring how Métis people, born and raised in urban environments, practice and express their self-understandings, both individually and collectively in the city, using both an oral model of learning and visual media

Sarah Nutter

Sarah grew up in a small town in rural Ontario where she witnessed the destructive effects of weight-based bullying.

Having completed her MSc in counselling psychology at the Werklund School, today Sarah is a doctoral student at Werklund where she is researching the ideological factors that influence weight bias, particularly the need to believe that the world is just a place where individuals get what they deserve.

By better understanding the nature of weight bias, Sarah hopes we can develop more effective attitude interventions in education, healthcare, and the community. Since schools are one part of the world that is pervaded by common discourses about weight, they are an ideal setting for encouraging shifts in attitudes.

Recognizing weight bias as a social justice issue, Sarah is a passionate advocate promoting equality and respect for persons of every size.

Samantha Sirianni

Sam is in her second year of the after degree program in Elementary Inclusive Education. During her years at UCalgary, Sam has been heavily involved on campus and in community, whether serving in various positions on the Students’ Union, Board of Governors and Senate, or working with children through the Kids Cancer Care Foundation.

With a passion for teaching children, Sam is making it her mission to encourage them to fulfill their dreams and participate to the best of their abilities – at the same time, Sam continues to advocate for them, trying to remove social barriers they may face.

Teachers were some of the most influential people in her life and she has told us she is anticipating becoming that person to someone else.