Employer: Centacare Employment and Training 

Yvette Terpstra is a language, literacy and numeracy specialist. She teaches at-risk youth, and inmates at a remand and reintegration facility.

Yvette helps her students tap into their strengths and forge pathways to empowerment. Yvette never makes assumptions about her students and prefers to base her teaching on the development of shared knowledge.

Yvette works closely with an Aboriginal community development officer, who acts as a guide to ensure her class content is culturally appropriate for Indigenous students.

While some of her students had previous negative experiences with education, Yvette likens what she does to education ‘first aid’. She teaches them it’s ok to take a risk, to fail at times, and to become comfortable with giving things a go.