Elsie began her journey with Good Learning Anywhere (GLA) in the fall of 2015 in an effort to improve her English writing skills. During her intake, she met with her mentor and it was discovered that she would also benefit from working on improving her digital and technology skills.  Elsie worked part-time as a seamstress but still managed to find time to attend live courses and made sure she listened to the recording of any classes that she missed. Elsie completed every live course she signed up for!

She is a firm believer in life-long learning.   During her time with GLA, Elsie has progressed from live classes to also completing courses in the online platforms Moodle (Short) and Plato (Independent) demonstrating her drive and determination to keep learning.   Elsie has completed close to 25 courses during her time with GLA and has successfully attained 8 Milestones. She regularly communicates with her GLA mentor and we believe this is one of the secrets to her success in online learning.  Together, Elsie and her mentor work closely together to help her achieve her learning goals!

Elsie immigrated from Jamaica to North America close to 20 years ago.  Elsie is proud to share that last summer she became a Canadian citizen. Elsie credits her learning with GLA with improving her self confidence, ability to communicate and has helped her to focus on achieving more in life. Elsie is a great example to younger people with her drive and determination that learning is a life-long journey! Congratulations to Elsie on being chosen the 2019 Lois Gray Award for Achievement recipient.

Her award was presented in person by her mentor Julie and Elsie had a speech prepared, which you can view here.  

The text of her speech is provided below:

“Good morning. It is indeed an honour and a privilege on this most auspicious occasion to receive this award in recognition of my learning achievements. I am very grateful for this award as it goes to show that hard work does pay off. I have been studying with GLA since my arrival in Canada and it has been an amazing journey. GLA has assisted in my professional growth and development by refining existing skills that I already possessed and offering extensive training, new knowledge and skills that have prepared me for the working world in my new country. This has been an invaluable educational journey for me. I would recommend GLA to anyone who is interested in lifelong learning. I want to extend a big thank you to my mentor Julie and her team, whose patience and motivation have sustained me throughout the years. Thank you, team GLA.”