When it comes to children, I see them as young trees. Clarity, love, and trust help them thrust upwards.

R.S.

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Introduction

With 15 years of experience in Visual Arts education and a background as an internationally exhibiting artist and qualified IB teacher, my work is driven by a passion for creativity and learning. Teaching students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 has shown me how powerful the arts can be in building confidence and personal voice.

Trained at the University of Toronto (OISE) with a Master of Teaching and additional qualifications in Visual Arts and Social Sciences from Queen’s University, I foster an inclusive, student-centred classroom. Here, students are encouraged to explore and take creative risks.

Whether working with traditional materials, digital tools, or inquiry-based projects, the focus remains the same: nurturing students who think critically, collaborate thoughtfully, and see the world with imagination and possibility.

A Sense of Duty

I view my role as a means to contribute to the future. By delivering an impactful and captivating learning experience to my students, I aim to instill in them an eagerness and willingness to pursue growth and triumph in the years to come. My conviction is that authentic learning stems from within. My aspiration as an instructor is to cultivate this intrinsic motivation, allowing it to prosper and soar to new heights.

“Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.”
Herman Hesse
Dear Future Santi,
Hello, this is your past self, past Santi, and I am here to talk to you about our dream (goal) of becoming a professional horseback rider. I hope that you are well at the time that you’re reading this, and some other things that I hope for are that we did eventually achieve our goal. I am hoping that we/you have aimed for the best you can get. Wishing that we have lots of ribbons of higher places, amazing and well-trained horses, professional riding and barn work skills, and tons or just enough money to get what we need plus want. Also, if we did accomplish our goal, remember to stay focused when showing and training, be determined so that you will at least try to get good ribbons, make sure that you have perfect time management with those horses and shows, and be patient with the horses, not overworking them, and people, all while having fun through it all to stay happy. Now for some questions. How long did Salem live? Have we flipped and sold any horses or ponies yet? Trained a green horse or a foal yet? What different shows are we doing? Are any Horsey friends? How many horses and how much money do we have right now? Hopefully, that’s not too many questions and that you do answer them when you see this maybe in 10-20ish years. It was very nice writing and sending you this letter and I’ll be waiting for some answers! Please try to live long for me and don’t allow a horse to be the death of us because we both know that it wouldn’t end well. Thank you for reading this long letter and for taking the time to read it!

Dear Aadil,

As you may or may not remember, I am writing to you from the past. I am writing to you as a way of reminding you what your dreams were at the age of 12.
So, you want to be a patent lawyer, so we must talk about things you need to accomplish for your dreams. First, you need to develop honesty. A lawyer should be honest with the client about their prospects for success, as well as the risks and costs involved in pursuing their desired result. A lawyer should eagerly advocate on the client's behalf, while providing realistic advice based on the law and the facts of the client's case, with your budget and goals in mind. Next, you need to develop supportiveness because no matter the nature, all your disputes are going to be emotionally taxing. A lawyer’s job is to take the client's story and create good, compelling legal arguments. Now remember every client's goals and needs are different. You should be sensitive to the importance of employment to the clients and must listen before arriving at conclusions about the strength of a claim and the right way forward. Finally, you need a sense of creativity, lawyers aren't only logical, but they display a great sense of creativity when problem-solving. All solutions aren’t always obvious and in order to work around the problem it is necessary to think outside the box.

Hello James I trust you are in a good place in life and are happy. Also, I want to hope that you continued in your journey to becoming a real estate agent and you did your course and college and stayed resilient and strong, and encouraged. So you can feel proud and accomplished in yourself. I want to say that I love you and you need to remember that. Even if you’re not doing real estate I know you are doing something amazing because you are so creative and smart. You got this James!