Who is Maggie Shaw?

Hi, my name is Maggie Shaw and I’m a visual arts teacher at Twin Lakes Secondary School in Orillia, ON.

Why are you here in Orillia at this time and place?

I’m in Orillia because I was born and raised here. I have very deep-seeded roots in the City of Orillia and when I graduated from University, I knew that this is where I wanted to come home, and continue to call my permanent home.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

I originally wasn’t going to go to school for teaching, I thought I was going to go to school for business. And as I was getting closer to graduation in high school, a lot of people were saying to me, “you need to be a teacher, you’re so good with kids, you’re so good at teaching people, you’re so patient in the way you explain things”.

And when I really thought about it – because I taught dance, I taught swimming and skiing – they were right. I thought to myself, I’m not going to be feeding my soul if I go into business, I want to give back to my community in a way that I can also provide a life for myself and my and teaching was the way for that and I’m very, very lucky because I’m doing my passion.