Meet the Team: Mme. Catherine Bolduc-Beaulieu

Mme. Bolduc-Beaulieu is now in her third school year at GNS, having joined us in September 2023. She teaches both IB MYP and DP French in the Senior School.

What led you to the GNS community?

Prior to GNS, I worked at L’Alliance Française in Victoria doing education management. I enjoyed doing that, but my background was in teaching the International Baccalaureate Programme, and I wanted to continue doing that. I felt that I grew a lot, but in the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to go back to an IB school.

The IB programmes align a lot with the way I think, so when I first arrived in Victoria, I noticed GNS and kept my eye on it. Every time I would bike by the school and think “I’m going to work there.” When I saw the job posting for a French teacher, I could see myself in the job description and thought, “Okay, this is the place where I want to work,” and I’m quite happy to be here!

What are some of your interests outside of school? 

Rock climbing is a big interest; it’s my co-curricular at school and I also teach it outside of school. During COVID I started baking sourdough and just never stopped. Especially when I came back to Canada. I couldn’t find good bread so I made my own. Now baking punctuates my day, and I get to bring treats to school.

What’s something most people don’t know about you? 

I like to think I’m an open book; I talk about the things that are important to me. People are usually surprised that I taught IB Design in the Netherlands. It included food design at that school, so we talked about food safety, but then I also talked about making bread, and the students got to actually bake at school. 

What is your favourite course to teach?

I really love IB DP French, it’s my coup de coeur (favourite)! The themes I find are very relevant and they’re easy to adapt to the current world. From year to year, I can change what I’m teaching so the students can research and learn what they’re interested in learning about the Francophone world. I also get to keep learning, and it’s so flexible and therefore is one of my favourite things to teach. 

How did you choose teaching as the right path for you? 

I was not in teaching originally. I started out in Biopharmaceuticals, but didn’t stay for very long. I studied sciences in CEGEP (Quebec program roughly equivalent to Grade 12 and Year One of University) and at the start of university as well. 

But something wasn’t quite right and so I went to China to teach English through a summer program. That’s where I met a teacher from Vancouver who told me, “You’re good at this, have you thought of going into teaching?” Then, when I got back to Canada, I immediately looked up programs and found the Second Language Teaching program at the University of Ottawa. I’m definitely more of a people person and this path that I chose reflects myself a lot more. 

What do you like about living and working in Victoria?

Biking everywhere! I moved to Victoria after teaching in the Netherlands, where you can bike everywhere. It’s very people-friendly rather than car-friendly. That’s something I find true in Victoria as well, or at least we’re going in that direction. 

I also enjoy going outside and kayaking, hiking and rock climbing, and living here allows for that. Last weekend I went to Jocelyn Hill for a hike and you’re not that far away from home but you have beautiful scenery. I’ve found that working in Victoria brings that balance. 

There is a vibrant Francophone community in Victoria, full of events and community. It’s not always as obvious as you might not hear an accent. There are so many ways to get involved; it’s just that you need to go and look for them. In Canada, we’re very lucky to have two official languages. 

If anyone is interested in learning more, I suggest checking out the Société Francophone de Victoria and l’Alliance Française de Victoria and listening to Radio Victoria (107.9 FM, which I am also on the board for!).