
About Me


I was born and raised in Ontario, Canada. I lived in Toronto’s west end until half way through Grade Twelve. Most people thought the timing of a move across the city was bad, but I welcomed it. Our family’s new east end neighbourhood opened up adventures I might not have considered had we stayed put! From the time I was seven years old, I was a Muskoka-cottage kid, which meant I had an urban-rural existence. That blend worked out well for me.
In my first eight years of college teaching at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology I co-taught life skills and supported adults in job readiness and academic upgrading. Teaching alongside experienced educators provided me with an apprentice-like situation. The women I worked with set a high standard for what it means to be collegial in a genuine learning community.
When a position opened up in the social service worker diploma program, I was encouraged to apply. I taught courses in what I loved to do. In the fourteenth year of my teaching I felt hungry to return to school and when Brock University offered a new Bachelor of Education in Adult Education degree, I couldn’t have signed up soon enough. Two years later, I had the privilege of teaching in the program. With a whetted appetite for deep learning I enrolled in the department of Curriculum Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and acquired a Master of Education degree. An introduction to narrative inquiry and personal experience research methods incited me to dive into an in-depth study of teaching and learning on the community college landscape and I obtained my PhD.
After years of classroom teaching I took a position in Seneca College’s Teacher Development program, which gave me the opportunity to work with faculty members in the development of curriculum for their own students. Working with my peers in this way gave me great pleasure and rounded out my personal circle of learning. I retired in my thirty-sixth year of teaching and learning on the community college landscape.
Now I reside in one place with my husband Jack and our two black labs, Zachary and Winnie. On the heels of retirement, I took up creative writing. Now I write almost every day. When I’m not writing, you can find me in a kayak and when the water freezes over, on snowshoes somewhere on the lake. I’m happy to have found like-minded friends who like to hike and play pickle ball all year round.

Memberships
Beverley is an active member and participant in:
- Member to the Muskoka Authors Association
- Muskoka Roundtable
- Gravenhurst Probus
- Muskoka Authors Association
- Books and Brews, Gravenhurst Library
- Elderberries Choir, Executive Member-at-Large
