Zoë Kreze

Year Graduated: 2022

Area of Emphasis: Environment and Sustainable Development

Other Education: Pusuing Master's of Environment and Sustainability @ Western University

Current Role: Secondary Tutor in ESL and ELD (English Literary Development) with the Waterloo District School Board

What development issues are most important to you, or of the most interest to you?

“I think that question or maybe my answer, perhaps, has evolved through the years that I did ID. I would say currently the most important issue to me is the environment, but that’s what I specialized in, so I’m a bit biased. But I would say most importantly, creating communities in cities that are complete and that can sustain for a long period of time. We know that climate change is not just gonna go away overnight, so it’s a matter of adapting to the situation and learning how to create urban areas more specifically, because that’s where most people live in a sustainable way. So how do we create a complete community? How do we incorporate knowledge that’s really important that we’re overlooking, like Indigenous knowledge? Those are the things that are most important to me.”

What would an average day in your current role look like?

“So, my job with the school board looks very much like high school. So, I wake up, get ready, I go to school, go to the staff room, and drop off my stuff. And so, I’m supporting English classes mostly. I teach ELDDE which is the highest level of English literary development. So ELD is essentially ESL, but mostly kids that have come from countries where they don’t have a lot of formal education in their own native language as well. So, I work in English, and then I go to a world history class and a business class, because my minor in my undergrad was business and economics […] I basically talk to the students and work with them one-on-one. That’s essentially what my day looks like.”