Community
FEATURE RESIDENT
Andrea Reed by KRISTA TURCASSO Lately, my social media has been full of live feeds and great results from our local girls’ volleyball teams… and I have been loving every minute of it! From the amazing Summer Olympic women’s soccer’s athleticism and coverage last year, to the continuation of some of the best hockey I’ve ever seen at the Winter Olympics performed by women this winter, to a growth and focus on girls’ volleyball in Fernie… what a joy, and something I hope has become the new norm. I had to ask one of the parents sharing posts, what is going on? When did this begin and who has been involved? The resounding recommendation was to speak to Andrea Reed. Andrea grew up in Sparwood, (originally Andrea Podrasky) and is grateful for the experience. “It was just so comfortable, my Dad was born in the Michel Hotel and grew up here, too. We just knew everybody, and our whole family lived here too,” she shares with me. “I did move after graduation, but as they say those who call the valley home always come back. When I did, I never left.” Andrea actually went to school to become a hair stylist and worked at Blue Lime when she returned. “But it was then that I realized I wanted to work with children and youth,” she says. She decided to complete the Early Childhood Education Program, and began babysitting and nannying before accepting a temporary position with Teck Coal. “I was still trying to figure it all out, and while there realized working with children and youth was still important to me so I completed a diploma in Child and Family Studies and started
Cassandra Fahselt, Leah Soetart, Olivia Sombrowski, Payton Bauer, Alisia Dvorak, Cianna McCall, Olivia Collings, Audrey Sims, Morgan Trand, Hannah Halley, Sydney Fahselt, Missing from Photo: Anna Loewen, Coach Andrea Reed, Coach Dani Dvorak | Submitted Photo working with SD5 as an Educational Assistant.” When Andrea and her soon-to-be husband moved to Fernie, she began working at Little Me alongside completing her Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Studies. Luckily it was an online program as she also got married and became a mom to her daughter Ashley during this time. After her mat leave, Andrea worked at Isabella Dicken for a couple of years and then had an opportunity to work with ?Aqam running child and youth programming. “But then COVID happened, and we couldn’t run the programming as
people couldn’t interact. I stayed on as a Family Support Worker, and it was a very positive experience where I created great connections with people, learned a lot about their culture, and had the opportunity work with nurses and healthcare aids.” It was at ?Aqam that Andrea met Kim Bauer, who is the Executive Director at the Elkford Women’s Taskforce. Obviously impressed with Andrea’s abilities and experience, Kim offered her the opportunity to be the Program Coordinator and Counsellor for the Elk Valley PEACE program. This free program supports the emotional and psychological needs of children and youth witnessing
