Staff Spotlight: Making Learning Click at Foothills
For the past eight years, Melissa Beaupre has been a familiar and trusted face at Foothills, bringing passion, insight, and heart to her role as a Clinical Instructor and a member of the Read, Write, & Math Leadership Team. Her work centers on helping students truly understand how they learn, and watching that understanding spark confidence is what fuels her every day.
Staff Spotlight: Making Learning Click at Foothills
For the past eight years, Melissa Beaupre has been a familiar and trusted face at Foothills, bringing passion, insight, and heart to her role as a Clinical Instructor and a member of the Read, Write, & Math Leadership Team. Her work centers on helping students truly understand how they learn, and watching that understanding spark confidence is what fuels her every day.
What Melissa enjoys most about her job is seeing the exact moment when things click for a student. “I love the look on my students’ faces when they understand a concept and realize that someone understands the way they learn.” Those moments of connection are at the core of her work and are what make Foothills such a meaningful place for her.
No two days are quite the same. A typical day might include working one on one with a student in a Literacy Intensive, collaborating with the Writing development team, and meeting weekly with students both online and in person. After work, she heads home to her two cats, Henry and Leonardo, unwinds with them, and enjoys some quiet reading time. Weekends are reserved for spending time with her daughters and volunteering with the Meow Foundation, either at the Adoption Center or the Regal Cat Cafe.
One thing many people do not realize about Melissa’s role is that Read, Write, & Math provides intervention, not tutoring. This distinction reflects the depth and intentionality of the work being done and allows students to build foundational skills and confidence that extend far beyond the classroom.
A recent accomplishment Melissa is especially proud of is being part of the program development team. “It is fun to be a part of something from the inception of it.” Contributing to the creation and growth of Foothills’ programs has been both rewarding and inspiring.
The impact of Melissa’s work reaches well beyond reading and writing skills. Parent feedback often highlights how children begin to love reading again or how their confidence grows during programs and continues afterward. These outcomes matter just as much as academic progress.
Just for Fun
- Sweet or salty snacks? Sweet
- Current favorite show or podcast? Smosh Reddit Stories, a Saturday tradition with her oldest daughter
- Fun fact: She read 88 books last year
- A skill she would love to master instantly: Speaking French with a perfect accent
- Favorite season: Fall in Nova Scotia, especially the breathtaking colors along the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton