Jillian Marino exudes confidence.
It’s hard to imagine her as a new teacher, struggling to make it to the end of the week. But she remembers that time well.
She was a newly minted teacher, and her students could smell the new-teacher fear. She just knew it. One Friday afternoon, after the last student had left, she closed the classroom door and the tears came.
Marino called her aunt, a veteran teacher. How could she do better? How could she make it through another week?
“Jill,” her aunt began, “You can’t always look back on the week and say that was a great week. And you can’t always look back on the day and say that was a great day. But you can look back and find those moments of brilliance.”
Now a veteran teacher and school leader herself, Marino still hears her aunt’s words and pays the lesson forward.
Running toward a challenge
Marino always knew she would become a teacher one day. When she finished her bachelor of arts at the University of Victoria, she had her eye on teaching programs.
“Some people find teaching. For me, it was always the thing I wanted to do,” she says.
So, when Marino was waitlisted for the bachelor of education (BEd) program at the University of Alberta (U of A), she was devastated but undeterred. She completed a teaching practicum at the University of Lethbridge and then landed a spot as a late entrant at the U of A, where she completed the post-degree program in secondary education.
After tackling various assignments at different schools, Marino was asked to take on a role as social studies department head. She wasn’t sure if it was the best fit — she was a young French specialist who loved coaching sports teams — but was willing to run toward the challenge. She soaked up every moment, finding new ways to connect with her students and colleagues. Before she knew it, an assistant principal position opened up at the school. Marino took a chance and applied.
“I never planned to be a principal. That was never a goal, and I was not on the trajectory,” she says, “I love teaching and I love working with kids, but I got invited to be part of that, so I said yes.”
She has been in school leadership ever since.
Fierce
For nearly 24 years, Marino has been a school leader in the Edmonton area, currently serving as principal of Vimy Ridge, a sports academy. The needs of each school in which she has served have varied — food insecurity, high behavioural or medical needs, or complex community partnerships — and each assignment has become a new opportunity to prove her resolve to support her school community and the individuals in it.
“When someone’s not having success, whether it’s a student, a parent, a colleague, we have to figure out how to create that fertile environment,” Marino says, “Looking at what we have in that environment to make sure the flower blossoms is a great strategy for making change.”
Principal Christina Jones, who taught alongside Marino years ago, attests to Marino’s commitment to her students’ success.
“She’s a strong champion of kids. She’ll make every effort to find a support for a child,” Jones says.
Jones adds that Marino has been successful in school leadership because her heart is as much with the teachers beside her as with the students and families she serves. And because when Marino talks, people listen.
“She’s fierce,” Jones says. “There are very few as fierce as Jillian is, in a loving, caring, professional way.”
The top of their game
Marino first took the lead because the door was open, and she chose to run through it. Now, she makes sure to keep that door open. This means fostering and engaging in collegial networks to help her colleagues be at the top of their game.
“Leadership can be really lonely — lonely at the top,” she reflects, “So it’s important to have each other and build those networks of support.”
With her own mix of kindness and determination, Marino mentors teachers and other schools leaders in their professional journeys. She remembers that teachers are all humans — no matter how skilled they are at leaving those worries at home in the morning so they can teach, coach and lead.
Now nearly done a master’s degree in counselling, Marino finds fulfillment in working through difficult moments with her colleagues, trying to help them find their moments of brilliance to get through those tough times.
“It really is about those moments of brilliance where you’ve reached that child or supported a parent in their challenges with a child or helped a colleague,” Marino says, “Those are the moments that matter. And when you can collect those, then you know you have had a career of success.”
“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”
A quote from Alexander den Heijer that inspires Marino every day.
One more moment with Jillian Marino
With you taking so much on in your personal and professional life, what do you do to take care of yourself?
Honestly, giving back through my work with the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE) and The Family Centre is totally bucket-filling. Also, spending time with my husband, children and friends, sharing meals, skiing in BC, spending time out at the lake, camping or just in our own backyard are ways to refresh, replenish and rejuvenate for all the other tasks.
You have given powerful talks on a traumatic event you experienced. How have you been able to build resilience and move forward with such strength?
It is surprising how each of us has the capacity to dig deep to find the resources and strength to move through challenging times when we are surrounded by people who care. I have been fortunate in my life and my career to be surrounded by a loving family, fabulous friendships and compassionate colleagues.
When tragedy occurs, I like to shift my thoughts from “Why did this happen to me?” to “What do I do with this experience and the new knowledge I have from it?” and the simple answer is to pay it forward to others who may find themselves walking the same path but wearing different shoes.
Got an idea? In Profile features an interesting teacher in each issue of the ATA Magazine. If you know of a teacher who would be a good profile subject, please contact managing editor Cory Hare at cory.hare@ata.ab.ca.
