Our Journey
Becky Furney, B.Ed.
President
Within a few months of tutoring at Mind Over Learning in 2012, I knew I had found the career meant for me. A former teacher, I lasted only a few short years in the formal education system before leaving the profession, exhausted, jaded, and disillusioned. I felt limited and helpless trying to understand and meet students’ individual learning needs. Kids were simply passed into the next grade even if they were years behind their peers in their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
I later crossed paths with Astrid, the founder and owner of Mind Over Learning. She and I connected over our mutual educational backgrounds, then eventually, I came to work for her.
Astrid’s knowledge and approach to specialized education was refreshing and sparked a new passion in me for teaching. As I trained to remediate learning disabilities in reading, I became equipped to astutely observe student responses, processes, and learning behaviours. With ongoing instruction and research, that awareness turned into understanding, which later translated into knowing and implementing the best solutions for each student. As a result, learning disabilities and diagnoses such as Autism, ADHD, NVLD, FASD, dyslexia, and others, ceased to be a mystery to me.
Astrid and I began to partner more over the years. Through her encouragement, training, and constant support, I took on more responsibility at the center, which was rapidly growing. Part of my growth within the center included designing and implementing new programs for Mind Over Learning—Writing, Reading Comprehension, Academic Strategies for Post-Secondary Students, and Distance Learning Support.
With Astrid as the inspiration and model for continued research and accountability to the effectiveness of our teaching, I strove to maintain consistency with the Mind Over Learning approach in all my roles: Administrator, Trainer, Program Designer and Coordinator, Office Manager, Head of HR, and now, President and Business Operator. To this day, we remain committed to the integrity of our company, reflecting the spirit in which it was birthed.
Passion is ignited in each of us to continually strive for excellence and results. For me, as a former teacher, that meant unlearning many of my teaching habits. Teachers explain and present copious amounts of information, driven by requirements to cover specific curriculum objectives for the grade. Students are typically subject to operating in a passive state, often requiring them to stay focused through auditory attention alone. This regularly leaves students to learn critical skills on their own, simply through exposure. At Mind Over Learning, however, we draw students into the learning process in a way that works for each individual. We hold ourselves responsible for ensuring learning takes place, and we also keep learning and growing.
Our team is made up of individuals who desire to make a difference in their sphere of influence, and I am privileged to lead that group. Parents have come to expect from us high-quality remedial education for their kids because we have a substantial training and support system for our staff which continues to emulate the personalized training I received from our beloved founder.
I have found my home at Mind Over Learning, and my role here keeps me passionate and enthusiastic! Because of my work, I am a better person and a better parent. I have a better understanding of why and how people struggle. I am more gentle. I seek more to understand and listen than to judge. I feel so fortunate to have MOL as an integral and continual part of my life.