Meghan Saundercook will be speaking at the RBJSE 2026 on March 7. This free event is run for graduate students by graduate students. Registrations close on Friday, February 27 at 11:59 pm.
When Meghan Saundercook (BA'17, BEd'18) looks back on her time at Queen’s, the path she’s on now feels less like a detour and more like a natural evolution.
“I always dreamed of being a teacher,” she says. “I was that kid with a whiteboard in my bedroom, doing lessons for nobody.” Raised by a teacher and drawn to learning from an early age, Meghan enrolled in Queen’s Concurrent Education program fully expecting she’d one day have a classroom of her own.
But Queen’s showed her that teaching could take many forms.
While completing her ArtsSci degree alongside her education courses, Meghan threw herself into student life, volunteering with child and community-focused clubs like Breakfast Club and Kaleidoscope. Queen’s clubs, she says, were a turning point. “They set so many people up for success. You learn leadership, program planning, communication. Skills that translate everywhere.”
Before long, she wasn’t just volunteering; she was leading. As a Deputy of Programs, Meghan oversaw multiple initiatives and began to see how education could live outside the walls of a school. “It showed me the change you can make through community organizations,” she says. “That really opened my eyes.”
Those experiences, paired with her coursework in education, shaped the way she thought about learning beyond school walls. That curiosity led her to complete her alternative practicum placement at Jays Care Foundation, the charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays—an experience that would prove transformative.
“The alternative practicum was such a pivotal moment for me,” Meghan says. “It showed me what else was possible with a teaching degree.” At Jays Care, she was able to apply core teaching skills—lesson planning, relationship-building, inclusive practice—in a community-based setting focused on sport and play. “I realized I could still be an educator, just in a different way.”
Today, Meghan is Director of Programs at Jays Care Foundation, overseeing national school- and community-based programming that reaches more than 70,000 youth across Canada. Her work focuses on breaking down barriers to sport participation and using play as a tool for equity, inclusion, and belonging.
“Sport can unlock so much,” she explains. “It builds resiliency, connection, teamwork, and confidence. Those are skills kids carry far beyond the field.”
Her approach mirrors strong classroom practice: creating safe, inclusive environments where young people feel seen and supported. “If kids feel like they belong, they stay engaged,” she says. “That has a huge impact on their mental health, leadership skills, and overall well-being.”
Some of the most powerful moments come from working with newcomers or youth trying sport for the first time. “Kids arrive unsure or lacking confidence,” Meghan says. “They leave having made a friend, learned new skills, or believing they’re capable of something they never thought they were.”
For current BEd students wondering where their degree might lead, Meghan points directly to her alternative practicum experience. “Try as many things as you can,” she says. “The alternative practicum lets you step outside the classroom and see just how transferable your skills really are.”
And while her work has taken her far from a traditional classroom, Meghan keeps her teaching roots close. “You can always come back to teaching,” she says. “But you might discover a path that fits you even better.”