Robyn Johnston

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Robyn Johnston, Program Coordinator
Robyn grew up in North Vancouver, Canada, in a family of six, with three sisters with diverging interests.  Robyn’s competitive, athletic side was able to flourish when sports were offered (for free) at her elementary school and continued into high school.  She feels that these enrichment opportunities made her the confident, positive, team-oriented person that she is today and strives to support these activities with other children to help them be the best versions of themselves.
 
After high school, Robyn pursued technical training in computer systems, She got her first IT-related job after three months of “pounding the pavement” during the economy’s recession.  During her employment in the IT industry, she continued her education (at night school), and earned her bachelor’s degree.  Faced with changes in the IT industry and other personal challenges, Robyn began her search for more meaningful work and ways to maintain her sanity through life’s constant challenges.  During this search, she experienced the joy in supporting children flourish in enriching extracurricular activities, and connecting that to her childhood experiences, wanted to contribute to this, so she began pursuing a teaching career.  While applying at schools for teaching certification training, she met her future husband,  She applied to WWU and completed her student teaching and first teaching job at Kulshan Middle School, as a 6th-grade math teacher.  After that, life happened! Robyn’s daughter was born and with her husband working full-time, plus building their house in his spare time (bless is soul), Robyn decided to quit teaching and support the family from home.  
 
As a new mom, Robyn was constantly involved in community groups — from playgroup coordinator, secretary, and president of the MOMS club; to meeting coordinator and treasurer of her daughter’s preschool; to chairing committees and secretary of the PTO board at her daughter’s elementary school.  It was at the school that Robyn really hit her stride and realized she was doing the right thing for herself and the community.  This happened in her role as Enrichment Chair, developing and coordinating the after-school enrichment program for elementary school-age children.  Robyn grew this program into a diverse set of enrichment classes, ensuring the safety of the children, continual communication with families, instructors, and school staff, and online access to registration and information about classes.  
 
Robyn heard about Blue Skies through her search for scholarship opportunities for children at her daughter’s school and thought, “What a great organization!!  How can I work with them to bring enrichment to more kids who need it?”  So, when the job opportunity for the program coordinator appeared, Robyn jumped at the chance!  She is extremely grateful for the opportunity to support Blue Skies in fulfilling their mission to bring hope and self-esteem to children through enrichment programs and other essentials.