Math has always been Nelli Kim Sia Acejo’s, BEd ’23 & MEd ’25, anchor. After completing her undergraduate and graduate studies in mathematics and becoming a licensed teacher in the Philippines, immigrated to Canada. Her family settled in northern B.C., where she worked as a math instructor at a local college campus. She enjoyed her work, but something felt like it was missing.
“I realized I still wanted to get my teacher certification in the province of B.C.,” she says. “I wanted to be back in the K–12 classroom.”
She began exploring her options and was drawn to UBC Okanagan’s Bachelor of Education program—a decision that meant uprooting her family from northern B.C. and starting over in the Okanagan during the uncertainty of the 2020 pandemic. While waiting for the next intake, she completed prerequisite coursework and enrolled part-time in UBCO’s Master of Education program in January 2021, determined to keep moving forward.
When she began the Bachelor of Education program, she often listened quietly and observed, absorbing the program’s emphasis on becoming a “scholar-practitioner”—an approach that left a lasting impression.
“In the Bachelor of Education, it was always about reflection,” she says. “Now, when something doesn’t go the way I want in my classroom, I step back and ask, ‘What happened? What could I do differently next time?’ When a similar situation comes again, I handle it better. It helped me build a growth mindset.”
After completing the program in December 2022, she worked as a substitute teacher until she was offered a contract from February to June, teaching secondary math. Soon after, an opportunity emerged in San Jose, California, and her family moved again.
Today, she teaches high school math to a diverse group of learners, many of whom are English language learners or students who have experienced disruptions in their schooling. Most of her classes are Grade 9—a transitional year she approaches with care and intention.
She focuses on carefully paced lessons and real-time checks for understanding, often using individual whiteboards so she can quickly see where students are struggling and respond in the moment.
“On a whiteboard, I can see right away who understands and who doesn’t,” she says. She traces that approach back to her training at UBCO and its emphasis on being responsive and reading the room.
On days that feel especially long, she returns to small notes from students that quietly remind her why the work matters.
“One student wrote, ‘Miss, you’re the only person who stood by me. I had F’s before, but now I see an A-minus,’” she shares. “I put those notes on my wall. When life is crazy, those are what make me go back every day.”
Beyond her own classroom, she continues to explore innovative and culturally grounded approaches to mathematics education. Drawing on games she played growing up in the Philippines, she has authored and co-authored articles for the BC Teachers’ Federation magazine, including Beyond Checkers: How a Filipino Game Revolutionized Learning Through Math, Science, and Inclusion, which explores the classroom potential of damath, a math-based checkers-style game, and Math UNOversal: The ultimate math card game as a tool for fostering mathematical thinking. She has also served as a judge for the Canada-Wide Science Fair, an experience she describes as “eye-opening and energizing.”
Perhaps her most far-reaching work, however, grew out of her own struggles to navigate certification as an internationally trained teacher. Seeing how often other Filipino educators were told that becoming a certified teacher in Canada would be “too hard” or “impossible,” she decided to create a support network.
“There are lots of hurdles,” she says. “If you’re not local, you don’t know what documents are called, where to get them, or how provincial requirements translate from one system to another.”
She founded a Facebook group for Filipino teachers in or heading to Canada who wanted to teach in K–12 schools. She began researching certification requirements across all provinces, creating posts that broke down what each region required and where to find official information. She also offered guidance for those still overseas on how to obtain documents before arrival.
“People started sending me private messages: ‘You don’t know me, but I got my teaching certificate because of your post,’” she says. “It was very heartwarming.”
The group has grown to about 11,000 members, and she also moderates a U.S.-based support group with nearly 87,000 educators. Recently, she formalized the Canadian group as a registered society in B.C. and shared documentation with Philippine consulates across the country.
“Canada has teacher shortages,” she says. “If we can help internationally trained teachers become certified, we’re helping individuals and helping the country at the same time.”
All of this happens alongside her full-time teaching load, family responsibilities, and pursuing her second doctoral degree — with classes that sometimes run until 3:30 a.m. her time.
“I don’t always know where I get the strength to do all of this,” she admits, laughing. “But I keep asking myself, ‘How can I make myself useful to the community?’ That question keeps me going.”
Through it all, she remains deeply grateful for her time at UBC Okanagan.
“My professors might not remember me, but I remember them,” she says. “The Bachelor of Education was a life-changing event for me. It gave me the teacher credential I needed and helped me see more of what I could do—for my students, for other teachers and for the wider community.”
She hopes her story will encourage others who feel stuck to take that first brave step.
“If you want to do something and you spend years just thinking about it, you’ll still be in the same place,” she says. “You could have been done already. Do it—and if there are problems, find ways around them.”