Hello, I'm Kristi Kraychy, Founder of Changemaker Workshops​

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At thirteen, I opened my own music studio while still dreaming of becoming a professional musician. Teaching those early students sparked a curiosity about teaching and learning that would quietly shape the rest of my career.

 

After completing my music performance degree and becoming an affiliate teacher with the Royal Conservatory of Music, I began questioning traditional, technique-heavy methods of instruction. I saw that rigid approaches were not always the most effective way to help children and teens grow. So I experimented.

 

When I built strong relationships and infused lessons with joy, curiosity and creativity, my students flourished. They were deeply engaged. They built confidence. They earned first-class honours in examinations and won awards.

 

That realization changed the trajectory of my career. 

 

Over the next two decades, I completed my education degree and taught across public, independent, and charter K–12 schools. In each setting, I was drawn to students who did not fit neatly into traditional models and to colleagues eager to co-create something new.

 

I later supported the startup of Calgary’s first accredited forest school, Calgary Nature Kindergarten. That experience strengthened my belief in student-centred and child-led learning. I saw firsthand the depth of learning that happens when children have choice and voice, when interests guide learning, relationships anchor growth, and more time is spent outdoors than in.

 

Around that same season of growth, I completed a diploma in Holistic Nutrition. That training expanded my understanding of nervous system regulation, wellbeing, and the mind–body connection in learning. Education does not happen in isolation from physiology.

 

I went on to complete my Master’s in Educational Leadership at the University of San Diego, where I spent time in Changemaker schools in California and Madrid, Spain.

 

Eventually, I set out to design my own dream school.

 

I founded and served as Head of the Calgary Changemaker School, an accredited independent K–8 school grounded in curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. The school thrived in mission and community for five years. But like many independent schools, we faced significant financial challenges during and following COVID. Its closure was painful, but the lessons learned and vision behind it continue to shape my work.

 

Today, I serve as Principal of STAND, an innovative online and flexible hybrid high school connected to Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School.

 

Looking back, I have always been drawn to depth, innovation, and building environments where bright minds can thrive.

 

Changemaker Workshops grew from that conviction.

 

It is the space where I bring together everything I have learned as a teacher, founder, school leader, and parent. I also gather thoughtful colleagues and subject-matter experts to deepen the conversation. This work is not built on one voice. It is built on shared insight, lived experience, and honest dialogue.

 

Changemaker Workshops supports the adults shaping children’s lives, whether that happens in classrooms, leadership offices, or around kitchen tables.

 

The secret to change is not fighting the old, but building the new.

Let’s Build Something New Together!