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By Brittany Molenaar Why the systems we inherit aren't always the systems that work, and what that means for how we meet AI. Look down at your hands on your laptop keyboard. Your fingers are probably resting on a row that reads A S D F and J K L ;Above them sits Q W E R T Y U I O P; and below them sits [SHIFT] Z X C V, and B N M , . “Holy Shift,” have you ever sat there and wondered why the heck the letters were organized this way? Is this a natural way to communicate? Is thi

When an Invisible Act of Kindness Becomes a Miracle By Brittany Molenaar | theINVISIBLEme.ca Sometimes miracles do not arrive with thunder. Sometimes they arrive in a car, driven by a woman named Erin, with a fluffy orange cat inside. On the night of September 6, 2026, our beloved cat, Cheeto-Puff, disappeared. If you have followed The Invisible Me for a while, you may already know Cheeto-Puff. He isn't only our family cat. He is also a character in our book series, The Secre

Self-betrayal, Nepal, and the reasons that arrive right on time By Brittany Molenaar You know the pattern, because you've lived it. I have. Something terrible happens far away. You see the footage, and you are genuinely shocked. Something in you says do something. Maybe you do a small thing. Mostly you don't. Then a few days pass, and your own inaction starts to itch. So, you look away. The ordinary, funny, good things around you close over the gap, and within a week you're

An Invisible Me Article By Brittany Molenaar There is something extraordinary about the first week of school. We see the backpacks. We see the new shoes, carefully packed lunches, school buses pulling up to familiar corners, children finding their names on classroom doors, and parents taking one last picture before watching their children walk away. What we don't always see are the hundreds of invisible acts of care that made those moments possible. Across Lethbridge and our

Integrity When Nobody Is Watching Lethbridge Integrity Roofing Sometimes you learn more about a business in a parking lot than you ever could from an advertisement. Recently, outside the YMCA in Lethbridge, a woman found herself sitting in a vehicle that simply would not start. It was one of those ordinary inconveniences that can quickly turn into a stressful situation: especially when you don't know who to call or how you're going to get moving again. And then somebody stopp

theINVISIBLEme S P O T L I G H T The People Who Make Lethbridge A tribute to everyone whose name never makes it onto the poster There is a version of every celebration the public never sees. It happens around folding tables in borrowed meeting rooms, months before anyone knows an event is coming. It happens at 11:30 at night, when someone is still answering emails. It happens at six in the morning, when someone unlocks a building, and again at midnight, when someone locks i

The Modern Separation of Poetry and Song: Reconsidering Oral Performance in Poetry Education For most students in Western schools, poetry arrives as bland ink on a page. A poem is distributed as a black and white photocopied handout or displayed on a screen, read silently, annotated for imagery and metre, and then discussed as an object of interpretation. This robotic encounter with poetic pros has become so much the norm that it is rarely questioned. Yet it describes a histo

Every community has people whose work reaches far beyond their job description. People who quietly lift others up. People who protect, encourage, and inspire without ever asking for recognition. This week's Invisible Me Highlight recognizes Sheila Gruenhage, Fitness Manager with the YMCA of Lethbridge, whose leadership has left a lasting impression on the staff, members, and community she serves. The YMCA is much more than a fitness centre. It is a place where children learn

One of the things I have learned over the years is that some of the most important conversations are also the most uncomfortable ones. Recently, I shared a blog post about Lethbridge, community, sport, and opportunity. A participant commented on the use of AI in my work, expressing concerns about its environmental impact and what its growth could mean for future generations. What followed was a lengthy discussion about technology, education, economics, environmental responsib

By Brittany Molenaar | The Invisible Me When most people think of sporting events, they often think about competition, medals, and championships. While these things certainly play an important role, Indigenous sporting events have traditionally represented something much deeper: community, culture, identity, and connection. Across Alberta and throughout Canada, Indigenous Summer Games have become powerful celebrations of Indigenous youth, athletic excellence, and cultural pri

By Brittany Molenaar | The Invisible Me When we think about the things that make a community strong, we often think about people coming together to support one another. We think about families, schools, local organizations, and events that bring us together. In Southern Alberta, one event that has been doing exactly that for more than fifty years is the Southern Alberta Summer Games. But before we can understand the importance of the Games, we must first understand the commun

The Invisible Heroes Behind Every School Day As another school year begins to draw to a close, we would like to pause and recognize a group of people whose work often happens quietly, behind the scenes, and without nearly enough appreciation. To every teacher, educational assistant, administrator, counsellor, librarian, custodian, office professional, bus driver, learning support worker, substitute teacher, therapist, lunch supervisor, and support staff member across Lethbrid

The history of education in Lethbridge is older than many people realize. Before there were large brick schools, buses, playgrounds, or even paved roads, a handful of children gathered in a tiny miner's cottage to learn their letters and arithmetic. Who Was Lethbridge's First Teacher? The distinction of Lethbridge's first teacher belongs to Edith Emma Coe. Edith Coe arrived in the young coal-mining settlement in 1885 and opened a private school in a miner's cottage. She had e

Long before animal rescue became widely shared online through social media posts and adoption photos, ordinary people in Lethbridge were quietly stepping forward to help vulnerable animals in need. The Lethbridge & District Humane Society officially began in 1989 after local volunteers spent nearly a year organizing fundraising efforts, policies, and community support to create a safer, more humane future for abandoned and neglected animals in southern Alberta. Their mission

There is something magical about watching a child look up at the night sky and realize, for the very first time, just how big the universe really is. In Lethbridge, that wonder has been transformed into something families can actually walk through, bike through, explore together, and experience as a community. The Lethbridge Solar System Model is one of the most creative educational projects in our city: a giant scaled model of our solar system spread across Lethbridge and su

When people hear me speak about The Invisible Woman, or read my poetry and essays critiquing rigid patriarchal systems, some assume that I must hate men. I do not. I love men. In fact, my life has been shaped by many invisible heroes: good men who helped raise me into the strong, sometimes awkward, deeply independent woman I became. I was not raised by a mother after the age of five. My mother struggled with addiction and other illnesses that kept her from being consistently

Mother’s Day has always been complicated for me. For some people, it is breakfast in bed, handmade cards, warm family dinners, and smiling photographs. For others, it is grief wrapped in flowers. It is silence where love should have been. It is a reminder of the people we lost, the love we longed for, or the appreciation we never received. For me, Mother’s Day is a reminder that I did not grow up with a mother. It is a reminder of many years spent trying to earn love that sho

An Invisible Me Reflection There is something deeply painful about trying to do good… and still feeling judged. Sometimes the hardest criticism does not come from strangers. Sometimes it comes from the very people you hoped would understand you best. Over the past while, I have felt judged, misunderstood, and at times even persecuted by members of my own faith community. I have felt criticized for my mistakes when I was struggling as a human being. Then, strangely enough, I h

Kindness is a quiet force. It moves softly through our days, often unnoticed, yet it shapes the world around us. Sometimes, it is a smile from a stranger, a helping hand when we least expect it, or a word that lifts a heavy heart. I have learned that recognizing kindness is not just about seeing the act itself but feeling its ripple in the soul. It is about pausing, breathing, and saying, I see you. I appreciate you. In this guide, I want to walk with you through the gentle a

Invisible Spotlight: A Teacher Can Inspire The Future He wasn’t warm in the traditional sense. He was bald. Sarcastic. Dry. Sometimes cranky. Not exactly the “poster teacher” for connection. But here’s what people often miss: The ones who don’t perform warmth…sometimes practice it in the most meaningful ways. Mr. Quick was deeply analytical, wildly intelligent, and—beneath it all—quietly compassionate. And most importantly: He saw his students. The Moment That Changed Everyth