Laurissa holds a Bachelor of Science from Trent University, a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s, and a Masters of Arts from the University of Waterloo. Currently, Laurissa teaches at Parkdale CI in downtown Toronto, where she spends her time integrating real life problems into her math courses.  She has written and advised for several McGraw-Hill Ryerson textbooks, and has been an active member on OAME committees, NASA committees; in addition to working with teachers both at EQAO and the Gauss contest problems committee at the University of Waterloo. Laurissa has also been an organizer for OAME – TEAMS on a variety of levels, supporting colleagues using her technical knowledge and has worked with the Toronto District School Board on projects such as Desire 2 Learn.  She is active in the community in many other ways such as, fundraising for Dog Guides and organizing the Inside Ride to raise money for cancer research. Outside teaching, Laurissa enjoys hobbies such as knitting, quilting, hiking and camping.