The teachers who dedicate their time to Cheakamus Centre’s outdoor programs in Paradise Valley north of Squamish are getting extra support, thanks to a local fundraiser aimed at providing comfort items while they’re away from home.
Alex Hebert oversees the growth and operation of the Zero Energy/Emissions Buildings (ZEB) Learning Centre at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and has been working with future trades students to renovate cabins at the Cheakamus Centre for several years. This year, they're focusing on the teachers' cabin, aiming to make it a net-zero energy building with solar panels, a heat pump and new windows.
While the renovations are fully funded for the net zero renovation, the funds we got don’t stretch to cover small comforts, Hebert felt the teachers deserved a little more.
“Those teachers are amazing, and I feel they deserve a little bit more than what we can do with our budget. I’d love them to have a really good coffee machine, a dryer for their boots because we know their boots are always wet in the winter when they’re with the kids in the forest. I’d like them to have some music at night, maybe some speakers, blankets, a bit of art, a little fridge for snacks,” Hebert said.
“These things I cannot pay for with my regular funding because they’re considered additional perks. So, I came up with the idea of doing my own GoFundMe campaign to cover what I couldn’t fit into the regular budget.”
Hebert launched the fundraiser trying to raise $2,750 to cover these comfort items.
“These are perks that would really make a difference in their day-to-day lives,” he said.
According to Hebert, teachers at Cheakamus Centre work long hours with students from across various school districts, spending nights on-site, away from their families.
“There’s the huge Indigenous component to the programming they do. So, they have a longhouse where the kids can learn about the Indigenous ways of doing things. Kids can go to a salmon hatchery and learn about fishes,” he said.
“The teachers that take the time to go there with the kids are really working overtime. They're away from their family and their own kids for a few days. I think they're awesome because they don’t stick to their nine-to-five job.”
Mary McWilliam, whose children attended programs at Cheakamus Centre, said the fundraiser is a meaningful way to recognize the work the teachers do. “It’s a really important contribution to help recognize the effort that our teachers go to, to make that experience possible for our children,” she said.
Her children have attended multiple programs at the centre through Ross Road Elementary School, in North Vancouver.
“It creates lifelong memories and a strong impression of what we need to do to make the world a more sustainable place or reduce our impacts,” she said.
For McWilliam, it is important to provide the extra comforts for the teachers.
“Providing a few additional comforts to the teachers, to create a space where they can recover and recharge after running long day programs with our kids, is really important,” she said.
“We’re really happy to be able to give something back to the teachers who give so much to our kids.”
Hebert also said that the renovation project is part of an effort to engage Indigenous youth. “The grant we got is only for Indigenous youth, so we try to attract students with an Indigenous background from across B.C. who might not be sure what they want to do with their life,” Hebert said.
“We’re trying to inspire them with the idea of building houses for their own communities. We don’t require prior experience, which means it’s a bit more work on-site and slower, but we have time built into our budget to fix mistakes. It’s definitely harder with students who’ve never done this before, but that’s part of the learning process.”
Cheakamus Centre, established in 1969, has been a place for environmental education, offering hands-on nature-based programs for students from the Sea to Sky Corridor, Lower Mainland and beyond. The centre’s 165-hectare ecological preserve in Paradise Valley hosts experiential programs, including cultural teachings tied to the B.C. curriculum, youth leadership and outdoor recreation.
Hebert’s fundraiser is part of a broader effort to support the teachers who visit the centre. “Let’s show our appreciation for their dedication,” he said.
For more information on how to support the teachers’ cabin project, visit the GoFundMe page: Gear for Great Teachers.
Bhagyashree Chatterjee is The Squamish Chief’s Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
