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My name is Callie Brougham. I am a teacher currently working at a Sara Cohen school in Dunedin. I studied at UBC's West Kootenay Ruel Teaching Education Program. I have a Bachelor of Education with a specialty in primary to middle years and ruel and place-conscious. I have a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts with a major in Interdisciplinary Studies from Capilano University. I also have an Outdoor Recreation Degree from Capilano University.

I grew up as a settler on Nexwlélexwm/Bowen Island, BC, located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples within the Sḵwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw/Squamish Nation. As far as I know, my heritage is Irish, Scottish, English and Italian.

Growing up kayaking, trail running, skiing, and exploring in and around the Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound area, I developed my love and passion for both sport and nature from a young age. My appreciation and love for nature include my desire to protect it. That apprenticeship led me to my studies at Capilano University, when I started my Outdoor Recreation Degree. My desire to dig deeper into environmental and social issues related to the land led me to earn a bachelor's degree in environmental studies and community development in the social sciences.

Since high school, my paid work has predominantly centred around working with children and youth. I have coached gymnastics over the past 15 years. I have been a Nordic ski instructor, and in the summers, I am a kayak guide and instructor in the Átl'ka7tsem/ Howe Sound.

I like to think of myself first as a lifelong learner. That is one element that drew me to teaching. I am an educator who leads with care and fosters a strong sense of community and belonging. I am committed to being a teacher who creates an inclusive learning environment. An environment where students' needs and voices are heard, and academic expectations are set high. Throughout my educational journey, I developed a strong foundation in place-conscious, interdisciplinary teaching that meaningfully connects students to their communities and their learning.

Place-conscious education: avid A. Gruenewald1 (2008). The best of both worlds: a critical pedagogy of place, Environmental Education Research, 14:3, 308-32 https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620802193572

I grew up kayaking in the Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound, and now I guide and teach there throughout the summer. I have paddled the same coastline for many hours, including Kwilákm/Deep Bay. Still, every time I paddle the coast, it feels like home or a blessing. I have this deep appreciation and connection to this place.

From April to mid-August, I saw this one Spakwus/Eagle every day I kayaked. Passing them perched on this tree off Miller Landing Point. Sometimes, I would pass that tree four times a day, five days a week. Spakwus was always watching for their next catch. Most days, I see the Spakwus focused on the water, looking for a ripple or a glimmer of a Sts'úḵwi7/ Salmon. When ready, Spakwus would gracefully spiral down, making big swooping circles to zone in on their prey. Then, with determination, Spakwus drives their talons into the water to come up empty-handed and fly back to the scouting tree to try again.

One day, I paddled up to the headland, and I could not see Swakwus. The absence of Swakwus would happen from time to time, and I did not think much of it. As I paddle to the backside of the headland, I notice perched on a rock, a Swakwus picking at a huge kwõx̲weth/ Coho Salmon. At least, I believe it is a kwõx̲weth/ Coho, as this is their season, and my co-worker had seen a Harbour Seal enjoying and throwing one around earlier that day.

The guests I was with were overjoyed to see this Swakwus eating the kwõx̲weth so close to us on the shoreline. I was also overjoyed and pleased to witness that some of the Swakwus' hard work and patience had paid off. I have never seen a Swakwus eating a Swakwus on that length of shoreline.

During the Kayak season in 2023, I witnessed things in the Átl'ka7tsem/ Howe Sound that I never saw when I was younger. Everyone marvelled all summer about how the ocean water was incredibly clear and blue. I saw more Orcas than I had ever seen before. I fell asleep to humpback noises that were so loud I could barely sleep. I saw sea lions come close up to the shore that we happened to be sitting on and start jumping and catching fish. Harbour seals spend much of their time swimming and tanning in their unique spots, where they can hide from predators. Sea stars were in abundance after continuously returning after wasting diseases, killing thousands in the summer of 2013.

I am lucky to witness the rejuvenation of the Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound. On the surface, it appears healthier each year, and it is. Átl'ka7tsem/ Howe Sound is increasingly recovering from heavy pollution caused by industrialization during colonization. However, there is still more work that needs to be done.

In the class TOUR 455 – Adventure Tourism for Community-based Economic Development, I researched why it is essential to protect the Glass Sponge Reefs (a keystone species) for the longevity of the Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound. Three of my peers and I wrote two policy memos on how tourism can increase environmental sustainability and social capital in the Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound. To learn more about the area, you can read the paper below.
*This burb was written in March of 2024
**I use Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim alongside English when speaking about Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound and its inhabitants because it acknowledges the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh current and traditional homelands and recognizes that these places have been known, named, and cared for long before colonization.
Many Sḵwx̱wú7mesh educators and language advocates explain that animals are not simply wildlife or resources; they are relatives, teachers, and long-standing inhabitants of this territory.
to learn more about sníchim: https://snichimfoundation.ca/the-language/

I was privileged to grow up in an environment where I participated in organized sports where I could develop good physical literacy and fundamentals. However, I still had a lot of time for free play. There were many times when I could be creative, silent, listen, make discoveries, and play with movement. That has shaped my inquiry and how I approach learning and teaching when in nature. That learning can be slow and can sometimes be non-linear. When teaching kayak camps, learning can happen organically through asking questions and discovering the environment around us, and it doesn't always have to be planned or structured.

How I coach gymnastics has been built on my life experiences, including the ones I have had here at Capilano University. I got to collaborate on choreography, coach, and be an athlete representing Canada at a world gymnastics event in Amesterdam in July of 2023. I am lucky enough that this was my 4th time participating in the World Gymnastrada event as an athlete or coach.

Leading up to the World Gymnastrada event, our team created an environment where discovery and experimenting with movement got us to the final product. I thought a lot about the value of the athletes from ages 10 to 16 contributing to the routine. Those athletes added creative and meaningful additions to the routine. Through that process, I was thinking about what I have learned here at Capilano and how giving space for kids to teach you and discover on their own to create innovative ideas is essential. I can teach good fundamentals and explain why doing skills in a certain way can be important because it took many people before us trial and error to figure out the best way. However, it does not always have to be this one-way coach-and-athlete relationship; creativity and discovery are essential when creating art.