An Apt Metaphor

It's time...

...after 33+ years, it is time for me to say goodbye to GP Vanier, the Comox Valley School District, and my public school teaching career. Yes, it's time for me to ride off into the sunset. I have a few thoughts I'd like to share about my career, but before I do I beseech you, in a time where Social Studies education has become increasingly relevant yet institutionally marginalized this is my call to you for action...

Support Geographic Education!

Why?

A vibrant, strong, and functioning civic society cannot exist without a solid geographic understanding. Geography is not simply the memorization of maps or capitals, that is an outdated model which we do not follow and anyone who spent any time in Room 611/115 clearly knows this. Geography is the study of how people, places, resources, and environments interact. It's about connecting our places and our stories with others and finding out how we impact each other. Without that knowledge, civic decision-making becomes dangerously disconnected from reality.

Every civic choice happens "somewhere". Policies about housing, transportation, water use, food systems, climate resilience, and public health are fundamentally geographic decisions. When citizens understand spatial relationships, when citizens understand where resources are located, when citizens understand how communities are connected and why regions face different challenges, then citizens are better equipped to evaluate policy and can hold their leaders accountable. Geography grounds civic debate in real places with real consequences, not in theoretical debates or abstractions.

Geographic education also builds awareness of interdependence. No community exists in isolation. Supply chains cross borders, environmental systems ignore political lines, and migration reshapes societies. A geographically literate public understands that local actions can have regional and global effects. This awareness encourages cooperation rather than isolationism and prepares citizens to respond thoughtfully to shared challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and economic disruption. I would argue that the current world dynamic is a clear example of why geographic education is crucial. To that end...

Just as critically, geography cultivates empathy and civic cohesion. By studying cultures, regions, and lived environments, students learn that people’s perspectives are shaped by where they live. I've always claimed that travel is one of the best geographic teachers. It teaches you not only about where you are in the world, but also critically a great deal about where you come from as well. We are all informed by our climate, economy, history, and access to resources. This understanding reduces fear of differences and counters simplistic stereotypes. A society that understands why communities differ is better able to govern inclusively and resolve conflict peacefully.

Geography also equips citizens to navigate misinformation. Maps, data visualizations, and spatial statistics are powerful tools, but they can be and clearly are manipulated. If you spent any time in room 611/115 you may remember the "upside down world map" and the "all maps lie because they are artificial representations of the Earth created by someone for some purpose" speech.  Geographic education teaches people how to interpret data critically, recognize distorted representations, and question who created them and for what purpose. In a data-driven world, spatial literacy is civic literacy.

At a time when environmental pressures are intensifying, geography is indispensable to civic resilience. Understanding natural hazards, land use, and environmental systems enables communities to plan wisely, protect vulnerable populations, and steward resources responsibly. Civic strength depends not only on laws and institutions, but on a shared commitment to sustaining the places people call home.

Ultimately, geography answers a central civic question: "How do we live together in shared space"? It teaches that place matters. It teaches that decisions shape landscapes and landscapes shape lives. A society that values a strong and vibrant geography education prepares its citizens to think beyond themselves, to see connections rather than boundaries and to act with informed responsibility.

If we want a civic society that is informed, empathetic, and capable of meeting the realities of an interconnected world, geography must be at its core. It teaches that citizenship is not passive consumption, but active participation. It reminds people that a well meaning democracy is not a guarantee. It requires practice. A society that invests in geographic education is choosing informed engagement over ignorance, empathy over division, and responsibility over complacency. To neglect geographic education is to gamble with the future. A society that cannot remember, analyze, or empathize is easily manipulated and quick to fracture. Again, take a look at the news, the current state of the world is a clear example of this. If we want a population capable of critical thought, moral reasoning, and collective problem-solving, we must invest in the subject that weaves all of those together. Geography helps us understand the world which is the first step toward caring for it and caring for one another.

Idealistic? Yes, but eminently true. We need social studies education anchored in a robust understanding of geography.

As for me and my career...

When I look back on my thirty plus years as a high school geography teacher, I’m struck, not just by how much the world has changed but also by how much of it I’ve tried to explain using maps that were out of date almost as soon as I put them up on the wall. For many people, geography is a subject on a timetable. For me, geography is a way of seeing the world and more importantly, a way of helping young humans how to understand it.

As a passionate believer in the power of geography, my enthusiasm was absolutely unmistakable. You could hear it in my voice booming around the hallways in the back corner of Vanier (sorry Leigh-Ellen) when discussing tornadoes, volcanoes, or earthquakes ("NOW....NOW...or NOW"). I like to think you could see it in the way lessons came alive, and feel it in the classroom atmosphere (or feel it through the walls). I tried to make the world feel bigger and more exciting, while somehow also making it feel more understandable. My aim was to nurture curiosity, perspective, and critical thinking. I wanted students to see the world as complex, interconnected, and worth questioning. Ultimately I hoped that students would recognise their place within the world which we walk through together.

I began teaching in a very different era. Back then, remember the 90's? The internet was something you dialed up on a landline telephone and waited for what would now seem like an eternity to go to. Much Music and MTV shaped a generation of music by actually showing music video on their channels (oh man, 1993: Nirvana – In Utero; The Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream; Pearl Jam – Vs.; Counting Crows – August and Everything After; & Stone Temple Pilots – Core). And in the 90's, Geography assignments were handwritten, sometimes legibly, but mostly without the aid of AI. As the world changed through globalisation, technology, climate change, and shifting social pressures, so too did the classroom. What didn’t change was simple, really...

Teaching is never really about content, it is always about people. 

My aim was always to move beyond content and help students develop critical thinking, global awareness, and the ability to question simplistic narratives...I tried to encourage this from the Global Awareness Fair at Charles Hays Secondary in Prince Rupert through to the Geographic Inquiry Fair at GP Vanier Secondary in Courtenay and in so many other ways at all stops inbetween. As the world became more complex, so too did the responsibility of teaching it honestly and thoughtfully.  I took pride in being prepared, consistent, and present for my students. I believed that showing up giving your best every day mattered. This also meant that my "teacher uniform" went from casual to business casual even though I rode my bike to work every day. This confused students because they often wondered if I rode to work in slacks, a dress shirt and tie with my fancy work shoes every day. I mean, TBH, this blog ended up really only being used by students to check out what Young's fit would be rather than checking what the day's lesson would be.

Equally important to me was teaching with principle. I believe in fairness, respect, and integrity, and I tried to model those values consistently. I encouraged students to think critically, challenge assumptions, and consider different perspectives. I hoped that, alongside academic knowledge, they would leave my classroom with a stronger sense of empathy and responsibility. My Criminology students would probably remember my final refrain... Don't be a doormat.

Dedication remained central to my practice, but what dedication looked like changed over time. Very early on, back in my days teaching in Prince Rupert, I learned that strong relationships mattered more than any worksheet or PowerPoint (I still can't believe we actually use Power Point today, I mean it's a super exciting educational technology...for 1993 🙄). What was reinforced to me was that students learn best when they feel safe, respected, and known. Sometimes that meant knowing who needed encouragement, who needed a challenge, and who just needed a quiet moment and a pen that actually worked. Over time, student wellbeing became just as important as academic success, if not more so. 

As student lives grew more complex, my role as a teacher expanded in ways I don't think I was fully prepared for. Students arrived carrying not only backpacks, but pressure, worry, and the occasional crippling existential crisis. Responding to that required empathy, flexibility, and sometimes the wisdom to abandon the lesson plan and focus on what students actually needed in that moment. My passion for geography sustained me throughout these changes. The subject became ever more urgent as students grappled with climate change, migration, inequality, and environmental degradation. I sought to create learning spaces where students felt encouraged to ask difficult questions, engage with uncomfortable truths, and see geography not as a static body of knowledge, but as a living, evolving way of understanding the world.

Geography gave us countless opportunities to connect learning to real life, and nowhere was that more obvious than on our trips to Mount St. Helens. For seventeen years, I had the privilege and the responsibility of taking students there. Those trips were never just about volcanic processes, though there was plenty of ash, stunning vistas, and caves to explore. They were about curiosity, shared experience, and watching students see the power of the natural world up close.

The Mount Saint Helens trips were also about early mornings, long bus rides, questionable food choices, questionable direction choices in lava caves, and repeated reminders to stay with the group ("Sound off Numbers please, I'll start ONE ..") But those days mattered. Something about being out there, standing on the landscape, asking questions, and learning together, built relationships in a way no classroom ever quite could. As did K9 police chases through hotel hallways..."Cops, on location, in Olympia". For many students, those trips became the moment geography felt real, and school felt meaningful. It was an absolute honour to share those experiences with so many colleagues and I am grateful for their willingness to help. Two people, however, were absolutely instrumental in our success. Matt Bourget was my original teaching partner who helped start these experiences and came along from 2006-2015. Were it not for him, we wouldn't have met Bill Nye the Science Guy on the mountain in 2009 and frankly I don't think we would have been anywhere near as successful without his passion and commitment. When Matt retired, Jason Arsenault stepped in and revitalized the expeditions from 2017-2025. Jason's unabashed giddy nerdy excitement and bad dad jokes always lifted the spirits of everyone. He quickly became the heart of the trip. It was a most wonderful experience to watch these two master teachers build relationships with so many students beyond the walls of a traditional classroom. 

My dedication to teaching never wavered but clearly evolved over time. At first, it meant mastering content and planning lessons. Later, it meant reading the room, adapting on the fly, and understanding that learning doesn’t always happen exactly when the bell rings. My passion for geography endured simply because it remained deeply relevant to students’ lives. As global challenges became more immediate and personal, I saw how powerful it was for students to feel that their concerns were acknowledged and taken seriously. Encouraging critical thinking while also supporting emotional resilience became an essential balance. Although my passion for geography mattered, caring for the students in front of me mattered more.

I tried to teach with the guiding principles of fairness, respect, and integrity. In a world that became faster, louder, and sometimes more divided, those values helped anchor both my teaching and my relationships with students. When I think about the impact of these 30+ teaching years, I don’t think in terms of tests, exams or courses completed...those are not the results I am interested in. I think about the relationships built, the trust earned, and the students who left knowing they were supported, capable, and heard.

As I move into retirement, I do so with deep gratitude. Gratitude for the students who challenged me, for the students who surprised me, for the students who were patient with me, for the students who taught me more than any textbook or university pedagogy class ever could, and for the students who occasionally corrected my technology skills as they became progressively outdated. It has been a privilege to share this journey with each of the over seven thousand students with whom I've worked. Thank you for the countless memories and the reminders of why this work mattered. Teaching has been a privilege. It has reminded me, again and again, that education is a deeply human endeavour and that care, connection, and kindness will always matter more than perfectly coloured maps. But seriously, as my friend and teaching partner David Benton knows all too well from my many requests, please make sure you colour all in one direction, keep the shade consistent, and stay within the lines.

Be well and go be the amazing human beings I know you have become.