CLARE BURNS

Experience

 

2019-2024 General Wolfe School  English, Social Studies, Theatre, Spanish, and Family Studies.

Grades 7 - 9

English Department Head

Academics Committee Leader

Improv Coach

Boxing Instructor

Soccer Coach

Volleyball Coach

Wrestling Coach

GSA Founder

​

Canoe Trip Guide

Camp Counsellor 

Wilderness First Responder & Whitewater Rescue Technician

Boarding Assistant / Event Coordinator

Daycare worker and Youth Programmer

Aboriginal Student Services Peer Tutor  

University TA

My Story

​

I have taught Middle School for five years at General Wolfe School, teaching many different courses. This school year I am the English Department head for our incredible language arts team, and the Academics Priority Committee leader. 

​

Throughout my time at General Wolfe I have taught English, Social Studies, Theatre, Outdoor Education, Family Studies, and Spanish, as well as had scheduled time allotted to being in-class literacy support, school librarian and grade 9 resource credit recovery support. In each of these roles, I work to be a communicative leader who listens with an open mind.

​

What sets me apart from others, is my dedication to the outdoors and the environment. I strive to include community-based, environmental programs and sustainable initiatives into my classroom. Engaging students in community programs such as Bear Clan Patrol, Rainbow Resource and The Wrench.

​​

Before teaching, I spent the previous 12 years volunteering and working with youth, in a variety of roles. These positions include various advising and event coordinating roles, as well as extensive work within the YMCA-YWCA. Primarily their Ontario based camp, Camp Stephens. 

​

Camp Stephens is where I decided to become a teacher. It is where I spent my summer for  6+ years and it is a huge part of my life. During these four month summers, I lead various length canoe trips. Most recently I led a group of ten young women on a forty-two day, 900km canoe trip in the remote wilderness of Northern Manitoba and Ontario. The job involved maintaining a healthy group atmosphere, promoting self-care, providing first-aid, and among other things teaching lessons on white-water safety, canoeing, cooking, and overall positivity. This job not only instilled a love for nature and an appetite for the outdoors within me, but has fueled my passion for teaching.

 

Apart from canoeing, I am interested in sports, and theatre. I have worked as an improv coach, and am always finding ways to engage students in play wherever possible. I have coached multiple sports teams, and was a boxing instructor briefly and do CrossFit in my spare time.

 

I have experience working with students for whom English is an Additional Language. As I worked at Balmoral Hall School as a Boarding Resident Staff. Here I lived in residence, and was 80 boarders primary guardian, tutor and confidant. My job was to help students practice their English and bridge language gaps. I also coordinated and led the social events for boarding, including holiday dinners, concerts and celebrations.

​

Since middle school I have wanted to be a teacher. I was inspired by my own teachers who treated our class with the utmost-respect. These teachers recognized the sometimes-trivial struggles we were going through as teens, as legitimate and pertinent. Then, I was a young shy teen, hesitant to join activities in my school due to a lack of courage and friends. It was my teachers who gave me the confidence to be comfortable in my own skin. They did this by showing genuine interest in my daily life and problems I had, incorporating me and my thoughts into the curriculum. I started to join leadership programs taking on roles such as rugby captain, daycare worker and later improv coach, all because my teachers taught me how to value myself and my own competencies.

​

Later I realized experiencing this sincere recognition and acknowledgement as a young woman defined who I am, and the kind of teacher I am today. Middle school students are at an age where they are too often ignored and disgruntled -- as such, it is my goal to help students recognize value in themselves.

 

Teachers can influence a students’ life and alter how they not only perceive school, but how they will carry themselves throughout their lives. ​I guide students to academic success by building confidence in their abilities.

​

​

​

​

 

- LIFE EXPERIENCE -

​

​

Whitewater Canoe Trip Guide

​I worked at the YMCA-YWCA Ontario based camp, Camp Stephens for 5 years. Stephens is where I realized teaching is the job for me. I spent up to four months each summer leading various 2-6-week length canoe trips every summer. These trips required me to maintain healthy group dynamics, promote self-care, provide first-aid, and among many other things teach lessons on white-water safety, canoeing, cooking, and overall positivity to groups of up to ten girls. The job not only instilled a love for nature and an appetite for the outdoors within me, but has fueled my passion for teaching. I truly believe, a canoe trip is the ultimate setting in which to explore what it means to be connected to the earth and the people we surround ourselves with. Guiding has solidified my belief that individual relationships are the key to successful teaching. Great teachers go that extra mile to have meaningful interactions with their students, instilling students with tools to build confidence and gain self-worth through affirmation.

​

Most recently I lead a group of ten young women on a forty-two day, 900km canoe trip in the remote wilderness of Northern Manitoba and Ontario. These longer trips involve visiting northern communities and reserves where we fill up on food and check in with camp. I used these unique opportunities to introduce participants to aboriginal cultures. Before the trip, each of our girls were tasked with researching something about the reserves we would pass through, so that they would have some knowledge of the community or history of the people living there before going out. Whether it be the suicide devastation affecting Pikangikum at alarming rates, Poplar River’s quest to make the Boreal Forest a UNESCO world heritage site, or Berens Community’s attempt to re-claim their land building road access their own way, we gathered as much information as we could, so we were not misinformed or naïve visitors. I made sure we had connections to elders in these communities, participating in smudges and traditional healing processes when we passed through, so we could all learn about the cultures and communities we met along the way.

​

 

Boarding Advisor and Residence Staff

I worked at Balmoral Hall School for a year in their residency program. I worked with the eighty boarders in residence 2017 as their primary guardian, first aider, tutor and confidant. The job required extensive work with students whom are working towards adding English as an additional language. As coordinator and leader of social events for Boarding, I made it my goal to create active inclusive activities in which students could participate in while practicing their English and sharing their own cultures. This included Holiday dinners, concerts and celebrations of academic excellence. My proudest moment was hosting the Thanksgiving Dinner because we had a record showing of 186 people out to the event, all whom got to celebrate Canadian thanksgiving while trying dishes the girls made from their own cultural backgrounds.

 

​

Event Coordinator

I worked for Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) for a year in 2017 quickly taking on the role of

Paddlefest Coordinator. Paddlefest is MEC’s largest annual festival hosted in every Canadian province. My role was to budget, organize and host the festivities for a crowd of 1200 plus people. The job involved video conferences with other province leaders, the organizing of 30 staff and 25 volunteers, advertising of the event, formation of website and sign ups, and the creation of schedules for all water-sports activities. This was an incredible experience where I could create lifelong connections in the paddling community that I still value today.

 

​

Curriculum Developer & Essay Marker

I worked with Lisa Tucker at the University of Winnipeg creating new curriculum for her third-year Education course while marking for her class. I researched the effects of nature in the classroom and play in the outdoors on students, developing research questions for her university course Teaching and Learning K-8.

​

​

Improv Coach

Having taught improv for three years, and participated in shows myself, I feel a huge connection with the improv community here in Winnipeg. Improv is a form of theatre that allows students to participate in completely spontaneous activity, a break from their standardized routine. These skills help me pursue a more creative, inquiry based style of teaching. I coached Kelvin’s competitive team for two years before branching out and creating Westgate Mennonite Collegiate’s inaugural team, recognizing they too may benefit from the creative arts. I want to show kids that learning is fun and relevant to their lives so they can turn a sometimes-negative experience into a positive enjoyable one. Improv gives students who might otherwise go unnoticed, the opportunity to have a positive distinct experience in school.

​

​

Volleyball Coach

For 3 years I have coached grade 8 volleyball.  I love coaching, and jump at the opportunity to get to know students better outside of the classroom context through coaching. 

​

​

Soccer Coach

Each year I coach our competitive boys soccer team, and love the chance to build on students' skills from the prior years.

​

Wrestling Coach

I helped lead the non-competitive wrestling team at General Wolfe. Having no experience in wrestling myself, this was an exciting and informative opportunity. 

​

​

Gender Sexuality Alliance Leader

General Wolfe did not have a GSA club upon my arrival, seeing a need for this environment I gathered some students interested  and started a club. We have been going strong for 5 years, and this year took part in the Manitoba GSA Conference: Amplifying Joy.

​

​