After a long hiatus and inactivity, WKTEP is back on the blog. Here is the new cohort – bigger and better than ever! Day one was great and we’re looking forward to an exciting first week.

On August 29th, the new 2016-17 cohort of the West Kootenay Teacher Education Program gathered to begin their year long journey together. This is the largest group in many years with 37 teacher candidates led by WKTEP Academic Advisor Leyton Schnellert.

A group of nine teacher candidates from UBC’s West Kootenay Teacher Education Program braved the long drive to attend the Faculty of Education’s annual Job Fair on Friday, January 22. Despite recent winter weather, the roads to Vancouver were quite manageable as the group drove down on the day before so they could get an early start at the event. They were able to make connections with a wide range of school districts in B.C. and Western Canada, as well as with a number of international organizations.

The new UBC-WKTEP space at #1 – 266 Baker Street in Nelson was officially opened in style on September 24, 2015. Many local community guests joined us for this event as well as University of British Columbia Dean of Education, Dr. Blye Frank, Associate Dean of Teacher Education, Dr. Wendy Carr, and WKTEP Academic Advisor from UBC-Okanagan, Dr. Leyton Schnellert.

A warm welcome to our new cohort of UBC-WKTEP teacher candidates for 2015-16. They have already had two weeks of classes in our new downtown Nelson learning centre and have helped make it a vibrant and welcoming learning environment. We’re looking forward to the year ahead.

The West Kootenay Teacher Education Program has a new home! Beginning on August 1, 2015, WKTEP will be situated in downtown Nelson, B.C. The new facility at 266 Baker Street is in the old Nelson Daily News building, one of Nelson’s many heritage sites. Check out the link below for the full story, a picture, and some exciting partnerships for UBC and the Nelson community.

Article from the Nelson Star

On Saturday, January 17, UBC-WKTEP students  had the opportunity to help out at the recent L.V. Rogers Winter Classic Debate Tournament. A large group of our teacher candidates acted as judges in the tournament and were able to observe both junior and senior secondary students displaying their public speaking skills. This annual tradition continues to be an exciting and insightful experience. Thanks to coordinator Jeff Yasinchuk and the staff and students of L.V. Rogers Secondary School.

Local Art teacher from Trafalgar Middle School in SD8, Val Holtz, led UBC-WKTEP elementary teacher candidates in an morning of visual exploration, representation, and reflection. They were able to explore the elements and principles of visual arts in a variety of media, working both individually and collaboratively. The group work produced some very colourful products.

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UBC-WKTEP wishes all the best to our teacher candidates as they take part in their two week fall practicum. Many thanks go out to our local school districts and the individual schools which have so warmly welcomed all of our teacher candidates:

SD8 – Kootenay Lake
Hume Elementary School
L.V. Rogers Secondary School
Mt. Sentinel Secondary School
Redfish Elementary
Trafalgar Middle School

SD10 – Arrow Lakes
Lucerne Elementary/Secondary Schools

SD20 – Kootenay-Columbia
J.L. Crowe Secondary School
Rossland Summit School
Stanley Humphries Secondary School
Twin Rivers Elementary School

SD51 – Boundary
Grand Forks Secondary School
J.A. Perley Elementary School

SD93 – Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique
École des Sentiers-alpins

UBC-WKTEP welcomed back Marion Hunter in October to present Action Schools‘ workshops on Physical Activity and Healthy Eating. Marion is a long time Actions Schools presenter as well as a UBC-WKTEP Faculty Advisor. Teacher candidates got active, learned lots, and had a great time working with Marion for the afternoon.