Jackie Hamnett

Alumni Feature

Teacher | Birchland Elementary
MEd in Curriculum Studies – Health, Outdoor & Physical Experiential Education (HOPE) 2021

 
An appetizing smell greets us as we walk through the doors of Birchland Elementary school in Port Coquitlam on a muggy Wednesday morning.

“It’s toast and smoothies today” Jackie Hamnett informs me, explaining that a member of staff – the school youth and family worker – has successfully run a breakfast program for years. Today’s breakfast smells warm and comforting, despite its simplicity, but Jackie lets me know that other breakfast days can be much more intricate and creative.

Jackie Hamnett is an alumna of the UBC Faculty of Education, having completed the Master of Education in Curriculum Studies – Health, Outdoor, and Physical Experiential Education (HOPE) cohort in 2021.

“It reminded me that it’s good to be brave and to try different things even though I’ve been teaching a long time. Going into that environment where you’re constantly learning, it revitalizes you.”

This unique program was pioneered by the late Dr. Joy Butler, who passed away in September 2019, during Jackie’s program. After her passing, Drs. Hart Banack and LeAnne Petherick stepped in to ensure Joy’s ambition for the program was continued.

“Joy had a real vision, but both LeAnne and Hart were able to carry on that vision. There was a lot of enthusiasm, and a lot of patience and understanding and insight. They were very gentle and inspiring with the whole group,” Jackie remembers.

Jackie has been a teacher for 32 years – including teaching briefly in Italy and the UK – and she has been at Birchland Elementary for 6 years. Completing a Master’s degree at this stage in her career was admittedly challenging, but ultimately very rewarding for Jackie.

“It reminded me that it’s good to be brave and to try different things even though I’ve been teaching a long time. Going into that environment where you’re constantly learning, it revitalizes you. When it was all over, I felt like, wow, I really achieved something.”

The community of students during Jackie’s program were a real highlight – her colleagues in the program were at different stages of their careers and their learning, and they were always supportive and empathetic towards one another. “There was a lot of camaraderie amongst people. It wasn’t competitive, it was very much a collegial thing – let’s learn, let’s improve together, let’s do this together,“ Jackie reflects.

“I know that there’s a lot of research to prove that what we’re doing is beneficial. We’re not just going outside to ‘play’. There’s so much that I can do outside that covers the curriculum.”

As we continue to make our way down the halls, we walk by walls decorated in children’s art and noticeboards, and stop as Jackie greets her colleagues on the way to her classroom. Upon entering the class, I am flooded by a visual smorgasbord of colour, patterns, pictures, and children’s art. Desks are gathered together in groups of two or three, and inspirational posters impart wisdom like “Mistakes are proof I am always growing” and “Do the right thing even if nobody is watching” throughout the cozy classroom. Books and supplies line shelves against the walls, and a large digital screen tops the front of the room – a beautiful organized chaos.

The bell rings, and the kids are lined up outside the door. Ms. Hamnett teaches Grades 2 and 3 this term, and several 7- and 8-year-olds start to enter the class. They put their backpacks and lunch bags away in their labeled cubbies at the back of the class, and start to settle into their desks.

“I’m going to be so warm today if the sun comes out, I’m wearing all black” one student yells to another across the room. Another is consoled by Ms. Hamnett because he’s missing a drink in his lunch bag, while a Teaching Assistant lets Ms. H know she’ll go and get him a water bottle from the staff room. A morning announcement acknowledges land and place, announces which teachers are on recess duty, and wishes the kids a good school day.

Ms. Hamnett makes her way to the head of the class and calls for attention – the noise quickly dies down. She takes attendance and the students respond with “Good Morning!” to indicate their presence, filling the room with an exciting and happy energy that promises a fun day ahead.

The students are assigned their regular morning activities, and they begin to fill out their notebooks, then move on to quiet play around the classroom. They are all at ease and content with this routine morning structure, and they fall into it effortlessly. A handful of boys play with various toys seated on a mat on the floor, a couple of girls sit down with a card game, while others sit solo and create art from construction paper or write in journals.

Jackie had warned me about bears in the area, and so when a ‘Shelter in Place’ announcement comes on over the PA system, I’m not too worried. In fact, it’s a common announcement at this time of year and the need for caution near the outdoor forest space surrounding the school is a real one. Jackie is always keeping this in mind, but with an MEd specializing in Outdoor Education, she won’t let that stop her. Once the second announcement giving the all clear comes on, she announces to the class that we’re headed outside!

“Going outside shows a different side of students. Some who may be quiet in class come outside and they love it, the freedom to run around, to build and to play. You can see their strength in different ways.”

With a wooden cart filled with outdoor toys and supplies in tow, the kids march single file out towards the forest, like a happy row of ants. With direction from Ms. Hamnett, they lay out a tarp on a patch of grass and are given permission to go and explore, being mindful to keep to a limited area of the forest that she can keep an eye over. Glee erupts from the kids, and they are off in all directions.

A few climb a wooden stump perched on the top of a small knoll, others pull at reeds, bamboo, and the leaves around them. They create make believe swords and duel it out, or they spin sticks around like nun chucks. Still others pick salmon berries from the bushes and try to outdo each other for the best berry-picking spot.

Ms. Hamnett is everywhere: she is passing sticks to the stump crawlers one moment, play-fighting with stick swords the next. Repeated calls of “Ms. Hamnett” rain down around her and without skipping a beat, she answers all. She channels her energy into the kids like a mother goose with newborn goslings. She radiates patience, excitement, and a genuine affection for her students.

Jackie explains that the field of outdoor education is so versatile, and that there are so many different things that kids can learn from being outside. She hopes to impart lessons of respect for their local environment that will carry with them many years into the future, enabling them to take responsibility for the nature around them. What she also loves about the field is what it brings out in the kids.

“Going outside shows a different side of students. Some who may be quiet in class come outside and they love it, the freedom to run around, to build and to play. You can see their strength in different ways,” she says.

Her specific degree has also given Jackie the confidence and justification she needed to keep practicing the principles of outdoor learning she has always valued. “The benefit [of the MEd in HOPE] is that now when I take the students outside, I know that there’s a lot of research to prove that what we’re doing is beneficial. We’re not just going outside to ‘play’. There’s so much that I can do outside that covers the curriculum,” Jackie explains.

With the funding from this alumni campaign, Jackie was able to purchase various tools and gadgets the kids can use outside, including magnifying glasses, potato peelers, dry erase pens and boards, bungee cords, books, and even some reusable rain jacket pouches for those rainy Westcoast days.

“You have to have that relationship with the students before you can even think about them learning something, but once you have that bond with your students then there’s so much you can do.”

After free play, Jackie gathers the students and has them sit on the tarp. Next up she explains they will get their clipboards and draw anything they see in the forest, either with their naked eye or through a magnifying glass she has provided.

The kids settle in to draw in hushed contentment, and Jackie has a rare moment to breathe. Inevitably, however, within seconds the sounds of “Ms. Hamnett, look at my leaf” and “Ms. Hamnett, I drew a salmon berry” fill the air. She is not frazzled though – it’s all in a day’s work.

“You have to have that relationship with the students before you can even think about them learning something, but once you have that bond with your students then there’s so much you can do.”

Article written by Milena Constanda | September 2022
Photos by Milena Constanda & Bryan Lee
Learn more about Jackie’s program, the MEd in Curriculum Studies: Health, Outdoor, & Physical Experiential Education.
Back to Alumni Feature page.

Jackie’s Photos


View Jackie’s full album on Flickr