Professional Development Opportunities for Educators.
Upcoming Opportunities.
The Howl Experience promotes unique learning experiences designed to showcase career pathways and support youth to build confident, community-based lives. We aim to support educators on their own journeys by providing inspiring, land-based programming that exemplifies experiential learning. Our goal is to help educators to redraw the boundaries of what they feel is possible in their classrooms and leave them feeling personally enriched and reconnected to the land. Howl professional development programs are focused on our four core teachings of ReconciliACTION, Climate Action, Community Building and Personal Resilience.
Yukon Experience — Educator Professional Development (May 23 - 28, 2025): Educators are invited to join this 6-day Howl Experience in the Yukon to get inspired by truly connecting to place through land based and relationship-centered learning - all while learning how to support your students in finding their voice, and meaningfully weave this unique experiential approach into your own teaching practice! Learn more below and apply here.
Yukon Experience - Educator Professional Development.
When: May 23 - 28, 2025
Where: Yukon Territory (Kluane Lake Research Station)
Who is this for: 20 educators from across Turtle Island who work with youth
Program Fee: $2200.00*
Application Deadline: October 27, 2024
Applicants will be notified by November 1st if their application is successful.
Educators are invited to join this 6-day Howl Experience in the Yukon. Learn in community with educators from across Turtle Island, while visiting the traditional territories of the Kluane First Nation, Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the White River First Nation, Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.
Engage with local Elders, Knowledge Holders, artists and researchers to enhance your own understanding of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, climate change and ReconciliAction. Get inspired by truly connecting to place through land based and relationship-centered learning - all while learning how to support your students in finding their voice, and meaningfully weave this unique experiential approach into your own teaching practice!
Program content relates directly to secondary level (grades 7-12) curriculum in the areas of Science, Social Studies, CTF/CTS - Resources and Natural Resources Streams, Outdoor Education, and more!
Please click here for a sample trip itinerary (Note: Itinerary is in development and subject to change). Click here for a downloadable info sheet with more details about the program.
Program Topics.
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Understanding community-specific Indigenous cultural history, protocols and wise practices in Indigenous relationships through land-based learning, culture, arts and community connection building.
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Understanding the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation and learn how non-Indigenous educators can respectfully bring Indigenous perspectives into the classroom.
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Weaving western science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in topics around glaciology, hydrology, geology, and applied climate change science
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Understanding the historical and contemporary contexts and ongoing effects of colonialism. Learn to build reciprocal relationships through language & cultural connections.
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Practical examples of how to weave land-based learning practices into your classroom, while learning botany and traditional medicinal plant uses from Indigenous Knowledge Holders.
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Perspectives on collaborative management practices of parks and protected areas in Kluane First Nation Territory.
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How bringing community engagement into the classroom can empower a generation.
Earn a Microcredential.
Participants are eligible to earn a Royal Roads University Microcredential in Land-Based Community Leadership for ReconciliACTION. Learn more about the Microcredential here.
Program Fees.
$2200* program fee includes flights from Calgary to Whitehorse (participants are responsible for transportation to the Calgary Airport), all group meals, accommodation, ground transport, and activities on program.
*$1700 for Yukon residents - flights excluded.
Meet the Program Leaders.
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Theresa Westhaver (she/they) is of proud Secwépemc, Cree, Métis and mixed settler ancestry with deep stek̓lép (roots) in the mountain of what is now known as Jasper National Park.
Theresa is a co-founder and the National Program Manager for Howl. Her passion is in inspiring students about conservation, and connections to truth and reconciliation through a two-eyed seeing approach.
Theresa received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography at UNBC in 2018, with specializations in environmental science and glacial geomorphology. She is an interpretive glacier guide for Indigenous-owned Zuc’min Guiding, collaborates closely with Warrior Women, in addition to experience working as the Indigenous liaison for Jasper National Park, as well as an outdoor/sustainability educator for Parks Canada.
Theresa also runs a small business called Mountain Stek̓lép. Mountain Stek̓lép is rooted in reciprocal relationships with the land, and bridges Indigenous ways of knowing and being with Theresa’s scientific background. It combines Theresa’s passion for creating art in the forms of beadwork and other sustainable pieces using upcycled and found materials, with her enthusiasm for sharing her knowledge of plants, landscapes, ecosystems and experience as an Apprentice Interpreter and IGA Hiking Guide in the Rocky Mountains.
In 2022, she was awarded the honor of being a Corporate Knights “Top 30 Under 30 for Sustainability Leader”. She is a single mother who meaningfully weaves her young child into her work and community. Theresa is creating more sustainable communities today while supporting the next generation of sustainable leaders.
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Warren (he/him) has lived his entire life in Calgary on Treaty 7 land and considers himself to be a Biology teacher always in transition: he is searching for ways to reconnect youth to the natural world. He started his career in 1995 with the Canadian Rockies School Division teaching at Canmore Collegiate High School for 18 years. His focus was to find ways to help students find a passion for the study of biological sciences. During his time in Canmore, Warren looked to pursue ocean studies by taking groups of interested students on Marine Biology trips to Bamfield Marine Science Station. This allowed the opportunity to introduce students to an ocean ecosystem not often discussed in the curricular setting in Alberta. Warren pursued an opportunity to move back into Calgary and helped open a new high school in Calgary, Robert Thirsk High School, and continues to teach here to the present. The enticement back to the city was to envision and create a Natural Science program that would reignite the awe, wonder and excitement of nature in high school students and show them the future these reconnections can create. The program has grown to encompass opportunities for Grades 10-12 and continues to evolve as students participate in the experiences offered. Warren Lake continues to take students to Bamfield every 2 years and has now established a trip to Kluane Lake in the Yukon with the Arctic Institute of North America to highlight northern science, indigenous knowledge and adventure travel. It is in this aspect that Warren will be joining up with Howl Experiences by continuing to develop a burgeoning educational program and experience in the North with the Arctic Institute. The journey to shine a light on unique and important ecosystems will continue to be a challenge that shifts and flows with the topics that abound in environmental education and in the need to build a greater sense of nature literacy with youth.
Program partners.
