Welcome to Smithers Heartwood (EdGE Heartwood), where educators, mentors, and parents unite to enhance home learning. Our certified Heartwood Teachers lead personalized learning journeys, supported by EdGE Educators and Mentors. Meet our Learning Team at Smithers Heartwood!
Heartwood Teacher
Heartwood teachers work collaboratively with students and parents to coordinate the students’ learning journey. Our teachers are selected from SD#71 Navigate NIDES and bring a wealth of experience as BC certified educators. They play a dual role as group learning facilitators during face-to-face sessions and as individual homeschool learning consultants.
The Face-to-Face teacher leads the in-person group learning classes, providing instruction and support to students. While your child may have multiple face-to-face teachers, they will have one designated Learning Consultant (LC).
The Learning Consultant is assigned at the beginning of the year to work closely with your child in setting and achieving learning goals. They will be responsible for monitoring your child’s progress and reviewing their work on SeeSaw. Communication and updates regarding your child’s learning will be shared with your designated Learning Consultant.
EdGE Educator
We prioritize small class sizes and low student-teacher ratios by hiring additional Educators for face-to-face days. These dedicated adults value child-led learning and provide extra supervision, allowing our groups to enjoy a variety of field trips.
Mentor
It is our goal to facilitate connections between our students and knowledgeable members of the community who can serve as mentors. These mentors come from various backgrounds, ranging from parents to certified teachers. They can either volunteer their time or be compensated through fees and grants.
Both educators and mentors are covered by liability insurance through BVCLS. Additionally, they are mandated to undergo criminal record checks and furnish references during the employee/volunteer application process. It is our priority to ensure the safety and well-being of all individuals involved in our mentorship program.
Nick Telles
Educator, Mentor
Nick Telles is a third-generation educator who grew up playing in his father’s classroom on the weekends and homeschooling during the week (the best of both worlds). He has worked in construction, run a technology consulting company, worked as a product and graphic designer, and taught grades K-12 in public education.
Nick received his Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Alaska, a Master’s in Educational Technology from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has taken advanced coursework in Gifted Education which focused on the importance of creating individualized learning environments for each student. His personal research involves incorporating the concept of Flow (Csikszentmihalyi, Kotler, Gervais) into the learning environment to produce deep, sustained learning opportunities.
Nick enjoys helping kids explore a wide variety of topics and ideas and allowing them to discover what they are passionate about. Through this exploration, kids are enabled to find their strengths and gain confidence in themselves and their ability to learn new things.
Nick grew up in New Mexico but ventured north to Alaska after high school in pursuit of outdoor adventure. In 2018, he and his family relocated from New Mexico to Smithers, drawn by the vibrant community and access to outdoor spaces. When he’s not raising and teaching his five kids, he can be found geeking out with a new piece of technology or exploring different ways to climb and descend mountains.
Sarah Wright
Educator, Mentor
I am an Early Childhood Educator with a specialty in working with neurodiverse children. I am passionate about building community, and inclusion. I am also a homeschooling momma of 4 children. I am passionate about child led, natural learning and love learning without walls. I’ve run several different outdoor education programs and enjoy working with children of all ages. The early years are definitely my favorite as their wonder and delight are still fully sparked. They still believe in the fairies alongside me. I’m very excited about this opportunity to serve the Edge community this year. Many of you may already know I am one of the founding members of Edge, and the Bulkley Valley Heartwood program. I do a lot of behind the scene work on the board level. However this suprise position as a Facilitator for Little Spruce truly allows me to serve in my areas of passion and strengths. I ve been busy planning curriculum and dreaming of our daily rhythms. I plan to pull in Wild Math and Reading as well as invitations to explore from your Natural Learner curriculum while following the children’s curiosity, interests and energies.
Lisa Perry
Guide
Lisa Perry is a Guide and Mentor in our EdGE/Heartwood Learning Community. Lisa is a renowned x-country ski coach in the Bulkley Valley, as well as a certified Education Assistant and yoga instructor who has been working with youth for more than 15 years! She is passionate about how the brain works, being outdoors, having fun and supporting the development of our greatest potential. Lisa strives to help students develop self-esteem, self-regulation, self-confidence and a passion for life through her Mentorship programs with EdGE.
Parents & Volunteers
The sustainability of EdGE Learning Centre is greatly impacted by the generosity and care we receive from our community’s family and volunteer contributions. If you would like to support our vision and are looking for ways you can contribute, you can find out more here.