High school teacher killed in Costa Rica
A58-year-old Toronto high school teacher was stabbed to death in Costa Rica while travelling, local police say.
Bruce McCallum, a math teacher at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute, was found dead around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning by residents of the southern Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, according to Marco Monge Gomez, a spokesperson for the Judicial Investigation Police.
Gomez stated in an email that McCallum was likely stabbed during a mugging.
McCallum had been travelling the country with other tourists since Feb. 19. He told others in his group he was going to wake up early to photograph the sunrise at the beach.
His body was later found lying on a street, with his camera and other belongings missing.
He also had a bruise above his right eye and a puncture wound on the left side of the chest.
The death has been ruled a homicide. Police are investigating for potential suspects, Gomez stated.
In a letter sent home to parents and students on Wednesday, Albert Campbell principal Carol Richards-Sauer confirmed that McCallum “passed away tragically over the weekend following a senseless act of violence while travelling abroad.”
McCallum had been on a scheduled leave of absence and last taught during the 2016 school year, according to the letter. He had been a teacher for 20 years, 18 of which he had spent at the school. “Mr. McCallum touched the lives of students and staff who had the pleasure of working with him,” the letter stated. “He was a positive role model in the Campbell community who had a passion for photography and travel. His energy and work ethic were an inspiration to us all. Bruce will be sorely missed.”
Fellow math teacher Chris Rosenquist said students were devastated to learn of McCallum’s death on Wednesday. “Everybody is still shocked and numb,” said Rosenquist, who sat beside McCallum in the math office. “For me, it’s a loss. It’s like my friend is gone, my older brother. This is somebody that you’ve known for about a third of your life and is just gone.”
Toronto District School Board staff were at the school to offer support and counselling Wednesday.
“He really believed . . . that part of being able to teach a student is being able to make a connection with that student,” said Caroline Crabtree, a math and computer science teacher who knew McCallum for 14 years. “He took the time to talk to kids, to find out what they were interested in. ”
McCallum was a staff representative for the anime, film and comic clubs, which he often stayed after school to help run.
“He was one of those teachers that hung out at school. He didn’t leave at 3:05,” said Crabtree. “It was a passion, absolutely. He cared about his students as people.”
Many of McCallum’s former students are also mourning his loss.
“It’s a shock to me,” said Wilex Ly, 23. Ly said McCallum taught him applied math when he was a Grade 9 and 10 student. The teacher often incorporated humour and practical examples in his teaching techniques to explain complex concepts, according to Ly.
“He imitated a teeter-totter so that students would understand algebra,” Ly recalled. “He went so far out of his way and we were laughing for about a good five seconds and then you just watched as everybody’s faces just completely changed because their minds were blown because they understood.”
Ly said McCallum had an “uplifting essence to him” that allowed him to connect with students.
“I watched students who had zero interest in math, they actually started listening. That’s why it hits me so hard,” Ly said. With files from Simone Lai