Teacher introduces 750 students to Gros Morne National Park over 15 years

After participating in a Parks Canada organized Teacher’s Institute in 2003, Jim Locke, a teacher at Mount Pearl Senior High, was inspired to showcase Gros Morne National Park, a place he describes as magical, to his students. Since 2003 he has brought more than 750 students to the national park on field trips.

Lock has worked with Parks Canada to develop a program closely aligned with the curriculum of the high school course World Geography 3202. Each fall, Jim brings a group of students – mainly geography students, but also students from classes such as world religion, geology, and the arts — to western Newfoundland. The school group, which also includes international students, spends their days exploring the national park and their nights at Killdevil Camp and Conference Centre. Canada’s national parks are gateways to discovering and connecting with nature and Parks Canada’s staff get the students involved in hands on programming at the Tablelands and exploring the traditional uses of flora with an Indigenous medicine walk.

Jim plans to continue the annual educational journey to the national park until he retires from teaching and he hopes to have inspired another educator to continue showcasing Gros Morne National Park to future students.

During the latest fieldtrip last fall, Parks Canada thanked and recognized Lock for his many years of sharing the magic of Gros Morne National Park with students. He was presented with a traditional Mi’kmaq gift, and a certificate of appreciation for his efforts over the years.