Below are some personal accounts that, while relatively few in number, give a sense of the incredibly diverse range of careers followed by B.Ed. graduates. There are thousands of such stories and perhaps these examples will provide some inspiration to follow your own path in this broad area of related careers for teachers. You will see that in several of these accounts, the path was sometimes indirect and usually unpredictable. Start where you can and other doors will open.

A fellow Queen’s graduate suggested that I email you about the work I am doing with Students on Ice. I understand that the Faculty of Education is looking to promote opportunities for graduates in non-conventional classroom settings.
 
I graduated from Queen’s in the spring of 2003 after being enrolled in the Faculty’s undergraduate Outdoor and Experiential Education program track. Since that time, I have earned a Master of Science degree, taught in diverse indoor and outdoor classrooms, worked for several Parliamentarians and built a house.
 
I have worked full time for Students on Ice since 2007, in recent years serving as the charitable organization’s Education Program Director. Students on Ice was founded in 2000 by another Queen’s alumnus, Geoff Green (Arts ‘91). We are engaged in environmental and civic education with students from across Canada and around the world. Students on Ice is best known for the educational expeditions we organize for high school and university-level students to the Arctic and Antarctic.
 
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to learn more about Students on Ice or other educational organizations I have worked for that employ Teachers in non-conventional classroom settings.
Tim Straka

tim@studentsonice.com

Education Program Director
www.studentsonice.com

I'm currently working as a Training Advisor in the Department of National Defence.  I never expected that I would be working outside of a classroom, especially not after leaving the Faculty of Education!  I really enjoy my work; I've been able to use my skills in teaching and lesson planning (better known as course development within the realm of Adult Education), and while I do miss teaching bright-eyed youngsters (high school students), I find teaching adults to be a different type of challenge altogether.
Contact information available on request.

To give you a reminder, I graduated from the B.Ed program in 1998 (it was the year of the ice storm), after taking your class in International Ed. I did a practicum in Alaska, and participated in the career fair, but didn't end up going abroad – I taught in Morrisburg and then Ottawa for a year or so before going back to school to do an M.A.

As you may have guessed from my e-mail address, I am not currently working in the school system, although I am still in the education field. I work in the Public Information and Education Branch at Parks Canada's national office, in the position of "Outreach Education Specialist". I've actually just started in a new position this week working on the Parks Canada in the Schools Program, which develops Parks Canada educational resources (on national parks and national historic sites) to fit grade 4 to 12 school curricula across the country.

Update March 2012:  To answer your question, yes, I do still work for Parks Canada and love what I do. I no longer work in a position that is directly related to education, but my job nonetheless involves education in a more general sense as it is part of Parks Canada`s mandate to "engage" and "educate" Canadians about our country's rich natural and cultural history. So I have found, over the past 10 years that I have worked here, that my values and interests are well-matched to those of my employer. 

I now manage the Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS). My work includes website (www.chrs.ca) and exhibit design, writing and publishing reports, and providing leadership and guidance to Parks Canada's senior management and, ultimately, the Minister of Environment Canada, regarding the nomination, designation and management of rivers in the CHRS. 
My work involves a mix of the exciting: running a photo contest with a paddling magazine, organizing and travelling to national conferences and meetings in places like Iqaluit and Charlottetown, working with Aboriginal partners and community-level river conservation groups, to the more mundane:  working in a cubicle day in and day-out in front of a computer, writing briefing notes, memos, and managing a budget. I will say that one thing about my job that I cherish, particularly in light of the workload I experienced in my brief teaching career (and with my ongoing appreciation of my teacher-husband's workload) is that I never take work home with me!
Andrea McNeil

andrea.mcneil@pc.gc.ca

I currently work for a company called ESG solutions (Engineering Seismology Group).  It is a small, but growing, company that works with microseismics.  Essentially, what we do is monitor small scale earth quakes associated with many different processes.  For example, we monitor seismicity within mines, petroleum producing areas, waste disposal areas, volcanoes and many, many more.  I work in the petroleum section here at ESG. When I was first interviewed they were confused as to why a teacher would apply to work as a geophysicist, but I explained that my background was in geology and that I felt the skills I obtained in teachers college would only benefit me.  The interview went pretty well! I believe all the interview training we had in the B.Ed. program was a huge help!! 
 
When I started at ESG I was working as a geophysical Analyst. I interpreted the data, but I was not doing anything teaching related.  During my quarterly review I mentioned that it would be a giant help to ESG if they had a training program.  At that time there was a high turnover rate and people had to learn the software by themselves which lay a very poor foundation.  The training program was implemented and I helped create a lot of the training documents.  Once the program was established I also helped train any new employees. 

Next was the yearly review.  They asked me where I thought I could contribute to the company. I then told them I wanted to be more involved with the training program.  I said, in addition to training new employees, I propose we create software packages for our clients and I will go and train them on how to use our software.  It was perfect!  They said in a year that will be my role, training specialist.  I will be traveling around the world visiting clients and teaching them how to use our software. Also during that yearly review they promoted me to a Project Manager.  They said they had heard endless compliments on my people skills and that I interacted with clients wonderfully, and that I was very organized. In other words, I had teacher skills! So I have been a project manager for a few months now and I have had the opportunity to use many acquired teacher skills. 
 
Throughout this journey I have realized that you use teaching skills everywhere you go! Once you get your foot in the door you can bring your skills and open new doors.  Once you are part of a company they want to use you to their best advantage. Teachers have wonderful project management skills, which is a great start for me.  They also can create training programs which will provide a wonderful foundation to growing companies. Anyhow, that is my story so far.

Update March 2012: In my opinion, teachers make wonderful project coordinators/managers and I know ESG would certainly consider hiring more teacher candidates (science background) for project management in the future. The project coordinators are always interacting with clients, they are teaching them about the science and presenting project results. The interpersonal skills inherent in teachers makes this task exciting and enjoyable. They also coordinate and organize every aspect of the project, which is geared towards the strong organizational skills most teacher candidates possess.
Marcia Waggott

marcia.waggott@esg.ca

 
You asked for stories from alumni, especially those working outside of classroom teaching.  That was a growing area back when I graduated as well, and I’m an example of one who benefited from my teacher training, though I’ve never taught “day school”, meaning I did teach interest courses in theatre for Continuing Education for a few years, in evenings.
 
As there were no jobs for a secondary school teacher, trained in History and Theatre Arts, in 1979, with Alan’s strong encouragement I applied for a position with the public board of education in Guelph.  It was originally Administrative Assistant to the Director of Education, which changed to Executive Assistant to the Director and later became Communications Officer.  I was at the Board for 20 years having had a very successful career.  A solid understanding of curriculum design, methods of measurement and evaluation, politics and bureaucracy of education, etc., thanks to my training at Queen’s, provided excellent background for my non-teaching, administrative work at the board.  In hindsight, I believe it made me more easily accepted with teacher colleagues who knew I had at least been “teacher trained”.  Communication skills, both written and oral, honed during my year of training at Queen’s, have served me well in my career.
 
I left the Board in 1999 for a move from a middle management to senior management position at Cambridge Memorial Hospital as Program Manager, Public Relations.  After slightly less than two years, not enjoying the work climate, I left the hospital, returning to the education field, but now working with teachers at the other end of the spectrum - retired teachers.  In late August 2001, I joined The Retired Teachers of Ontario (RTO/ERO) as Information Officer, a new position there which later became Manager of Communications. 
 
In 2009, my role was enhanced and since then I’ve served as Director of Administrative and Member Services, working with the Executive Director of RTO/ERO to oversee the administrative functions of the organization on a day-to-day basis, with seven staff directly responsible to me.
 
Looking back on my career, I’ve continued to move into positions with enhanced responsibilities and increased supervision of staff and operations, and I credit the training I received at Queen’s as a major reason for my success.  Hard to believe that I’m eligible for retirement in just under 5 years!
 
If you’d like any other information, please let me know.
Simon Leibovitz
sbbg@rogers.com


Greetings from New Zealand. It was through your office that I ended up here back in 1991.
Alan had contact with a school in Taumarunui. They needed a math teacher and I was keen to visit another part of the world, having spent the previous three years as a volunteer teacher in Malawi and Swaziland. My wife and I arrived intending to spend five years before trying another country. We're still here.

After three years in Taumarunui, I got a promotion to a new school here in Napier, still teaching math.
That was 1994. Fast forward and I am now the Director of the Holt Planetarium in Napier. I spend my days teaching astronomy to all levels of school children. Astronomy has been my hobby for many years and I've always enjoyed teaching so this was a great opportunity for me. I've been doing this job for 8 years and although it doesn't pay much, who cares!
Gary Sparks

ghsparks@xtra.co.nz

I am writing in response to the e-newsletter that requested stories for a section on the website about alumni who are working outside the classroom. I can share my story if it's helpful. Two years ago after working in the field of global education for World Vision Canada, I moved to rural Ontario and started my own educational consulting business. My company is named SPARK Global Learning and I write and edit curriculum support resources for clients that are primarily focused on providing resources for teachers in the field of global education. I generally work with clients in the non-governmental organization sector. So I have written resources on climate change, humanitarian emergencies, children's rights and maternal and child health. I also create professional development workshops and conferences for teachers. With my undergraduate degree in International Development and my B. Ed. in Outdoor and Experiential education, my skills are well suited to operating a niche business like this.

Please let me know if my story can be of use to you and I can provide more details if needed.
Sarah Hutchison

sarah@sparkgloballearning.com
www.sparkgloballearning.com