The Chilliwack
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Hall of Fame
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Saturday lunch program trimmed.
CSS teacher gets call from the Hall.
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New indoor firing range approved Training facility expected to be operational by 2015 Jennifer Feinberg The Progress About $18 million in federal funding has just come through to build a new indoor firing range for the RCMP on Canada Education Park land. It’s out for tender now with Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation (CEPCO) facilitating as project manager for the City of Chilliwack, said John Jansen, CEPCO’s director of special projects. The current outdoor firing range facility has long been the subject on noise complaints. Located on property owned by the University of the Fraser Valley, its lease was due to expire in 2016. The new sound-proof facility, with upto-date ventilation and technology, will be constructed at Caen and Tyson Roads. “It will be completely indoors, meaning no sound at all will be heard from the outside,” said Jansen. Substantial completion is expected by October 2015. It’s a project that’s been in the works for years. “We’ve worked hard to get this off the ground,” said Jansen. “We’re very pleased to see it coming to fruition. It will be a great addition to Chilliwack and a great addition to Canada Education Park.” The development of an updated firing range at the Canada Education Park lands serves as “a natural progression of the site,” according to the CEPCO press release. “The modern training facility will host a variety of training groups, which will contribute to the economic stability of the local community.” Canada Border Services currently trains at its own soundproof indoor range at Canada Education Park. Project scope and construction details for the tender are available on major tendering websites, such as bcbid.gov.bc.ca. The tender deadline is April 10, 2014.
Sardis secondary teacher Jenn Long has been selected by National Geographic to go on a Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship. She is one of 25 applicants, out of 1,300, to be selected and the first of three Canadians to be selected. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Local teacher joins select group to Antarctica Katie Bartel The Progress Biology teacher Jenn Long has been teaching Darwin’s expeditions through the knowledge of a textbook for years. Now, she’ll live it first hand. National Geographic has selected the Sardis secondary teacher for a Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship in Antarctica. She is one of 25 selected, out of 1,300 applicants, and one of the first three Canadians since the program started four years ago. Long got the call last month. “As soon as I heard Antarctica, I was blown away; I didn’t hear anything after that,” she said. The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship is a partnership
between National Geographic Education and Lindblad Expeditions. The program is designed to give K-12 teachers an opportunity to experience geographic education in remote areas including Iceland, Arctic Svalbard, Greenland and the Canadian Maritimes. Long, who didn’t have a choice of where to go, but secretly wished for the coldest place on earth, was paired with the 14-day journey through Antarctica. Wish come true. “Antarctica was by far my number one choice, I mean, how often do you get to go to Antarctica in a lifetime?” she said. “How can you not be excited about seeing penguins in their natural environment. And
the wildlife, the glaciers, experiencing all that is the Antarctica is going to be really exciting.” Aboard the National Geographic Explorer, a fully stabilized ice-class vessel, Long will be joined with two other fellows, a National Geographic photographer, an undersea specialist, and several ship naturalists to help identify the different species, as well as the area’s geographic and natural subjects. The journey will include close encounters with the continent’s iconic penguins, leopard seals, and marine mammals. There will be kayaking among the icebergs, exploring the glaciers, investigating the unfamiliar landscapes and habitats. “In some ways, it’s a really big professional development
opportunity,” said Long. “Being a biology teacher, we teach our students about how Darwin was a ship naturalist, so to go and actually be on a ship and live in close quarters with true ship naturalists, and experience this stuff first hand, on a professional level, and a biology geek level, it’s going to be really, really awesome.” Long isn’t new to teaching expeditions. She’s led house building projects in Mexico, volunteer trips to Costa Rica and China, and in 2010, she took a two-year leave from the school district to teach at a not-for-profit environmental school in a cloud forest in Monte Verde, Costa Rica. Continued: TEACHER/ p7
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