Courtney Munn

I was raised here in Fort McMurray.  As a student I thought I would leave and never come back.  But during university I realized how much I missed our icebox of a city because of the people here. 

What I did know was that I wanted to be a teacher since I was 13.   It was at this point that I  started teaching classes through the air cadet program (amazing program by the way).  I found that I was enjoying being the person who could help others make learning more fun. I ended up becoming one of the people who taught cadets how to teach outside normal hours (I know…  what a nerd).

Even at that age I started building my teaching philosophy around the idea of bringing the known to the unknown.  Simply put, using things kids understand to relate to the things they don't.  For this reason, I have always been one to diversify myself as much as possible.  I started taking up hobbies and reading through wiki articles just to better understand things. As the often misquoted saying goes "A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one".

After High School I went to University of Lethbridge for my degrees in Dramatic Arts and Education.  I took random courses as part of my general liberal educational requirements (a way of diversifying our knowledge).  Courses included Archeology, Anthropology, Psychology, French, Japanese, Math Theory, and many others during my Drama degree.  I also took the curricular study of Math, Physical Education, and Science during my education degree to better understand the viewpoint of those teachers, and just in case I ended up teaching it.

It was a good thing I did because my first full-time position was grade 5 Math/Science/Health and Music at Dr. Clark. In that same year, I ended up becoming the PE and Music teacher and eventually transitioning to include English Language Learner support. 

Dr. Clark became my second home, but I eventually made the move into junior high and high school at Ecole McTavish.  Throughout my time here, I have been the instructor of Health, Science, Math, Communication Technology, Fashion studies, Drama, and now CALM. Throughout all, I have tried to implement a sense of fun by gamifying the curriculum while still holding my students to my high expectations.  Something I will continue to do so that students can share in my love of seeking knowledge and understand the multifaceted way their curriculum connects to the real world. 

If you are still reading, my hobbies include:

• Cosplay (weapon and costume building)
• Drawing/painting
• Binging tv series 
• Reading manga/watching anime
• Dancing
• Community theatre productions
• Singing way too much
• Video games
• Tiktok
• J-fashion
• Wikipedia rabbit holes
• Hanging out with my pets

P.S. I no longer have my duck collection.