Meet our leaders!
Rebecca Seiling
Founder/Facilitator
I want my children to be connected. To the land, to others, to their emerging selves. I want to pass on a love of the land to others – the love that I felt as a child growing up on a 120 acre farm with wild woods and water, growing, tending, weeding, hiding in cornfields. Experiences traveling and living in places in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have deepened my appreciation for the natural world. I have taught Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 7, Grade 8, and Grade 10, and one of my deep passions is inspiring learning outdoors and facilitating connections to the land and to each other. Being outside inspires me, calms me, and fans the flames of my curiosity. Forest school is a continual learning experience for me too! I learn new things every season, and look forward to the questions and connections each new day brings.
B. Ed., Primary/Junior
Level 3 Forest School Practitioner’s Certification, Forest School Canada
Wilderness First Aid
Founder/Facilitator
I want my children to be connected. To the land, to others, to their emerging selves. I want to pass on a love of the land to others – the love that I felt as a child growing up on a 120 acre farm with wild woods and water, growing, tending, weeding, hiding in cornfields. Experiences traveling and living in places in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have deepened my appreciation for the natural world. I have taught Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 7, Grade 8, and Grade 10, and one of my deep passions is inspiring learning outdoors and facilitating connections to the land and to each other. Being outside inspires me, calms me, and fans the flames of my curiosity. Forest school is a continual learning experience for me too! I learn new things every season, and look forward to the questions and connections each new day brings.
B. Ed., Primary/Junior
Level 3 Forest School Practitioner’s Certification, Forest School Canada
Wilderness First Aid
Giselle Carter
Facilitator
As an early childhood educator who now teaches ECE students, I am always eager to participate in unique programs. I am keenly interested in research on inquiry-based learning and the benefits of playing in nature, and I'm excited to join this program and spend time with children exploring and asking questions alongside them. Whether planting in the backyard garden, looking for trees to climb in the neighbourhood woods, swimming in a pond with frogs, or picking berries on a farm, I experience the peace and delight of spending time in the outdoors with my two children.
B. Sc., Family and Social Relations
M. Sc., Developmental Studies
RECE
Wilderness First Aid
Facilitator
As an early childhood educator who now teaches ECE students, I am always eager to participate in unique programs. I am keenly interested in research on inquiry-based learning and the benefits of playing in nature, and I'm excited to join this program and spend time with children exploring and asking questions alongside them. Whether planting in the backyard garden, looking for trees to climb in the neighbourhood woods, swimming in a pond with frogs, or picking berries on a farm, I experience the peace and delight of spending time in the outdoors with my two children.
B. Sc., Family and Social Relations
M. Sc., Developmental Studies
RECE
Wilderness First Aid
Jen Beattie
Facilitator
I fell upon forest school two years ago when I started attending the Tales and Trails programs with my own children. I knew immediately that I had found something special. When I am outdoors, I am home. I enjoy anything that takes me outside, but I especially love exploring the natural world with children as their inquiries, curiosity and enthusiasm remind me of my childhood days spent exploring spring's muddy fields, climbing trees, or helping with the garden harvest of summer.
B. Ed., Primary/Junior
Currently completing Level 3 Forest School Practitioner's Certification, Forest School Canada
Wilderness First Aid
Facilitator
I fell upon forest school two years ago when I started attending the Tales and Trails programs with my own children. I knew immediately that I had found something special. When I am outdoors, I am home. I enjoy anything that takes me outside, but I especially love exploring the natural world with children as their inquiries, curiosity and enthusiasm remind me of my childhood days spent exploring spring's muddy fields, climbing trees, or helping with the garden harvest of summer.
B. Ed., Primary/Junior
Currently completing Level 3 Forest School Practitioner's Certification, Forest School Canada
Wilderness First Aid
Sarah Penner
Facilitator
My passion for nature and educating children has grown through my years of involvement in outdoor education at Silver Lake Mennonite Camp and Laurel Creek Nature Centre. I work hard to help children make a connection with the natural environment at a local and global level. I am particularly passionate about mindfulness in nature, inquiry based learning, and environmental stewardship.
B.A, Environmental Studies
B.Ed, Primary/Junior
Wilderness First Aid
Facilitator
My passion for nature and educating children has grown through my years of involvement in outdoor education at Silver Lake Mennonite Camp and Laurel Creek Nature Centre. I work hard to help children make a connection with the natural environment at a local and global level. I am particularly passionate about mindfulness in nature, inquiry based learning, and environmental stewardship.
B.A, Environmental Studies
B.Ed, Primary/Junior
Wilderness First Aid
Lindsay Theriault
Facilitator
I remember the moment that I fell in love with nature. I was in primary school and my best friend
and I had ridden our bikes to our town's closest natural space, Black Creek. This was a place that we
enjoyed often, but on this particular day as we sat in silence on the shore of the trickling water with the
sun shining through the canopy, a strong feeling of peace and happiness spread over me. I remember
asking my friend “Why does it feel so good to spend time here?” I believe that moments like this spent
immersed in the wonders of the wild have enriched my life immeasurably and inspired me to share the
magic of the natural world with others. It has been my privilege to have spent the past 10 years doing so
on behalf of various school boards, conservation authorities and charitable organizations.
B.Ed, Primary/Junior
Wilderness First Aid
Facilitator
I remember the moment that I fell in love with nature. I was in primary school and my best friend
and I had ridden our bikes to our town's closest natural space, Black Creek. This was a place that we
enjoyed often, but on this particular day as we sat in silence on the shore of the trickling water with the
sun shining through the canopy, a strong feeling of peace and happiness spread over me. I remember
asking my friend “Why does it feel so good to spend time here?” I believe that moments like this spent
immersed in the wonders of the wild have enriched my life immeasurably and inspired me to share the
magic of the natural world with others. It has been my privilege to have spent the past 10 years doing so
on behalf of various school boards, conservation authorities and charitable organizations.
B.Ed, Primary/Junior
Wilderness First Aid
Heather Law
Facilitator
After completing my B.Ed. in Outdoor and Experiential Education, I knew there was more to education than the model based in the industrial era. That’s when I discovered Forest Schools. This type of experiential and inquiry-based learning spoke so deeply to me as an educator while reminiscing of my childhood. My love for the outdoors stems from growing up on a farm and having access to many animals and woodlands. Transferring that attachment into a sense of responsibility was the most important step of my journey as an educator. I seek to allow children time in nature to learn about risk management, resilience, and the wonder that stems from the natural world.
B.Ed, Primary/Junior
Level 3 Forest School Practitioner's Course Certification, Forest School Canada
Emergency First Aid, CPR-B
Facilitator
After completing my B.Ed. in Outdoor and Experiential Education, I knew there was more to education than the model based in the industrial era. That’s when I discovered Forest Schools. This type of experiential and inquiry-based learning spoke so deeply to me as an educator while reminiscing of my childhood. My love for the outdoors stems from growing up on a farm and having access to many animals and woodlands. Transferring that attachment into a sense of responsibility was the most important step of my journey as an educator. I seek to allow children time in nature to learn about risk management, resilience, and the wonder that stems from the natural world.
B.Ed, Primary/Junior
Level 3 Forest School Practitioner's Course Certification, Forest School Canada
Emergency First Aid, CPR-B
Josh Shea
Natural Areas Coordinator, City of Kitchener
I came to love nature through repeated and frequent exposure as a child. I believe that learning is a lifelong journey which we must begin when we are young. My days are mostly spent working for the City of Kitchener as their Natural Areas Coordinator where I have the privilege to manage and care for our hundreds of acres of forest, fields, and waterways. Prior to joining the City, I whet my appetite for environmental education by teaching children at the Grand River Conservation Authority and Laurel Creek Nature Centre. My greatest passions are birds, butterflies, turtles, frogs, flowers, well, all of nature, really! I am happy to share my time with the children in our forest school groups.
I will be doing an array of administrative tasks as part of the partnership between City of Kitchener and Nature Connect.
M. E.S., Conservation and Resource Management
Wilderness First Aid
Natural Areas Coordinator, City of Kitchener
I came to love nature through repeated and frequent exposure as a child. I believe that learning is a lifelong journey which we must begin when we are young. My days are mostly spent working for the City of Kitchener as their Natural Areas Coordinator where I have the privilege to manage and care for our hundreds of acres of forest, fields, and waterways. Prior to joining the City, I whet my appetite for environmental education by teaching children at the Grand River Conservation Authority and Laurel Creek Nature Centre. My greatest passions are birds, butterflies, turtles, frogs, flowers, well, all of nature, really! I am happy to share my time with the children in our forest school groups.
I will be doing an array of administrative tasks as part of the partnership between City of Kitchener and Nature Connect.
M. E.S., Conservation and Resource Management
Wilderness First Aid
Jan Sherman
Resident Knowledge Keeper
Jan Sherman is an Anishnaabe Mixed Ancestry kwe (woman), nimame (mother), knowledge keeper, storyteller, drummer and singer who has been engaged in her First Nations, Me'tis, Mixed Ancestry and Inuit community in Guelph for almost 30 years. Jan's spirit has been guided to spending most of her time with children (and the children inside adult bodies) reminding them of their connection to the land and water.
Jan will be involved in a variety of programs this season, bringing gifts of drumming, singing, storytelling, and knowledge of the land and creatures around us.
Resident Knowledge Keeper
Jan Sherman is an Anishnaabe Mixed Ancestry kwe (woman), nimame (mother), knowledge keeper, storyteller, drummer and singer who has been engaged in her First Nations, Me'tis, Mixed Ancestry and Inuit community in Guelph for almost 30 years. Jan's spirit has been guided to spending most of her time with children (and the children inside adult bodies) reminding them of their connection to the land and water.
Jan will be involved in a variety of programs this season, bringing gifts of drumming, singing, storytelling, and knowledge of the land and creatures around us.
