Sarah Burke:
Banting Memorial:
English/Science:
435-6288:
Five Things to Know About Sarah Burke (Sample Assignment)
The Importance of Family & Friends
Sarah believes that without her great support network of family and friends
it would have been difficult to get to where she is in life. Sarah has had
and values the many unique friendships she’s had over the years but has
learned that an individual is very lucky if they can say that they have one
true friend that is with them throughout their life. Friends may change with
the seasons of life but one thing is for certain, family is always there and
they are willing to accept you for who you are. Sarah has lived and traveled
very far from her family but the magnetism that connects them, always pulls
her back. Sarah feels very lucky to have such a great family.
Adventure
Adventure is a huge part of Sarah’s life. She feels like she would go crazy
without a little (or huge) adventure now and then. Growing up, Sarah always
felt like there must be more to life than the tiny town of Tottenham. Her
mother, aunts and grandmother were always traveling and she made it a goal of
hers from a young age to try and see as much of the world as possible. Sarah
has also always enjoyed adventure sports and craves the adrenalin and
exhaustion that comes after a day of exerting ones self. Sarah and her
husband own a home in Canmore, Alberta where they’ve had some epic ski and
boarding powder days and hiked up some of the most beautiful mountain terrain
in the world. They also own a home in Stayner, Ontario and since moving
there one year ago they’ve been pursuing their love of sailing. Sarah also
loves to rock climb and has climbed all over Canada, the United States,
Europe, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand. Not all sport has to be so
extreme though. She also loves taking walks, swimming, riding her bike and
since moving to Stayner, skate boarding on her new long board.
Teaching
Sarah feels like she’s always been a teacher. Beginning with her early days
in the crawlspace of her families home in Tottenham, where her parents helped
her set up a chalk board and school desks, she taught her younger brother and
sister valuable (if not slightly obscure) lessons for hours on end. Her part
time jobs as a teenager were teaching swimming, skiing and snowboarding
lessons; she continued teaching these skills right through University where
she also became a Teacher's Assistant for the Outdoor Recreation department.
She’s also taught programs for Parks Canada and the National Outdoor
Leadership School. Her reason for being involved with teaching from such a
young age was not because she felt as though it was a calling but it was a
way for her to have fun and in many cases keep fit while making money. Along
the way she picked up the skills to become what she hopes is a great
teacher.
Writing
Writing is a way to reflect on experiences, engage one’s creativity and
imagination and communicate with the world around us. Writing is a part of
Sarah’s life but she always wishes she had time to do more. Sarah believes
in the importance of communicating effectively and constantly strives to
improve her skills by studying the craft, publishing her work and teaching
other adults these skills in creative writing courses. She feels that
teaching others is one of the best ways to learn something and gain
confidence about the subject area.
The Environment:
Sarah tries not to stress or take things in life too seriously but she does
have great concern for our environment and takes environmental issues very
seriously. Any species on the planet has an impact on the environment.
Sarah knows that to focus on the problems humans create can be overwhelming
and can leave people feeling ridden with guilt. She feels it is necessary to
acknowledge how people impact the environment and learn about what can be
done to minimize this impact. After many years of feeling frustrated with
the lack of progress she has seen in others in terms of their attitudes and
seeming lack of respect toward the environment she is starting to see hope.
She feels that if people would try to change one habit in their life each
month, week or day our communities would benefit. She also feels that if we
want to slow down the effects of global warming that we need to be
petitioning our government to do more. The many environmental initiatives
that she’s developed and run and the children’s book that she wrote: Kids Go
Wild: Adventures in the Canadian Rockies, reflects her passion for making a
difference and encouraging others to do the same.
Recommended Resources for Further Understanding of Sarah Burke:
Books
A History of the World in 10 ½ chapters Julian Barnes
In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez
Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
The Josephine Trilogy Sandra Gulland
The World According to Garp
A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving
The Poison Wood Bible
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Actually…everything she’s written Barbara Kingsolver
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Away Jane Urquhart
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Fall on Your Knees Ann-Marie Macdonald
An Embarrassment of Mangoes Ann Vanderhoof
Movies
Stand By Me
Walmart
Pay it Forward
It’s a Beautiful Life
Catch Me If You Can
Being John Malkovich
Schindler’s List
Julie and Julia
Television Shows
Survivor
Amazing Race
Gray’s Anatomy
Discovery
Websites
www.kidsgowild.synthasite.com
www.treehugger.com
www.environmentaldefence.ca
http://www.ewg.org/
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/
www.epicurious.com
www.itunes.com
http://www.cbc.ca/q/
http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/home.php
http://www.cbc.ca/writersandcompany/audio.html
www.youtube.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.turnitin.com : ) yay!