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This article was published 26/06/2024 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

George Pearce intends to provide his students with a bird’s-eye view of the possibilities their futures hold.

Pearce, a middle years teacher at Gordon Bell High School, is one of four Manitobans to receive a Prime Minister’s Award in education recently, and one of two awarded a regional certificate of achievement for teaching excellence in STEM.

“These award recipients are among Canada’s outstanding educators, who are inspiring the next generation to be bold innovators and creators. With resilience and compassion, Canadian educators are coming together and doing their part to ensure students are engaged and developing, whether in the classroom or virtually, every day,” an official release on the award winners stated.

“It was definitely exciting for me,” Pearce said. “For me, the award is really meaningful because it is something I’ve worked really hard for. I lost my dad this December to cancer, (but) I know my father would be really proud of me.”

An educator now for over a decade, Pearce, 38, got his start teaching Grade 3 to 6 at Wellington School and Strathcona School.

“I got to be in all age group classrooms, which is where my STEM work started,” Pearce said. “I wanted to do innovative stuff, so they gave me free rein. I loved it.”

Pearce moved to Gordon Bell five years ago, where he settled in as a science and math teacher for Grade 7 and 8 students, with the occasional Grade 9 class.

“I realized that schools are a joyful place and they need to remain joyful and fun in order for students to be willing to take on the non-fun parts of school,” he said. “If they are going to be taking on challenge and rigour and expected to struggle, they also need balance. They need to have fun. I saw my role as fun first, while being fair and firm. I get kids smiling and nodding and engaged in things I find fun.”

Engaging students with hands-on learning has been key to getting his students to buy in.

“I need them to be engaged and willing to do the hard work,” he said. “To do that, I need to know what they’re interested in. What do kids like to do? What are they using and playing with, and how can I turn that into an education experience?”

In class, students learn everything from coding to building circuits, to design and creation.

“The goal is to get kids engaged with real world skills while dabbling with a bunch of different things,” he said, adding he has created between 60 and 70 YouTube videos to help kids through various science modules. “There’s lots of collaboration in my math class. It’s a balance of classical things and the more modern approach.”

Pearce has started an eSports club at the school, which has led to teams forming and competing in regional events.

“It’s about getting the benefits of organized sport through video games,” he said. “I’m going to try to help other educators in other buildings grow their programs.”

On the horizon, students in Grade 10 at Gordon Bell will be able to take an introduction to drone technology class, which has been developed by Pearce, with the intention of developing drone technology into a full program at the school — the first of its kind in Manitoba.

“Drones are cool, drones are part of the future. I find them fascinating. With new battery technology, there will be a tipping point,” Pearce said. “(The administration) believe in the idea and in me, so we got some budget and next year we’re going to go ahead with this intro to drone technology class. My dream would be to have a three-year academy, with a fourth year of going out into the field.”

Pearce hopes him winning a national award will only help the school open doors to more opportunities for students.

“The award gives me notoriety which helps get kids through the door, to help make the school the best it can be,” he said. “The future of the building could be as one of the best schools in the province. We’re going to have an amazing group of teachers and an amazing group of kids. I hope to help make the school a better place.”

Other Winnipeg teachers to win a Prime Minister’s Awards this year are Maples Collegiate’s Andrea Misner and Andrew Hiebert of Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute.