Learning Team

NIDES Heartwood Teachers:

We have two BC-certified teachers on site with the children two days per week. They oversee the home learning component, student learning plan and are the interface with NIDES.

Maia Green

Maia is an entrepreneurial educationist mama of two who dreams of changing the world through a transformed education system. She is a full-time teacher with the School District of Greater Victoria, currently on a parenthood leave to spend more time with her young kids, but could not resist the opportunity

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Catie Bainbridge

Catie Bainbridge (she/her) is a white settler with British, Irish, and French ancestry and has been an uninvited guest on lək̓ʷəŋən territory for nearly three decades. She is a storytelling, bone collecting, cloud watching, mud splashing child-at-heart who loves to play and dream outside. She holds great reverence and respect

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Forest Mentors

Our Forest Mentors are additional educators, specifically with outdoor education and/or wilderness awareness training. A mentor is present on site all three days.

Erica

Erica’s greatest passions—people and nature—come together in her dual role as Program Manager and Senior Forest Mentor. Having been homeschooled in elementary school, the pure joy of learning through play, relationships, and the outdoors has been a foundation for Erica as an educator. She is thrilled to continue learning and

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Madison

Madison (they/them) is a dynamic, curious parent deeply committed to community care in various roles. As a crisis response worker, doula, and education assistant, they build meaningful connections and create personalized support systems within their community. Madison has a strong connection to the outdoors, learning from the land, sharing their

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Destiny

I am excited to join the EPIC Learning Community as a Forest Mentor this year! Originally from Southern Ontario, on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples, I moved to British Columbia after earning my Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education. My childhood summers spent visiting family

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Austen

Austen is an Ecosystem Management Technician who runs a small landscaping business. He is entering his third year at EPIC and has experience teaching children and adults about farming, fruit trees, and food security. He spends his days in the garden and his nights reading books. Austen’s looking forward to

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Student Mentors

For much of the year, a practicum student from the University of Victoria’s Child and Youth Care Program is on site three days a week. They spend three to four months with the community to complete their course requirements.