Ashley, BA Psychology, Level 3 Early Childhood Educator
PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Nature Name: Bumble Bee
Ashley grew up in a military home and spent most of her adolescent years moving around Central and Atlantic Canada. Her dad retired and moved their family to Nova Scotia where her appreciation for nature and all living things began to flourish.
Ashley attended Carleton University in Ottawa and holds a BA in Psychology. She is also a level 3 early childhood educator and has been working in the childcare field since 2016. Once the pandemic hit, her love for outdoor play really began to grow. Building forts, using tools, and climbing trees, made Ashley eager to purse her education in outdoor risky play. She is currently enrolled in the Forest and Nature Practitioners course through Child and Nature Alliance Canada.
Ashley is a strong advocate for outdoor risky play and knows firsthand the benefits Forest School and nature has on ADHD and anxiety. Her goal is to be able to offer a safe space for children to do all the fun things, in a supportive and natural environment.
Ashley is happily married and has two kids; whom both enjoy Wild Child and spending quality time in the woods with their mom. Ashley enjoys taking on new projects and expanding her knowledge base. She likes to spend time with her family on the South Shore and letting her kids appreciate nature in their own unique ways.
KJIPUKTUK (HRM) STAFF
Nicole & Frank, BSC Marine Biology
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/LEAD EDUCATOR – Kjipuktuk (HRM)
Nature Name: Nature Nicole & Forest Frank
Anna, Level 2 Early Childhood Educator
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/LEAD EDUCATOR – Kjipuktuk (HRM)
Nature Name: Big Pond
Anna recently graduated from NSCC with her Early Childhood Education diploma and will continue her studies in the fall to pursue a Bachelor of Education degree. In the past she has worked at days camps, residential camps and even hockey camps! Anna is so excited for this new experience to work with Wild Child forest school and she is ready to get muddy!
KESPUKWITK (SOUTH SHORE) STAFF
Bryanna, BSC BIOCHEM, Forest & Nature Practitioner
Kespukwitk (South Shore) Site Director
Nature Name: Flurry
Bryanna (she/her) has lived as a guest on unceded, un-surrendered Mi’kma’ki all of her life and is grateful to be a treaty person of the land she lives and play on.
Bryanna grew up on the Nepisiguit River in Northern NB and she really only started becoming passionate about the outdoors when she began spending her summers at Camp Glenburn. Every year Bryanna looked forward to meeting new friends in the forest without technology: storytelling, and learning outdoor survival skills in a welcoming and creative environment. That’s why Bryanna loves forest school so much! Bryanna studied Biochemistry/Chemistry in University and has recently received her Forest School Canada Practitioner Certificate.
Currently Bryanna lives on a farm/homestead in Kespukwitk, Mi’kma’ki (South Shore, NS) and enjoys: foraging, hunting, hiking, building things, playing music, and spending time with friends outdoors.
Bianca, Artist/Business Admin Diploma
EDUCATOR – Kespukwitk (South Shore)
Pronouns: all pronouns she/her they/them he/him
Kids call me: Daddy Lady / Uncle Bonks / Bonkers / Bonka
Nature Name : Daddy Long Legs
Bianca has been an Acadien Settler of Mi’kma’ki all their life and currently lives in Pijinuiskaq (River of Long Joints / LaHave Area) for the past 6 years.
You may have seen Bianca at the Petite School’s After School Program in 2020/2021; blasting tunes and dancing outside while the buses arrive, or playing drums with her musical friends out on the basketball court.
Bianca has been an outdoor enthusiast since a small child. They grew up in the forest and by a body of water all their life. Bianca has found endless fun, artistry, agency and healing through their relationship with the non-human world.
Bianca’s favourite things to do while outside are:
– Building: forts, benches, instruments and sculptures out of materials that the forest provides.
– Listening walks: hearing the compositions of the wind, birds, trees and other creatures and observing how they make sounds, songs and rhythms.
– Nature’s Art Show: observing the sky, clouds and stars, the plants’ compositions of colours, densities, textures and sparseness.
Nature is the truest artist, how humbling to witness natural pieces of art at every glance and listen. Having studied closely with legendary jazz drummer and teacher Jerry Granelli, Bianca applies their spontaneous composition teachings to all their works and lives by “we can only teach students to discover how they learn! “