Luc Arvisais: Preparing for Life through STEM

Year: 2021 — Province: Alberta
Certificate of Achievement Recipient

Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy
Grades 10 to 12 - science
Canmore, Alberta

Quote

“Mr. Arvisais is a master teacher who consistently looks for ways to integrate experiential real-world project-based learning that emphasizes the 4 Cs – collaboration, critical thinking, communications and creativity. His students strive for goals that push them beyond their comfort zone while learning functional skills needed for the 21st century and beyond.”

Colleague

Teaching Approach

Luc believes in “flipping the educational iceberg” that shifts the focus from merely meeting educational objectives to developing lifelong learners equipped with the passion and resiliency to problem solve across a wide variety of contexts. His systems thinking approach provides students with opportunities to make choices and recognize that each choice has an impact on larger systems. Students learn how to articulate their choices and solve problems related to those choices in new and different way.

In the Classroom

Luc captivates his students not only with his forward looking teaching methods, but with the support of the latest technology. Being very tech savvy, he introduces students to the most current thinking with robotics, coding and makerspace technology. Students are provided with opportunities to learn concepts using the tools that are the most efficient and effective for them. His Google Classroom offers the resources that students can use to acquire the concepts. Class time can therefore be used to compare instructional strategies and work one-on-one with students to help them refine their techniques of choice.

Luc’s classroom is much more than about infusing technology. It’s about finding innovative ways to engage students while they learn the practical skills to be successful in post-secondary and beyond. It’s about developing cooperative learning opportunities for effective team-based problem solving, in an ambiance that promotes communications and individual creativity.

Outstanding achievements

Luc has a passion for experimental science and STEM innovation projects. In recent years, his keen interest in synthetic biology has resulted in his leading students to design a project with the objective to break down hair in wastewater facilities and feather waste in the poultry industry. Through his guidance his students worked towards engineering a type of E.coli that could eventually help the Canmore Water Treatment Plant break down waste. The project gained considerable notoriety in the community. And after submitting grant applications, the school’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation team was able to travel to Boston to present their project at the annual iGEM Jamboree. Recently, Luc’s work earned him an invitation to be a judge for this year worldwide iGEM Jamboree.

Over the past four years, Our Lady of the Snows students have received the prestigious Schulich Leadership Scholarship, awarded to students pursuing post-secondary studies in STEM. This is unprecedented for a rural school with under 600 students, and it highlights Luc’s singular contribution in instilling a STEM culture in the school. He is the driver behind this achievement. It also demonstrates his dedication to student success that goes way beyond the walls of the school and the community.

Get in touch!

Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy
3100 A Stewart Creek Drive
Canmore, AB  T1W 3M6    
403-609-3699
Email: ecaissie@redeemer.ab.ca
Facebook: @ourlady.ctr