NPSS teacher wins 2025 CAP award for excellence

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A North Peace Secondary School (NPSS) teacher has been awarded the 2025 Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) Awards for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP for the B.C. and Yukon region. 

NPSS’s physics and robotics teacher, Brant Churchill, was both surprised and excited by the recognition he got from the CAP Award, which was announced on May 26. 

“When I was informed of it, I found out it was my former students who had nominated me for the award and that meant more than anything else, which is a great honour to have that happen,” Churchill said. 

Churchill noted that it was nice to know he had made a difference to students throughout the year. 

He said, “As a teacher, you see the good and the bad through the years and it’s always nice [to hear] those comments from kids, this is just an even larger comment from some kids…who recognize the effort you put in.”

“It’s just a nice positive…recognition.” 

When asked if there were anything he would have done differently in his career, he said, “Things that work one year will not work in the same way the next year.” 

“You’ve got to adapt and try to do your best to honour and help those kids that you have that year, in whatever state they’re in.”

Churchill noted that one highlight of his 20-year career is having a television in his classroom, which shows where his former students are currently. 

He added, “Beyond that, it would be taking some kids to some national robotics competitions and just seeing the kids do well.”

Churchill said he got into teaching to see kids achieve their goals and become “amazing” adults. 

“Just like a parent, you get to see what the kids do and be proud of all the accomplishments that they’ve made and know you contributed a small amount to that,” he said. 

Churchill, who taught for two years on the Quebec side of Ottawa, said there are differences in teaching between urban and rural settings.

He said, “In our city, a lot of the kids have jobs and the priorities of the kids are different from kids in a more urban school. 

“As far as the content, we have less opportunities to go on field trips and fancy physics things.” 

But Churchill said the School District 60 supports teachers “fairly well” in creating new and interesting classes for kids. 

When asked if he had a message for his former student who nominated him, he said, “Thank you, it means a lot. Every teacher loves those couple of little words that let them know they’ve made a difference somewhere. 

“Thank you very much for the recognition and hopefully I can live up to the award.”