Court Rustemeyer

Court Rustemeyer is a full-time Outdoor Education teacher and the founder of the Outdoor Leadership program at Vincent Massey School in Calgary, Alberta. He believes nature is our most powerful teacher, and has been guiding students beyond the walls of the classroom for over a decade. Through inquiry-based, experiential education, Court aims to inspire passion for the environment and a deep responsibility to protect it.  Rather than just studying ecosystems, Court’s students hike through them, steward them and reflect on their place within them, building fires, navigating wilderness routes and growing into resilient, empathetic leaders along the way. For Court, environmental education is about transformation, where knowledge meets wonder and where leadership takes root in the land.

Court is being recognized as an honourable mention for the 2025 Edward Burtynsky Award for Teaching Excellence in Environmental Education.

Every year, Court leads multi-day expeditions, including a 12-day coastal journey along the West Coast of B.C. These are transformative experiences for students and educators, as they foster connection, confidence and care. Beyond his school, Court serves as the President of the Global, Environmental and Outdoor Education Council, Prairie Director for the Outdoor Council of Canada and a Regional Mentor for Take Me Outside. He was also selected as a 2025 National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, and plans to bring the lessons he learns in Antarctica back home to spark curiosity and climate action.  

Branch 1: Inquiry & Engagement/Lighting the Fire

Curiosity is at the heart of everything done in Court’s outdoor education classes, where he aims to create learning environments that feel more like invitations than instructions. Whether students are building fires in the snow, paddling along the West Coast in silence, or noticing the stories held in animal tracks, he begins with wonder, open-ended questions and intriguing challenges. From there, students are encouraged to lead their own learning.

Court encourages his students to explore the “why” behind what they see, hear and feel outside. For example, hiking through a burned forest could lead to conversations about ecological succession, and when students notice lichen on a rock, the class may discuss symbiotic relationships. He often starts his lessons with provocations, such as an image, a story from the land or a question with multiple correct answers.  This sparks natural inquiry in students, encouraging student generated investigations, such as designing shelters and analyzing the ethics of wildlife management. 

Court views his students not just as participants, but as decision makers. They often help co-design projects, lead portions of class trips and present their findings to different audiences, sometimes including park staff. Court has watched quiet and hesitant students become bold leaders because of the intellectual freedom and empowerment provided through this approach. 

For Court, Outdoor education isn't about giving students all the answers, it’s about giving them the tools, confidence and curiosity to go looking for them.

Branch 3: Integrated Learning/The Flow of Knowledge

Court integrates environmental inquiry across many different subjects in his teaching. Whether he is teaching physical education, language arts, science, or social studies, Court challenges students to engage with real-world environmental issues. This interdisciplinary, place-based learning fosters critical thinking and global citizenship.

This interdisciplinary approach was present in several recent projects in his classroom. His grade 9 Outdoor Education students explored the environmental impacts of resource extraction in Canada, selecting a specific example, and investigating its ecological, social and economic consequences. This learning crossed multiple disciplines, using science to examine ecosystems and climate change, geography to map affected regions, exploring Indigenous perspectives and rights and creating persuasive media campaigns to inform their community. 

Another example of integrated learning in Court’s classroom is their “Park’s Pitch” project. In this project, students research national parks, and deliver public presentations to advocate for stewardship and tourism. This learning integrates science through studying biodiversity and conservation, language arts through presenting and speaking, and media literacy through the creation of brochures, podcasts or videos to present their findings, all while grounding their learning in land-based knowledge and Indigenous teachings. 

Community connections are essential to Court’s teaching. His classes engage with local environmental organizations and Elders, invite guest speakers and even participate in citizen science projects and habitat restoration work. Court finds that by gaining this experience, students can better understand their role in the broader ecological and social fabric. 

Putting it Back Together

The four branches of environmental inquiry are integral to Court’s teaching, and are woven throughout every unit he plans. He often begins by igniting curiosity, encouraging learners to ask questions, whether they are geocaching, considering shelter design in sub-zero temperatures, or examining the reasons behind human impact on the land. These questions often lead to rich, cross-curricular inquiry projects rooted in the other branches of inquiry. 

Hands-on learning is constant in Court’s teaching. These experiences, such as fire-starting in snowstorms and harvesting rosehips for tea, ground abstract ideas in tangible moments, creating a sense of place and emotional connection. Additionally, Court encourages hearts-on engagement with the land, through reflection journals, storytelling circles and debrief hikes. 

Court’s teaching fosters sustainable attitudes, planting seeds for reciprocal relationships with the world. Students’ actions reflect these values: they organized gear drives and cleanups, engaged in deep reflection on reciprocity, and increasingly see themselves as stewards of nature rather than just students.

Integrating Indigenous Perspectives

Court’s approach to environmental education is deeply rooted in respect for Indigenous ways of knowing, being and relating to the land. This approach is born out of the understanding that the outdoor spaces explored in outdoor education are Indigenous homelands, and with that comes a responsibility to honour and uplift Indigenous voices. 

For Court, this begins with relationship building. He actively seeks out opportunities to collaborate with Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers and educators, collaborating in a variety of ways, such as inviting them to speak in his class and co-creating land based learning experiences with them. Court also participates in professional learning relating to the integration of Indigenous perspectives into environmental education, which he approaches with a learners’ mindset. 

In his curriculum, Court emphasizes that the land is not a resource, but a relative, and that as treaty people, students carry responsibilities. To support a more holistic understanding of land, he incorporates local land acknowledgements alongside explorations of traditional ecological knowledge. Court invites students to reflect on their responsibilities as treaty people by considering what it means to walk with care, listen deeply and act in solidarity. These principles become especially meaningful during multi-day expeditions, where students practice gratitude, reflect on reciprocity and acknowledge whose land they are travelling on.

Court continues to learn through Indigenous-led organizations and Indigenous-created resources and strives to model allyship and lifelong learning, recognizing this work as ongoing and essential.

Innovation and Impact

Court has always believed that innovation grows from authentic experience. With this in mind, Court designs programs where students don’t just learn about the environment, they live within it. These programs, which include multi-day expeditions on the West Coast and snow-caving in the Rockies, immerse students in real-world challenges that develop resilience, stewardship and deep environmental consciousness. Another innovative initiative that Court engages students in is an “Expedition Pitch” project. In this, students are asked to research and present on a Canadian National Park or wild space they’d like to explore. Many factors are considered in their pitches, such as conservation concerns, Indigenous knowledge, Leave No Trace ethics and budget. This project blends environmental science, leadership and communication skills, while also preparing students for real outdoor experiences. 

Beyond his classroom, Court’s mentorship model impacts educators across the country. Through his roles as GEOEC President, Director with the Outdoor Council of Canada and Regional Mentor for Take Me Outside, he has had the opportunity to create hands-on workshop and mentorship programs, as well as publish resources, such as Five Minute Fieldtrips.These professional development opportunities equip teachers with tools to bring nature into the classrooms, no matter the setting.  He also recently released his new book, Mentorship in the Wild, which discusses the power of mentorship, leadership and learning in nature.  

The impacts of Court’s work are clearly visible. He has found that students advocate for sustainability more in school, alumni return to his school to volunteer, and colleagues have shared that his mentorship gave them the confidence to take learning outdoors. Additionally, a variety of community partners, including local parks and Indigenous Elders, do not collaborate annually with his class.  

“Innovation in my teaching comes not just from new ideas, but from listening deeply to the land, to students, and to fellow educators. The impact is not only seen in report cards, but in muddy boots, campfire stories, and students who now see themselves as environmental leaders.”

By Andreas Gross, Natural Curiosity Program Assistant