Fran Côté

Girl Guides of Canada

Fran Côté has a true and genuine passion for trees and forests, and a real understanding of what they mean to our society. On behalf of Girl Guides of Canada, and District School Board Ontario North East, Fran has been a member of the Lake Abitibi Model Forest Board of Directors, and active in many Model Forest programs for over six years. She is an elementary school teacher at Iroquois Falls Public School (grades 3 and 4), and a Girl Guide leader. She and her husband Rolly have 2 children aged 20 and 15.

‘I enjoy a busy and full life,’ says Fran. ‘It has been wonderful to play an active role in the Lake Abitibi Model Forest. I have learned so much, but have also had the opportunity to influence the direction of projects that the Model Forest undertakes, by being a member of the Board, and of the Education and Public Awareness Committee.’

Fran has lived in Iroquois Falls for 22 years. She was born in Montreal and raised in Montreal and Ottawa. She attended the University of Ottawa, and received her general Bachelor of Science degree, an Honors Bachelor of Science in microbiology, and finally her Bachelor of Education. She has been a teacher for 25 years. Throughout her career, and in her role as a Girl Guide leader, Fran has taken every opportunity possible to integrate forestry education into both the school curriculum and within extra-curricular programs and activities both at school, and with the Girl Guides. Fran has taken a leading role in the development of a new Model Forest Girl Guide Challenge complete with required tasks relating to Canada’s Model Forest network, and sustainable forest management (see fall 2002 issue -Vol. 2 No. 2). The Model Forest Challenge was piloted this spring, and covers all branches of guiding from the youngest sparks to senior (youth-leader) branches.

‘It is important to me that everyone, including our children, understand the importance of forests, not just for the wood fibre they provide to industry, but for the many other values they give us,’ says Fran. ‘I always find the forest to be a wondrous place, full of life and complexity. I want to impart that to everyone I can. But we also must remember that the forest is a source of jobs and a most important factor in the health of the northern economy. We must manage our forests sustainably so that they continue to provide environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits for present and future generations,’ says Fran. ‘Forest issues span these themes. This is where the Model Forest Network plays such a vital role. It brings together these often differing concerns, and gets people to work together as partners, rather than antagonists.

Tembec Inc. sponsored Fran at the Temperate Forest Foundation North-eastern Ontario Teachers’ Tour. This took place at the Canadian Ecology Centre near Mattawa last August. The Lake Abitibi Model Forest played an important role in the tour, and Fran was asked to return as a helper teacher in August 2003.

‘The Teachers’ Tour gave me some great ideas for forest related educational activities,’ says Fran. ‘I’ve worked quite a bit of the good information about forest ecology and forest management into both

The Lake Abitibi Model Forest is grateful to Fran for her tireless effort and enthusiasm with our Board of Directors, and in many of our other project committees. We look forward to her continued involvement and input as a representative of Girl Guides of Canada and District

School Board Ontario North East.