Meet Graham Cocksedge: New Teacher Advisory Council Member from British Columbia
Welcoming Graham Cocksedge to the Switch Classroom Teacher Advisory Council
We’re excited to welcome Graham Cocksedge as our newest member of the Switch Classroom Teacher Advisory Council!
We met Graham at the BC Catalyst Conference in October. What started as a great conversation about teaching energy and environmental science somehow ended with him walking away with an entire box of pencils. Call it creative recruitment. It worked 🙂
Meet Graham Cocksedge
Graham teaches in Powell River, British Columbia, a community on the Sunshine Coast just north of Vancouver. If you’re not familiar with Powell River, Graham describes it as a bit of a landlocked island. While it sits on the mainland, mountains and ocean separate it from the rest of the province. Because of this, there’s no direct road access. Travel in and out happens by ferry or floatplane, which shapes how Graham approaches place-based learning.
Why We’re Excited to Learn With Graham
Graham brings a strong mix of classroom experience and academic grounding to the Switch community. He holds a Bachelor’s degree with a major in Biology and a minor in Environmental Science. In addition, he earned a Master of Arts focused on holistic, cohort-based learning, with an emphasis on outdoor education. As a result, his work centers on experiential learning, environmental understanding, and community-based education. These values clearly show up in how he teaches science.
That approach comes to life in Graham’s work with students. For example, he leads a student-driven marine debris project on Ahgykson Island in the Salish Sea. In 2025 alone, Environmental Science students removed over 1,100 kilograms of debris. From there, students traced how ocean currents, materials, and human choices shape what ends up on local shorelines. Along the way, they connected data collection to real-world environmental impacts. The project blends fieldwork, data analysis, and community storytelling. This is exactly the kind of experiential learning Graham brings to the Switch Classroom team.
This project is just one of the reasons we’re excited to have Graham’s voice represented as we continue building and refining our BC science quick start guides. His work in a coastal, access-limited community brings a valuable perspective to energy and environmental topics. It also helps ensure these resources stay practical for real classrooms across the province.
If you’re teaching in British Columbia, you can explore our BC Science Quick Start Guides to see how Switch Classroom lessons align with provincial standards. These guides also support energy and environment-focused instruction that works in a variety of settings.
All of this is why we’re thrilled to have Graham learning alongside us. His perspective will help shape resources that support teachers everywhere.
Welcome to the team, Graham!
