Kelvin teacher wins national chemistry award

École Secondaire Kelvin High School chemistry teacher Donna Labun is in her element.  

Labun, who teaches International Baccalaureate Chemistry, started her teaching career at Kelvin in 1993. Previously, she earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry and B.Ed. in Secondary Education from the University of Winnipeg.  

“In university I did several different research projects, from cancer research to quantum chemistry, and I just realized that I absolutely loved science and loved working with young people. So, I thought I’d teach. It seemed like a natural fit,” Labun said. 

That perfect chemistry is demonstrated in Labun’s commitment to engaging and hands-on educational experiences, whether that’s studying gas laws while scuba diving, serving up liquid-nitrogen ice cream, or collecting and analyzing water samples from the Experimental Lakes Area. 

“I think the best way to learn science is to experience it,” Labun said. “I love teaching and trying to bring a spark of excitement to chemistry class. I think that students learn best by doing experiments, watching demonstrations and discussing interesting day-to-day chemistry. One of my goals is to help students see the chemistry which is all around them. Chemistry is not some isolated, complicated subject that only exists in school. It surrounds us.” 

One of Labun’s proudest practical projects is the NorthStar (Northern Student-led Arctic Research) program. In partnership with University of Manitoba and Dr. Jane Waterman, NorthStar sees Kelvin students traveling to Churchill, MB to collect data on the body condition of polar bears.  

Labun and Waterman started the program over a decade ago. 

“I was thinking about how students travel all over the place, but not much within their own province,” Labun said. “It’s amazing for them to experience how big their province is, driving up to Thompson and taking the train through the boreal forest which slowly turns into the tundra.”  

“And then to go into the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, where they’re surrounded by scientists, not just to get a feel for what the scientists are doing, but to be scientists themselves. The students do field work, they get on the Tundra Buggy, they photograph the polar bears, and then they take the data, analyze it and present it.” 
 Under Labun’s guidance, the students become leaders, too. They teach younger students at Science Rendezvous, and they also go to conferences like ArcticNet, the Canadian Section of The Wildlife Society, and Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution where they present to other researchers and PhD students. 

Labun is also a member of Shad Manitoba, a STEAM-based summer enrichment program for Grade 10 and 11 students at the University of Manitoba. 

Whether it’s in a Tundra Buggy in Churchill or in the classroom at Kelvin, Labun feels it’s her job to empower students so that they can learn themselves and pass on that learning to others. 

“I’ve found that teaching chemistry has given me the platform to walk alongside young people in their learning journey,” Labun said. “It’s a perfect subject to learn to face challenges, to practice trying again after initial failure, and to develop perseverance. I love giving students the opportunity to do inquiry labs, which allows them to be creative, to think things through, to revise procedures, and develop new strategies.” 

“With this very difficult curriculum (IB Chemistry), it’s not the students trying to learn it from me or me trying to teach them, but rather I’m a guide and I’m helping them along.”