Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

Don “Coach” Proudlove:

Committed Teacher and
Proud Tradesperson

I was born in 1942 and raised in

Victoria,BC. I attended Burnside and
North Ward Elementary schools, S J
Willis Jr. High and graduated from
Victoria High School in 1962. I first
started studying carpentry in high
school and, by the time I graduated,
I had my first house half built. I started
my carpentry apprenticeship with the
Union in 1962 and completed it in
1964. Within a month of completing, I
was hired to teach apprentices in
an evening course at Victoria High In the early 1970s Camosun College opened its doors to
School, while also working on approximately 980 students. Greeting them were 59
instructors, one of whom was Don Proudlove
various projects all over Victoria. I
have always been known as an In 1996, on the occasion of the college’s 25th Anniversary,
this photo was taken to honour Don as one of those
“organizer” and an “innovator” and original Camosun instructors.
I guess that was evident right from photo taken by Raymond St. Arnaud
the start.

Shortly after, while working to attain my Red Seal, I

got married, completed building our first house and
became a dad. My first son, Rob, was born in 1964
and my second son, Sean, was born in 1968. Rob
has worked in Korea for over 25 years as an ESL
teacher. Sean is a local Transit driver and well known
as a standup comedian. Unfortunately, there’ve
been no grandchildren from these two guys! The Red Seal, the designation all
tradespeople work to attain.
In 1967, I had the opportunity to teach a 6-month
pre-apprenticeship course on the Cowichan Native
Indian Reserve. The small red building was my first official school.
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

Above left: Don’s classroom in the little red classroom

building

Above: Don with his pre-apprenticeship students

Left: Don with some of his Camosun Students

Then, in 1969, I got the opportunity to

teach at the new BC Vocational School
in Terrace, BC. I remember going for
that job interview - I have never been
so nervous! I really wanted that job. As
it turned out, we spent two and a half
years in Terrace, during which I taught
at the Vocational School, built us
another house and commenced the BC
Provincial Instructor's Diploma Program.
This was a program, offered through
UBC, which was designed to provide
people, who were experts in their field,
with the fundamentals of formalized
teaching. The program consisted of
lectures and classroom work at U.B.C.
along with home study, which spanned two years. A colleague, Nester Tunkow,
who was also enrolled in the program, urged me to request a transfer to the BC
Vocational School in Victoria (which later became part of the newly developing
Camosun College) which I did in 1971.

Over my time at Camosun, I had the honour to work with so many great
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

colleagues, people like Roger Moore,

Rick Glanville, Nester Tunkow, Mark
Swanwick and Bob Hill. We worked
together and we played together - hiked,
biked, golfed and took part in slow pitch
and curling. I also remember the
Carpentry Shop Barn Dance, Elk Lake
picnics, Golf Tournaments and many
Holiday dinner/dances.

Above: Don in the carpentry shop,

1996
Left: Roger Moore, Rick Glanville,
Don Proudlove, Nester Tunkow, Mark
Swanwick, Bob Hall
Below: Nester Tunkow, Rick Glanville,
Bob Hall, Don Proudlove, John
Jackson

“Coach” was a name given

to me by some of my early
students whom I had coached
in sports when they were
younger. The name caught
on and, over time, just
became what students called
me.
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

Over the years I had the personal privilege of being a Carpentry Apprenticeship
Contest Judge a number of times at the Inter-Provincial Carpentry contests. I
also served two years (1977 and 1978) as a judge of Carpentry Apprentices at
the International Carpentry contests in the United States. During this time,
Camosun students, placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd at various International and
Provincial Contests. The International Carpentry contests, which were very
expensive to mount, were finally discontinued in the 1990’s.

Back at Camosun, I served on various committees including the Society for

Vocational Instructors (SVI); BCGEU Component 7 representative and Contract
Negotiator: Apprenticeship Curriculum Development for the Carpentry Trades in
BC; and the Campus Planning Committee. I also served on the MIPS program
(Multi Media) with the Camosun team held at UVic.
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

In 1992, just as I was coming back to work from holidays, there was a fire at
Camosun’s Interurban campus that caused $1.5 million in damages and totally
destroyed the carpentry shop. Following the fire, the Saanich Fire Department
delivered the unsettling news that the fire had been caused by arson.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first Camosun-related arson that happened over the
years. At any rate, we found temporary facilities until a new carpentry shop could
be built. One might say we rose from the ashes!

In the early 1990s, I started working with

computers and quickly fell in love with
them. They opened a whole world of
opportunity for creating endless numbers
of work sheets, examination materials
and teaching tools. I developed on-line
Math and Tradesman upgrading
programs.

With my students, I always was clear as

to what they MUST know and what they
SHOULD know and what they might or
COULD know. I used these designations Don with an early computer
in my teaching and, certainly, in my
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

assessments.

I was joined the first group of instructors - 2 or 3 from each college provincial-
wide - involved with the Facilitator Training for Instructors (FTI) program which
prepares people to facilitate Instructional Skills Workshops (ISW). Shiela Prins,
from the English Department, was the second instructor representing Camosun.
The ISW was and is an intense 4-5 day training course for small groups (4-6) of
instructors focused on developing course materials, daily lesson plans, and
handling classroom situations. As part of the FTI program, we were early
adopters in the use of video technology as a means of giving instructors valuable
feedback on their teaching approaches.

Looking back, I realize there were four people who where particularly important in
my career and made a big difference in my life. I wish to acknowledge each of
them. Harry Runer, my high school carpentry teacher, who was my mentor at
Victoria High School. He was the one who encouraged me to get into teaching
soon after I finished my apprenticeship. John Shapiro, from the Institute of Adult
Studies (part of Camosun’s roots), with whom I worked at Victoria High School on
night school programs. John McDonald, who was a counsellor with the
Technical and Vocational Branch in the Department of Educations (1960s and
70s) who arranged for me to meet with the Cowichan Native Band which resulted
in my teaching the pre-appenticeship program there. And, finally, Sam Simpson
Director of Apprenticeship and Industrial Training at the Institute of Adult Studies,
who first suggested
that I consider
going to Terrace
after he observed
my enthusiasm with
my Cowichan
class. Of course,
there were many
others and I can’t
forget our Leader in
the early years,
John Drysdale, who
retired in 1981
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

We retired, Camosun College, July 2000

In 2000, the college was offering some attractive incentives for BCGEU
instructors of a certain age and seniority to take early retirement. As much as I
loved my work at the college, I realized that I would be crazy not to accept this
gift. Some of my colleagues were of a similar mind.

After retiring from the college at the tender age of 58, I spent about six years
doing home renovations for friends.
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

I did, however, find time to play. I

hiked the Westcoast Trail, the
Kludak Trail and cycled the Kettle
Valley Rail trail.

In 2006, my wife, Susan, and I moved to Port Renfrew where we remained for
ten years. We completely renovated our home and were active with fishing,
crabbing and hiking.

Before After
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

Susan and I have also travelled to some very interesting destinations - Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the USA.

Since my eldest son,

Rob, lives in Korea, I
took advantage of the
opportunity to travel
with him in Thailand,
Korea, and Nepal.
 Excerpted from CCARE Newsletter, July 2023

Above: view from Don’s apartment in

James Bay

Right: A dapper fellow

Susan and I now reside in James Bay

where we live in an apartment with a
great view. I keep active by playing
Pickle Ball and Table Tennis. Not doing
too bad for a guy my age!

Reflecting on my life accomplishments and experiences has been interesting, for

sure. It makes me realize, once again, that some of the best years of my life
were spent at Camosun College.