Text Box: Environmental Education Centre (The Brother Brennan Centre) Vertical Scroll: AUGUSTUS FIDELIS BRENNAN EDUCATOR AND ENVIRONMENTALIST: 1922-2006 Christian Brother who used the environment as a teaching tool became the first president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation J.M. SULLIVAN Special to The Globe and Mail ST JOHN'S -- Augustus Fidelis Brennan was a Christian Brother and educator who served as the first full-time president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation and, more than 20 years ago, had the foresight to start a rural environmental centre that's now visited by thousands of Newfoundland children. He believed that teaching someone about the environment was the first step toward protecting it. Mr. Brennan's twin interests in education and the environment deftly framed one of his basic philosophies: "I don't know one person who is not the better for having an interest in the outdoors." He was 14 when made up his mind to join the Christian Brothers teaching order. A year later, in 1937, he graduated from St. Bonaventure's College in St. John's and travelled to the order's training facility in West Park, N.Y., where he was given the name Fidelis, or Faithful. He remained in New York to study at St. John's University and Fordham University, earning a masters in education. By 1940, Mr. Brennan was back in St. John's teaching at Holy Cross school. His first Grade 1 class had 70 pupils, seated about 10 to a desk. Grade 1 classes then could contain as many as 100 students; that number would winnow down to about 20 by the final year. With no compulsory education, most Newfoundland students left school whenever they could find work. Some were also hindered by the school fees, then about $2 a month. His students, even at the primary level, had heavy study loads and lots of homework. " He taught Grade 1 and he had them adding and subtracting far beyond their years," said his colleague, Brother John Shea. Mr. Brennan's specialty was science, but he also taught most other courses. He later taught at the elementary and high-school levels. For students nearing graduation, he would stay after class to help them prepare for higher education exams. To his credit, a fair percentage of his students won government scholarships. Mr. Brennan also had many other commitments, such as teaching an extracurricular course in Latin, and coaching athletic teams. His long legs earned him the nickname Stalks. In 1954, he was appointed the first principal of Regina High School in Corner Brook, Nfld. He later worked as a supervisor and adviser to various councils and provincial school boards. From 1964 to 1966, he was president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association and, in 1969, he became the first president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation. For all his success as an administrator, Mr. Brennan never lost his love of teaching. As an educator, he had come to believe that the environment had a significant role to play in education. "Part of his educational theory was the importance of having contact with nature," said Mr. Shea. "He knew youngsters in the city area didn't have access to nature. They didn't know what a cow was like, and they'd never seen farm life." Mr. Brennan had loved the outdoors since childhood, when his father took him trouting, and he initially had hoped to start an environmental space adjacent to Brother Rice School (now a junior high) on Bonaventure Avenue in St. John's. His idea was that each graduating class would commemorate the occasion by planting a Newfoundland tree. Although the area today is called Brother Brennan's Field, his idea never came to fruition. Instead, he founded the Brother A. F. Brennan Environmental Centre in Salmonier, NL., about 75 kilometres southwest of St. John's. The site includes five hectares of natural habitat with dormitory facilities, a lodge and classrooms. Thousands of schoolchildren visit each year to experience such hands-on activities as plant and insect study, and orienteering. After retiring, he lived in Antigua for two decades, working part time as a teacher and consultant. A few years ago, he returned to St. John's, where he became responsible for the Christian Brothers' archives. Fit, patrician and possessed of a dogged determination, Mr. Brennan was a voracious reader, and a good bridge player. He was bilingual, and had honed his French by studying on the island of Saint-Pierre off Newfoundland's south coast. And he was a prodigious correspondent, said Mr. Shea. "Once he made friends with people, the link remained and he corresponded all over the world. I have 40 years of letters from him, always written on yellow pad paper in a scrawl." By all accounts, Mr. Brennan wrote five or six letters a day. "And that's besides e-mail," said his friend Brother Joseph Darcy. To the end, the environment remained a cornerstone of his philosophy as an educator. "I felt that, if children knew about the outdoors, they would love it, and if they loved it and cared about it, they would conserve it," he once said.

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