File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Jill Sperling

Gordon Gore

Gordon Gore remembered as passionate science educator

Nov 12, 2020 | 5:13 PM

KAMLOOPS — A man with a passion for science education is being remembered fondly one day after his passing.

Gordon Gore passed away Wednesday morning (Nov. 11), a few days short of his 83rd birthday.

Gore was a man who viewed science as something to be experienced and whose passion for experiential learning influenced the creation of the Big Little Science Centre.

“He just loved teaching and having people do science was his love,” said Big Little Science Centre Executive Director Gord Stewart. “This gave him the opportunity to do that.”

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Stewart was hired on at the Big Little Science Centre in 2005 and worked closely with Gore.

“At that time he was still fully active in the science centre,” Stewart said. “So, it was really nice to get a chance to learn from him personally. We worked together daily on it, so it was a really good education for me and introduced me to his passion for science as something you do, not something you read about.”

Prior to founding the Big Little Science Centre, Gore was a teacher.

“He was a teacher for many years in three different school districts in B.C.,” said School District 73 Superintendent Terry Sullivan, “and we were very fortunate that he landed here in Kamloops and of course made a great contribution here as a teacher as well. But, I think his legacy will be not only with the students whose lives he’s touched, but with the teachers.”

Even after his retirement, Gore set out to keep teaching science in a way that made it fun and interesting.

“He was doing science shows out of the back of his pickup truck after he retired from teaching,” Stewart said. “He drove around in his truck with all his science demos, would empty them out in school gyms and do shows for schools.”

In 2000, the school district provided a space at David Thompson Elementary for Gore to set up a science centre.

“He really wanted students to have that hands-on experience with science and to love science,” Sullivan said. “I think his contributions have been large and significant.”

Later in life Gore could often be found at The Dunes with a camera in hand. His photography is on display in the Big Little Science Centre, in a space that will be dedicated to his memory.

“I just hope to see his legacy continue,” Stewart said. “I’m going to work as hard as I can to make sure that happens with the science centre.”