Terry McDonald
Artist – Author – Educator – Traveller
Welcome! Karbuni! Wilkommen! Bienvenue! Chào Mừng! Bienvenida!
By day, I teach students from grades 7 to 12 IB MYP and IB DP Geography. By night, I’m planning and prepping lessons, marking assignments, etc. However, when I get ‘time off for good behaviour’, I spend it with my family here in southern Ontario and my personal pursuits, namely photography, writing and keeping my geography website, DigitalAtlasProject.net, up to date.
Photography
When the location and conditions are just right, you’ll find me out photographing, primarily landscape and nature photographs. My personal goal is to create printed works which reflect "the art inherent in nature", whether in Canada or internationally. When travelling, I pursue the same goal as it applies to where ever I find myself, that is to capture the "essence of place". I also teach photography, conducting workshops and evening photo club presentations.
Writing
When the conditions are lousy for photography, you’re likely to find me writing. Currently, I’m working on The Adventures of Jack MacAllistar—an ‘Indiana Jones meets National Geographic’ series of late middle grade to early teen novels. Visit Writing to learn more.
Travel
World travel has also come to occupy my down time. It began when, as a youth, I lived in Germany for three years: our family moved to CFB Lahr where my father, a civilian, taught high school mathematics to the ‘base brats’ as we were affectionately known. Fast forward to being married and having a young daughter.
After 10 years of teaching locally, my family and I moved overseas to teach internationally, first to Tanzania for four years, followed by England for three. While overseas, we self-drove our safaris through the spectacular northern parks of Tanzania, made two trips to South Africa and, from England, travelled to most counties and throughout Western Europe. Since coming back to Canada, we have travelled through nine of Canada’s ten provinces, made multiple trips to the Galápagos Islands and Iceland (with and without students!), plus single visits to Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and, most recently, northern Ethiopia—all of which provide plenty of experiences and adventures for Jack and his friends!
