Our Staff
Teaching Experience
Knowlesville Art and Nature Centre 2019-Current
Summer Camp Director, Teacher for Forest Kindergarten, Grades 1-3, Wild Child Forest School Program, Elementary-middle school Enrichment Days, Wild Child Daycare Outreach programs, Wild Child at Fairlight Farm
Primitive Pursuits Summer Camp 2019
Lead instructor
Bennington-Rutland School District 2018-2019
Substitute Teaching for elementary school
Camp Wahoo and High Country Outfitters 2006-2016
Summer Camp Director, Staff Member, Counselor
Quiet Heart Wilderness School 2014-2016
Lead Instructor at summer and year-round nature programming for children
Christian Family Montessori School 2013-2014
Teaching Assistant, Aftercare Facilitator
Tuminuma School, Ecuador 2012
English Teacher
Certifications
Forest School Practitioner Course August 2023 (Current)
Child and Nature Alliance Canada
Enki - Ecosystems of Education Course September 2021
Enki Education Foundation
Art of Mentoring Intensive 2018
Wisdom of the Earth School
Master Herbalist Certification Program 2017-2022
Heart of Herbs Herbal School
Advanced Wilderness Skills Apprenticeship Program 2015-2016 Alderleaf Wilderness College
Wilderness Instructor Apprenticeship Program 2014-2015
Alderleaf Wilderness College
Wilderness Education and Ecology 2011-2012
Alderleaf Wilderness College
Leah “Sparrow” Houghton
Founder, Executive Director, Lead Instructor
Sparrow has been passionate about outdoor education and nature since she was a child, immersed in the forests and coastlines of Washington State. Spending formative summers attending a woman-owned and operated off-grid horse camp in the Cascade Mountains, Sparrow fell in love with the hard work and grit of working with animals in the wilderness.
Volunteering at a nature camp as a teenager helped steer her toward attending Alderleaf Wilderness College, where she furthered her skills in bushcraft, herbal medicine, animal track and sign, permaculture, and outdoor education. Sparrow completed both years at Alderleaf, and continued on to spend a year as an Instructor Apprentice before becoming a full time Wilderness Instructor.
Traveling in the US, Ecuador, and Spain, Sparrow has experienced farm life and taught children in a wide array of circumstances. She also lived in Washington D.C., where she taught in a Montessori classroom for two years. While living in Vermont on a dairy farm for a year, Sparrow experienced supply teaching at the local public schools.
Finally landing in Knowlesville, NB, Sparrow has made a home at Fairlight Farm, which she and co-founder Rae Sharp built from the ground up. Sparrow now teaches elementary school at the Knowlesville Art and Nature Centre, where she continues to pursue her Enki Education Teacher Certification.
Founding Fairlight Farm & Forest Centre is a dream come true!
Hazen Noon
Instructor
Hazen Noon was born and raised in Bathurst, NB. He has always enjoyed camping, spending time outdoors, and survival skills. Hazen made the move to Knowlesville in 2021 to seek a peaceful life of homesteading, sustainability, and nature. He is excited to share these passions with others!
Rae Sharp
Co-Founder, Board Member
Beth Brooks
Secretary of the Board
Beth Brooks grew up in downtown Guelph, ON. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school she participated in a number of alternative schooling programs that blended outdoors-person skills with traditional schooling which sparked her appreciation for how skilled an educator nature can be. One of Beth’s greatest passions is sailing and she spent much of her youth working as a crew member on several Tallship vessels, including SV Fair Jeanne and SV Black Jack. During her time on the high seas she focused her skills on navigation and line-handling, but eventually changed career paths and attended the Wildlife Conservation Technology program at Holland College in P.E.I. After completing that program Beth continued her education at the University of New Brunswick in the B.Sc. of Environmental and Natural Resource Management program. Upon graduation, Beth enrolled in the Master of Forestry program at UNB, where she would combine her skills in Wildlife Management with an analytical focus on sustainable forestry. Today, Beth works in the New Brunswick DNRED (Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development) as a Forest Inventory Analyst, specializing in modeling forest growth and spatial analysis. She is continuing to work towards her Registered Professional Forester (R.P.F) designation. Outside of work, Beth is passionate about knitting with natural fibers and urban gardening.
Ben Shannon
Board Member
Ben spent his formative years building forts and roaming the forests around his family home just outside Plaster Rock, NB. He spent much of his young adulthood moving around between different jobs and cities, never straying too far from a river or a hiking trail. He tried out a few jobs and school programs before graduating from the Maritime College of Forest Technology in 2019, then completed a Bachelor of Engineering Technology in Environmental Studies in 2020. He currently works as a Forest Technologist for the City of Fredericton, and loves to brag about the beautiful green city he helps protect from invasive species through his integrated pest management program. Anybody who knows Ben will tell you he is most often found in the woods somewhere - hiking, foraging, rock climbing, or napping in his hammock, and when he is (rarely) indoors he is likely DJing as Father Thyme or doing yoga. Oh, and that he LOVES goats (and does a great goat impression)!
Christy Houghton
Administration
Christy is recently retired from a career as an IT manager, leading software development teams. She has an MBA and project management certification.
Education
Western Governors University 2011-2012
Master of Business Administration, Technology Management
University of Washington 1989-1991
Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration and Information Systems
Certifications
Project Management Professional Since September 2008