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Retired high school teachers keep learning centre open year round
Published Apr 24, 2026 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read
Lorraine Cantin is seen Thursday on a tour of the Science Timmins collection of taxidermized animals from the Boreal Forest. Cantin is a retired high school teacher who volunteers to run the science centre, a not-for-profit in the centre of town. NICOLE STOFFMAN/THE DAILY PRESSArticle content
In a small way, Timmins got to be a part of a journey to the moon thanks to the local science centre.
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Science Timmins sent Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen a personalized message before his historic trip to the moon.
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“And he answered!” said Lorraine Cantin, director of Science Timmins.
“He said thank you Science Timmins. It was personal,” said Cantin, a retired high school science teacher who volunteers to run the centre with her husband, retired engineer and science teacher Antoine Garwah.
Artemis II was NASA’s first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years, and Hansen, who grew up in Ingersoll, Ontario, was the first Canadian to travel to the moon.
Hansen talks about his historic mission, and how he feels about representing Canada, the second country aside from the U.S. to send an astronaut to the moon.
“This makes me proud and excited for a new era of science and space exploration,” he says in the video.
The mission also served as a test of vehicles that will help land humans on the lunar surface, possibly within two years.
The video exchange between Hansen and Science Timmins was made possible through the centre’s partnership with the Canadian Space Agency.
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The agency runs a stratospheric balloon campaign from a base at the Timmins Victor M. Power Airport, the only such facility in Canada.
The stratospheric balloon campaign tests technologies’ readiness for space missions by attaching them to the balloons and sending the payload into the stratosphere, an environment similar to space.
With the stratospheric balloon campaign in town, the centre gets a unique opportunity to take students to the base to carry out experiments on smaller, meteorological balloons.
Back at home, Science Timmins is tucked away in the downtown core behind city hall slightly below ground level.
On Thursday, your reporter caught up with Cantin for a tour of the facility, which recently hosted a viewing party for the launch of Artemis II.
Lucie Smith, from left, Patricia Plouffe, and Cathy Lyrette inspect vegetable seedlings they are growing under grow lights at Science Timmins. The activity is tied to a weekly coffee chat for seniors hosted by the not-for-profit. The seedlings are grown in a coconut-based soil to reduce environmental impact by not requiring additional nutrients be added to the soil. NICOLE STOFFMAN/THE DAILY PRESS
Science Timmins is a not-for-profit that provides hands-on educational experiences primarily to the four local school boards.
The public can visit by appointment only seven days a week, and the centre is available for special events, including children’s birthday parties.
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Two years ago, Science Timmins partnered with Launch Canada, a rocketry competition that has been held in Timmins every August for the past three years. The competition offers science and engineering students from rocket clubs across Canada the chance to test their rockets at a site on Mattagami First Nation.
Science Timmins offers Launch Canada a room at the back to build their rockets.
Rocketry is now incorporated into the many displays in the galleries, collectively called “Science Village.” A rocket launcher is designed to help visitors discover the relationship of tin and aluminum to voltage and demonstrates the power of air pressure.
Science Timmins also has a partnership with Science North, Sudbury’s science centre, to create curriculum-based activities.
Cantin ensures the activities reflect what is being done in class.
“It’s always better for the teacher to be able to come here, do an activity, go back to school and continue,” she said, adding the hands-on approach can inspire and engage the students.
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Science Village features an impressive collection of taxidermized animals from the Boreal Forest. The donated collection belonged to a former Timmins pharmacist.
Visitors can build their own Rube Goldberg machine and get a bird’s eye view of an open pit mine in miniature.
There is an astronomy room, and the centre has been known to bring in a portable indoor planetarium so students can learn about the stars.
Cantin is expecting many school groups this spring.
“It was rather quiet this winter. I think the weather didn’t help (a lot of cancelled buses and snowstorms), so we’re looking forward to that,” she said.
Their big summer event is their eight-week day camp, where trained counsellors lead campers aged 5-14 through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities. Parents can sign their children up by the day.
“We train our counsellors every morning, because every day there are different activities,” Cantin said, adding they ensure a low counsellor to camper ratio to enhance the learning experience.
Science Timmins is open by reservation only by calling 705-268-IKID (4543) or by emailing info@sciencetimmins.com. Visits can be arranged from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week, with other times available for special events. Birthday parties can be booked from 11 a.m. 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission fees are $15 for children, $20 for adults, and $15 for seniors. Visits can also be booked online at: https://www.sciencetimmins.com/book-online
“Dilly” the motion sensor dilophosaurus greets visitors to Science Timmins. The not-for-profit volunteer-run science centre is tucked below ground level behind Timmins City Hall. It can be visited by appointment only. NICOLE STOFFMAN/THE DAILY PRESS
Antoine Garwah, Science Timmins president, serves lemon poppy seed cupcakes at the Science Timmins weekly coffee chat. The event is largely attended by residents of the neighbouring St. Mary’s Gardens, but is open to all seniors in the community, every Thursday at 2 p.m.. NICOLE STOFFMAN/THE DAILY PRESS
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