Teacher and author Ashley Kuramoto inspires students
Published 4:35 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Ashley Kuramoto teaches her students if they believe in themselves, they can do anything.
The kindergarten/Grade 1 teacher is working on the seventh in her popular Little Adventurers Vancouver Island series, interactive colouring books which highlight fun outdoor locations in communities around the Island, which have raised more than $10,000 for charities.
Each entry includes the location’s coordinates, an explanation of the area and lets the reader know if the destination is accessible and if it has a bathroom. On the right side is a colouring page illustrated by Kuramoto. She created the scavenger hunts with help from her daughter Claire.
Kuramoto said it’s been a journey for her and her students.
“I tell them all the time it’s this growth mindset thing of – it’s so easy to give up, but how amazing it is when you put yourself out there and just like keep going,” she said.
“I try to share with them that adults have struggles too and that we try new things all the time too, and kids kind of think we all have it all figured out, but we really don’t and we’re figuring out things just like they are.”
February was Kindness Month for her class and Kuramoto said the students have been learning about appreciating the things they love about themselves. She started a Kindness Project with her students, which was expanded to the wider community by placing boxes with “kindness tickets” in at least eight local businesses.
The goal is to put a smile on someone’s face with a kind note, and they can in turn write their own note and leave it in the box for someone else.
“When someone kind of needs like an uplift in their day, then they just go and take a ticket and just kind of like fill up their own bucket,” Kuramoto said. “I’ve reached out to other people that I know in different provinces and they’re starting the same kindness project there and just kind of showing the kiddos that even at five and six years old, you can make like a big impact.”
Kuramoto teaches at Qualicum Beach Elementary School and has been an educator for 13 years. She says the best part of the job is having fun with students and seeing them excited to learn.
Seeing that “light bulb” or “aha!” moment when they understand something is special.
“You could not be more proud,” she added. “When they get something you’re just like ‘yes I knew you could do it’ and then they’re like so pumped to try more and keep going.”
Kuramoto is grateful for the other educators she works with and said she has learned something from everyone, whether it’s literacy, numeracy, outdoor education or technology.
In 2025, she travelled to Ottawa where she was one of 70 educators from across the country who took part in the Teachers Institute on Canadian Parliamentary Democracy.
She and the other teachers were immersed in Parliament and met MPs, senators and clerks, learning about how government works and bringing knowledge back to the classroom.
She is starting research on her seventh book, which will focus on Port Alberni and Bamfield and was commissioned by the tourism association.
So far her books have covered Qualicum Beach, Parksville, Coombs, Errington, Nanaimo, Lantzville, Nanoose Bay and the Comox Valley.
Kuramoto was surprised with the way her books have caught on with children and families.
“I honestly didn’t think I would sell even 20 books,” she said, and added the count is somewhere over 1,000.
In 2024, Kuramoto and another local mom, Gauri Harrison, raised $14,000 for a new skate park in Qualicum Beach.
Kuramoto’s efforts were recognized with a nomination for a Women of Influence Nanaimo Award in the community and social responsibility category in 2024.
Her advice to upcoming generations of girls and young women is to believe in themselves.
“They can do absolutely anything,” she said. “I think the real strength is shown when you get up after you fall.”
RELATED: Qualicum Beach teacher visits Parliament on Teachers Institute trip
