Staff and students of a Scarborough high school gathered at a memorial to remember one of their teachers who was fatally stabbed in Costa Rica over the weekend.

Bruce McCallum, 58, was stabbed to death in Costa Rica during a suspected robbery at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. He was a math teacher at Albert Campbell Collegiate for 18 years.

McCallum was on sabbatical from his job. During this leave, he arrived in Costa Rica with a group of other Canadians on Feb. 19.

In his time at the school, staff and students remembered him as a teacher that “always went the extra mile” with a passion for photography.

Guidance counsellor Diliana Pazin told CTV News Toronto Thursday that he was constantly volunteering with various clubs and participating in extracurricular activities.

“Bruce would always walk with a smile on his face – no matter what,” Pazin said. “He was felt in this school, as students would say, as one of the cool teachers.”

“He had these two passions – his travelling was following his passion to take amazing photos and obviously being here in the school as a teacher was his other passion.”

She said the whole staff would like him to be remembered as an amazing teacher who really made a difference in students’ lives.

Students of the high school told CTV News Toronto they would remember McCallum as a teacher that “wasn’t just there.”

“Seeing him in the hallways and hearing from other people, he was one of those teachers that could brighten up your day because he was always excited,” Parkavi Rajapratheepan, a Grade 12 student, said. “I feel that losing that staff member from our school is going to be a huge loss, especially for students who had him and that could have had him.”

“He was one of those teachers that made a difference.”

Toronto District School Board spokesperson Ryan Bird told CTV News Toronto that staff and students received a letter after the incident informing them of McCallum’s death on Wednesday.

In the letter, the school’s principal Carol Richard-Sauer said McCallum died over the weekend “after a senseless act of violence aboard.”

One of his colleagues Mary Mackenzie told CTV News Toronto that he was a great person to work nextdoor to in the math department for 10 years.

“He was looking forward to his sabbatical year that he has prepared,” she said. “A lot of teachers take them and they usually have a wonderful time and this is very tragic, very quickly.”

Police officials in Costa Rica confirmed to CTV News Toronto that the body of the Toronto resident was located on Sunday morning.

According to investigators, McCallum’s body was found in Puerto Viejo De Limon, a coastal town in southeastern Costa Rica. It is believed that he had woken up early that morning to take photographs of the sunrise when he was robbed.

Police said when they located his body, his camera and other unspecified belongings were missing from his backpack.

Investigators in Costa Rica have yet to arrest any suspects in this case.