Certificate of Achievement Recipients
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Nova Scotia
- Prince Edward Island
- New Brunswick
- Quebec
- Ontario
- Manitoba
- Saskatchewan
- Alberta
- British Columbia
The 1999-2000 Certificate of Achievement recipients are listed here by province. For each of the 50 recipients, there is a short biography and a description of some of their award-winning teaching ideas.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Tony Duffenais
St. Kevin's High School, Goulds
English and literature
Tony Duffenais has created a successful school-wide public speaking program with 97 percent student participation, as well as a popular theatre arts program. He believes that by focussing on writing and oratory skills, he can help even the shyest student acquire poise, confidence and leadership abilities. Mr. Duffenais employs a variety of teaching methods to reach all students: peer tutoring, recording texts onto audio tapes for weaker readers, and correcting homework in collaboration with students. He both motivates and rewards students with school trips - more than 200 so far have accompanied him to Europe.
Wade Gillard
Booth Memorial High School, St. John's
Communications and computer technology, woodworking, home maintenance
Whether in woodworking or computer science class, Wade Gillard encourages mentoring and the sharing of knowledge among his students - high achievers and reluctant learners alike. Mr. Gillard led the school-wide integration of technology into the curriculum, encouraging a cross-discipline perspective on computer technology and preparing an innovative information and communications technology program. The program has enabled many graduating students to enter advanced post-secondary technology courses, and has been adopted by other area schools. It also resulted in Booth Memorial High School being named as one of 24 members of Industry Canada's Network of Innovative Schools in 1999.
Robert Rose
Prince of Wales Collegiate, St. John's
Mathematics
Robert Rose restructured his school's math department so that all teachers teach a range of courses and students of all abilities. Students benefit from a variety of teaching styles and personalities, and teachers are challenged to find ways to reach students at different levels of ability. Mr. Rose instituted a three-tiered testing system that recognizes individual variations in ability while challenging advanced math students. "He has an amazing way of connecting with his students and a gift for understanding when a student is having a difficult time, academically or personally," says a fellow teacher. His popular Mathematics Club includes students from the entire school, many of whom win national and provincial math competitions.
Brian Vardy
Bishops College, St. John's
English, entrepreneurship, cooperative education
Creating strong school experiences that help students increase their learning capacity and develop critical thinking is basic to Brian Vardy's teaching philosophy. This means providing opportunities for students to practise creative problem solving in different environments. To make their education relevant and foster entrepreneurial spirit, Mr. Vardy established the Bishops College Enterprise Showcase, which requires all entrepreneurship students to develop and display a venture proposal and business plan. Students develop communications skills while presenting their work to others. They visit local entrepreneurs and employers, and see business in action.
Nova Scotia
Louise Cloutier
Pugwash District High School, Pugwash
French, art
Louise Cloutier believes strongly in the value of art as a means of communicating and interacting with other individuals, nature and society. Her primary goal is to help students learn more about themselves and their world, and how to express themselves in a variety of ways. With the curriculum she developed, students learn that art communicates experience just as speaking and writing do. Students learn teamwork as well as art skills in school and community mural projects. They witness their own artistic development by maintaining an art notebook through three years of study. Students' works are frequently exhibited in local galleries and public buildings.
Prince Edward Island
Rowan Fitzgerald
Queen Charlotte Intermediate School, Charlottetown
Band, general music appreciation
With humour and an intuitive ability for developing a rapport with students, Rowan Fitzgerald creates popular music courses with virtually no attrition. Four bands - grades 7, 8 and 9 concert bands and an all-grades jazz band - involve 30 percent of the student population. Mr. Fitzgerald stresses self-evaluation, team evaluation and peer coaching, and encourages students to be as competitive as they can be within their own potential. He also helped found very successful non-competitive band festivals and summer camps for instruction, performance and fun. Students go on to high school with highly developed musical skills and many have pursued music after high school.
New Brunswick
Joanne Hachey
Parkwood Heights Elementary School, Bathurst
French immersion, all subjects except English language arts
"Madame Joanne's" Grade 1 students are high achievers. They easily converse in their second language, and many read beyond their grade level compared to the district average. Ms. Hachey exploits her artistic abilities to supplement and reinforce language learning with stimulating visual materials that capture the children's attention. It is obvious that students love being in her class and thrive on her constructive criticism and constant positive feedback.
Francine Rossignol
École Notre-Dame, Edmundston
French, math, English as a second language, natural science, social science, art
The personal and social development of students is at the core of Francine Rossignol's teaching. She emphasizes the "parent-student-teacher" relationship, and helps students realize how they - and their school work - are part of it. She cr"Mini-Prof" program, in which students who are struggling or have missed classes are tutored by their classmates, as well as a series of special clinics on particular skills that are difficult for students to grasp. With the new technology she introduced to Grade 1, students regularly use word-processing and presentation software in their work. Her students keep personal journals to help them track their progress.
Quebec
Sylvain Bédard
École Saint-Damase, Saint-Damase
Music
In the words of one parent, "Sylvain Bédard stimulates our children's imaginations and helps them fulfil their dreams." Mr. Bédard accomplishes this by demonstrating to students the rewards of expressing their creativity, and providing them with the professional-quality video, music production and recording technology to do it. His students have produced, among other things, a CD of songs about typical situations encountered by elementary school students, interactive electronic books and animated cartoons with a musical soundtrack. The students form learning partnerships with professional musicians and recording companies, and have won awards and scholarships from such organizations as Apple Canada and Radio-Canada.
Kathay Carson, Jennifer Hunter and Linda Leiberman
St. George's School of Montreal, Montreal
Geography, history, integrated science, biology, physical science, chemistry
The aim of this three-teacher team is to integrate the sciences to encourage a sense of inquiry among students and an understanding of the principal laws governing how the world functions. Led by Ms. Leiberman, the team developed an integrated science program for Grade 7 and 8 students that has been adopted throughout the province, and also worked with the educational channel Télé-Québec to adapt the program for television. Students of these enthusiastic teachers demonstrate high achievement: of the 16 students who wrote the Princeton University Testing Service's external exam in 1999, five earned the highest possible rating (5) and 11 earned a 4.
Denys Heward
Lower Canada College, Montreal
History, social studies
Denys Heward strives to instil in his students a strong desire for learning and the ability to effectively communicate what they learn. He advocates using special events, such as dramatic recreations (of a medieval feast, for example), to make history come alive for students. He created History Night at the school, during which more than 100 students are involved in staging recreations of historical events. The students select a historical subject, do research, write papers, act in a stage production, and even produce murals and other displays. Mr. Heward has organized and led more than 20 history-oriented trips to Britain for students.
Jacques Lévesque
Polyvalente des Baies, Baie-Comeau
Music
Jacques Lévesque is a wizard at thinking up exciting projects to draw his students into music. He has created a very successful guitar group with student musicians, as well as various musical productions, some including as many as 80 music and dance arrangements. A teacher must be flexible to respond to students' initiatives, Mr. Lévesque says, but must be willing to push students to excel when necessary. His students do excel: bands have won awards at the All-American Music Festival in Florida, the St-Hubert Jazz Festival, and the Prix Essor provincial competition (first place in 1996, 1998 and 1999). The guitar group has won a gold medal at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
Nancy Lewis-Sweer
John Rennie High School, Pointe-Claire
Music
Nancy Lewis-Sweer tailors her music classes to meet individual student potential, making sure there are choices so all students can expand their musical capabilities. She has organized several bands, choirs and smaller ensembles, and has set up separate music study classes for students with scheduling conflicts. She has been particularly innovative in discovering ways for some students to participate: a student with one hand and another paralyzed on one side play adapted trumpet, for example, and autistic and intellectually challenged children sing in choirs and play in bands. Some of her students think she is a miracle worker.
Norman Woods
Châteauguay Valley Regional High School, Ormstown
Physical education, history
Norman Woods feels that the skills and leadership students acquire through physical education carry over to other subjects as well. He developed an advanced phys. ed. class for exceptional athletes and entered his small school into two interscholastic sports associations, with winning results. With the same determination, he followed his belief that students are attracted by interesting cross-curricular projects and created one for two high-risk Grade 8 classes that integrated history, English, woodworking, mathematics, French, music and home economics. Students researched and staged a reenactment of a battle between British and American forces that took place not far from where the school is located, learning a lot of history and a great deal more in the process.
Ontario
Trudy Bradley
Lisgar Collegiate Institute, Ottawa
Instrumental and vocal music
To Trudy Bradley, music study requires concentration and sacrifice. Therefore, she demands a genuine commitment to learning from students. Beginning with 14 students in 1981, she has presided over an unprecedented expansion of curricular and extracurricular musical activities at Lisgar. Today more than 40 percent of the student body participates in one of the school's 11 performing groups: orchestras, concert bands, jazz bands, a vocal jazz ensemble and a choir. Under Ms. Bradley's management or guidance, these groups have performed locally at such venues as Parliament Hill and the National Arts Centre, and around the world, in places such as the Netherlands, England, British Columbia and Boston.
Victoria Brady
Saint Joseph's College School, Toronto
Information technology, computer studies, accounting, mathematics
According to a colleague, Vicky Brady is an excellent role model for the 1000 young women who attend Saint Joseph's and their teachers as well. What she models is technological expertise. She has overseen the expansion of the school's technological capabilities from one computer lab to four, and from a single word-processing course to a wide range of courses in programming, problem solving and Internet skills. She fosters creativity by encouraging experimentation and acknowledging failure, and promotes teamwork with group assignments. Her students graduate well prepared for the career market or further computer and engineering studies at university.
Barbara Bull
Frank Flowers Program, Sudbury
English, personal life management, liaison teacher for young offenders
Students - even those having trouble - should be held accountable in a reasonable, logical and respectful manner, says Barbara Bull. As on-site administrator of an education program for young offenders, she is responsible for registrations, student assessments, credit counselling and eventual reintegration of her students into the regular school community. She works closely with parents, probation officers and youth to find solutions to a myriad of academic, social and legal problems. Ms. Bull uses common routines, rituals and traditions such as Shrove (Pancake) Tuesday to keep school relevant and enjoyable. Her goal? For young offenders to gain the academic success and much needed social and employability skills that others take for granted.
Ralph Carney
St. Paul Catholic High School, Ottawa
Science, physics
With his constant efforts to make science meaningful in the everyday lives of his students, Ralph Carney has turned out an impressive number of high achievers. His methods include making frequent use of demonstrations to help students visualize concepts and use their problem-solving abilities. To trigger their interest, he introduces problems featuring "storylines" that continue through a number of assignments, because this keeps students anticipating the next assignment. Mr. Carney's students do consistently well on tests such as the OAC physics exam, and more than a few have gone on to receive prestigious scholarships to study physics and engineering.
Doreen Casserly
Hillcrest High School, Ottawa
Chemistry
While her colleagues marvel at how she energizes a chemistry class, Doreen Casserly is also very good at guiding students towards areas of interest that suit their abilities. As director of Hillcrest's Cooperative Education Program, she places more than 65 students in on-the-job learning environments each year: in local hospitals, schools, auto shops and retail businesses. Students work four hours a day for four months, gaining skills and an awareness of possible career paths. Ms. Casserly also established the Peer Tutor Program, which allows a student to shadow a teacher for one course, experiencing the dynamics of teaching while increasing understanding of the course material.
Linda Dickson
Summit Alternative School, Ottawa
Language arts, communication and media, mathematics
Largely due to Linda Dickson's efforts, enrolment at her school has doubled (from 65 to 130 students) since 1996. She encourages students to make significant decisions about their own education to foster academic responsibility, and to develop their own learning profiles to give them insight into their strengths and weaknesses. Rather than teaching discrete subjects, Ms. Dickson integrates knowledge and skills into thematic units. In one such project, her students recreated school life of the 1930s, acting out the role of students of that decade and thereby appreciating more intimately the reality of such historical events as the Great Depression and the Dustbowl.
Mary Margaret Fraser
W.I. Dick Middle School, Milton
English language arts, mathematics
Mary Margaret Fraser believes in teaching children concepts as well as the content of each subject. She discusses key issues with her students to encourage them to think critically and come up with positive solutions to problems. In their assignments, the students clearly demonstrate that they grasp key concepts. Ms. Fraser led students in developing a policy for the entire school to address the problem of inconsistent effort by students. With her guidance, they even developed a new format for parent-teacher interviews, adopted by this school and others. Her efforts and vision also transformed the school library into a computerized Info Centre, the hub of learning at the school.
Brenda Gale
Riverdale Collegiate Institute, Toronto
Guidance, English, drama, mathematics
Brenda Gale's driving ambition is to help students from minority groups who are economically disadvantaged or have fallen behind to continue high school with a renewed sense of purpose. She believes supplementary training in skills such as essay writing, communications and critical thinking, good study habits and job searching "level the playing field" for such students. Ms. Gale has overseen the growth of the University of Toronto's Summer Mentorship Program from seven students in 1994 to more than 100 today. Graduates of this highly successful program have moved from high school to pursuing degrees in medicine, law, social work and engineering.
Michelle Hurley-Desjardins
Good Shepherd School, Gloucester
Grade 2, all subjects
A Grade 2 teacher is an important figure in a child's life, often setting the course for the rest of his or her school career. Michelle Hurley-Desjardins takes this responsibility seriously. She establishes love, respect, praise and trust with her students. Encouraging communication and independence in her students with daily journals, "show and tell" and poster making, she recognizes each child's uniqueness with awards, performances and birthday celebrations. At the same time, Ms. Hurley-Desjardins develops a love of learning in her students with interesting activity-based "math-bags" and a whole-language reading program. Everyone participates, everyone learns, everyone has fun.
Annalee McKechnie
Westmount Collegiate Institute, Thornhill
Teacher-librarian, all subjects
Ideally, a library is a place where students can access a variety of resources, make thoughtful choices and learn to assess them critically. Annalee McKechnie worked to achieve that ideal by creating interesting, innovative library programs at her former school, Dr. Denison Secondary School in Newmarket. These programs offer extensive theme-based novel collections for the English department, resource collections for the history and science departments, CD encyclopedias, networked computers and a host of other resources. Students design research projects, utilize and critically assess library resources, and make presentations of their findings. A busy exciting place, the library is visited by more than half of the student population every day.
William Menzo
Silverthorn Collegiate Institute, Etobicoke
Canadian geography, environmental studies, travel and tourism
William Menzo encourages his students' involvement in community issues such as protecting the environment. He formed the Silverthorn Environmental Protection Agency 10 years ago to give students opportunities to do just that. Students have naturalized the schools' courtyard, created Mill Place Garden, taken field trips with the local junior school's Green Club and worked with conservation agencies to plant trees. The students also contribute regularly to the geography department's environmental web page - begun as an independent study project for the environmental class and now a major source of environmental information for students - using technologies introduced to the classroom by Mr. Menzo.
Brenda Radford
Nancy Campbell Collegiate Institute, Stratford
English, drama, art
All learning is a step towards an exciting common goal, says Brenda Radford. Creating those exciting common goals through projects that integrate English, drama and art, she brings students' latent talent to the fore. Her students adapt plays, then produce them for performance in the school and community. With Ms. Radford's clear and well-defined expectations in mind, students compose and record music, learn sound recording, stage lighting and project management, and become polished, accomplished communicators. Students also work with local elementary schools to write and perform plays.
Joanne Sleightholm
Armour Heights Public School, Toronto
Junior kindergarten
Joanne Sleightholm uses music to teach confidence and the joy of learning to her tiny charges. The entire class learns to play the recorder by year-end, enjoys visits by professional musicians and performs concerts throughout the year. The energy and enjoyment of the students' musical experience carries over to other learning with harmonious results. In a colourful, parent-friendly classroom, Ms. Sleightholm includes children of all academic abilities in learning activities, instils responsibility and leadership through special helper positions and teaches numeracy, literacy and thinking skills with creative games. Her students show high rates of early reading and advanced development in other academic areas.
Diane Sullivan
Parkdale Collegiate Institute, Toronto
English
Diane Sullivan recognizes the difference between teaching and learning, and gives priority to students' learning. This emphasis has led to the creation of several publishing projects that promote student speaking, reading, listening and writing. These projects, honoured by the Ontario Lieutenant Governor, draw on interviews, research and on-line student communication for material. To further student learning, Ms. Sullivan brings a wide variety of learning experiences to her class. Guest speakers, tours of art galleries, museums, theatres and landmarks, participation in author fairs, writing competitions, radio broadcasts and storytelling broaden students' horizons and enhance their learning.
Bob Tone
Francis Libermann Catholic High School, Toronto
Technological design, communications technology
Students should be able to gain real-world work experience without committing themselves to the demands of a traditional co-op education program, so Bob Tone set about creating courses, programs and extracurricular clubs to provide that kind of experience. He spearheaded the expansion of the technological education department to a seven-teacher, 17-section program taught in three fully equipped labs, and developed a youth internship project. The Falcon Knights, a technology club Mr. Tone supervises, created the Falcon Knights Robotic Challenge, an annual series of robotics competitions. Mr. Tone's vision to connect learning with experience benefits everyone at the school.
Marlene Walther
Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute, Thunder Bay
Business English, technological design, computer networking
Marlene Walther fosters connections: connections between in-school courses and the outside world, between the challenge of competitions and academic excellence, between technological innovation and professional development. It all comes together in authentic projects for her students. The Printing Press, for example, is a credit course combining business English with technological design. In it, students design and publish a real-life, award-winning newspaper, Eye of the Tiger, and learn problem-solving, responsibility, leadership, technological and design skills in the process. Employers gladly write reference letters for students from Ms. Walther's classes.
Manitoba
Geoffrey Briggs, Doug McPherson, Colleen Nick-Johnson and Louise Redekop
John W. Gunn School, Winnipeg
Math, science, language arts, social studies, creative arts, electronics technology, metals technology
"Start small," recommends this four-teacher team, which developed an exciting and challenging year-long integrated program for middle-school students that fosters an atmosphere of trust and develops co-operative learning. A student-centred, high-interest program, it is organized and displayed in a "year-at-a-glance" format so that teachers can make connections between themes, and switch units as necessary. Using student goal setting, reflection and self-evaluation to complement the integrated study program, the team's innovative evaluation method is used throughout the school. Their approach has lowered absenteeism and behaviour incidents and attracted public and private sector funding.
Gerry Corr, Gabe Kraljevic and Paul Stewart
West Kildonan Collegiate Institute, Winnipeg
Microcomputer technician, operating systems, basic troubleshooting, networking, physics, robotics, computer applications, electronics, computer graphics and animation, computer science
This team enhances technology training by integrating language, communication, creativity and teamwork skills into course work. The three teachers aim to produce well-rounded, successful students. Helping students gain the skills necessary for success in the information age, they have developed a school-wide comprehensive technology plan and program. Skills learned in technology classes have helped students obtain higher grades in other courses, win six medals at the 1999 Manitoba Robotics Games and receive scholarships for post-secondary education in the field of technology.
Dennis Mogg
Sisler High School, Winnipeg
Construction technology for women, microcomputer systems technology
Promoting interest and participation in technology courses among all students drives Dennis Mogg's teaching. With this inspiration, he has created and implemented four new drafting technology courses and eight vocational microcomputer systems technician courses. A construction technology course for women, emphasizing engineering and computer-assisted design, rounds out his file of accomplishments. The courses - and Mr. Mogg's teaching - address current skills and personnel shortages in computer and information technology. Students recently took first prize at a national skills competition. One quarter pursue post-secondary education in related areas and others gain employment in the field.
Saskatchewan
Guy Kerbrat
Rouleau School, Rouleau
French, mathematics, computers, physical education, finance, housing
Guy Kerbrat lives the message that hard work and effort can achieve anything. In sports and in academics, he is always looking to expand his teaching repertoire and foster student interest and participation. He spends hundreds of hours coaching senior boys volleyball with award-winning results, and has created a computer program to record and compile track meet results that is now used at provincial meets. At the same time, Mr. Kerbrat provides adapted assignments and extra help for weak math students and has created a CD of vocabulary and conversation sheets to complement the school's French program.
Alberta
Rob Billington
Mitford Middle School, Cochrane
Music, band
Learning, experience and growth are found everywhere, says Rob Billington. He sees his role as music and band teacher as providing the perfect opportunity to teach students this valuable lesson. While encouraging students to participate in every aspect of a project and set their own standards of excellence, he is always ready to help and advise. With his vigorous leadership, the school band program has grown from 50 to 245 students in the past five years. Students audition to join extra-curricular bands, play to sold out concerts several times a year, and regularly win medals at festival concerts.
Doreen Czajkowsky
McNally High School, Edmonton
Biology
"Stay in touch," sums up Doreen Czajkowsky's teaching philosophy. She encourages weaker students with tutoring and special review courses, keeps in contact with the parents of children with attendance problems, and above all shows the relevance of biology through dramatic teaching and field trips. Keeping standards and expectations clear, Ms. Czajkowsky distributes objectives at the beginning of every study unit. Later, students use these objectives as study guides. More than 90 percent of her biology students met the provincial standard in 1999; 40.7 percent met the standard of excellence, making the school the best in the district.
Kay Jauch
McNally High School, Edmonton
Science, physics
Kay Jauch strives to connect what is taking place in the classroom to society and the world beyond the classroom. To do this, he makes extensive use of technology and hands-on teaching to demonstrate principals of physics, showing their application in everyday life. His use of a variety of teaching approaches and a combination of traditional and cutting-edge technologies led to increased enrolment in physics and higher attendance rates in the past two years. Students regularly exceed district and province-wide standards, and participate in the Canada Wide Science Fair.
David Oberholtzer
McNally High School, Edmonton
English, creative writing, communications
Choosing instructional methods to suit the needs and learning styles of students is just part of David Oberholtzer's teaching strategy. He continuously takes risks in his class, looking for new and interesting ways to present difficult material, always trying for maximum effectiveness. It produces some interesting results. Multidiscipline learning projects such as the "C" Files, an original unit of study designed to complement Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, enhance students' understanding of the concepts presented and encourage skills in communication, drama and analysis. In another project, his Grade 12 English students researched, collected and compiled the nomination package for his Prime Minister's Award.
Elmer Riegel
Bishop Grandin High School, Calgary
Career and life management, psychology, music, instrumental music
Elmer Riegel models the values of respect, honesty, care and integrity to his students, encouraging them to develop leadership responsibility and engage in program decisions and management roles whenever possible. In so doing, he has transformed a small music department into an award-winning school music program and marching band boasting 300 members. Grouping students in class according to their membership in the bands keeps performance levels, standards, musical ability - and attendance rates - high. The pride and appreciation of the arts gained in Mr. Riegel's classes has inspired many of his students to pursue careers in music and musical education.
Laurel Usher
McNally High School, Edmonton
Social studies, history
History comes to life in Laurel Usher's classes. Dramatic recreations of historical events, such as the founding of Canada, the Russian revolution and the Victorian era, help students make links between current events and the historical circumstances that led up to them. Setting personal achievement goals is part of her students' success, she believes. Ms. Usher provides numerous opportunities for her students to set and meet those goals, with participation in essay contests and the International Baccalaureate Program. Students at all levels and abilities excel in this rich educational environment, with scores above the provincial average.
British Columbia
Jacquie Facca
Fernie Secondary School, Fernie
Life skills, remedial mathematics and English, social studies, science
Jacquie Facca knows that everyone wants respect, including - or especially - physically, developmentally and academically challenged students. She respects her students, while at the same time maintaining clear standards and expectations of good behaviour. These attitudes, along with individually designed programs, lead her students to gradual improvement and independence. Ms. Facca has energized the life skills training program in both the school and community. Successful initiatives such as co-op placements, tutoring programs and fundraising projects have increased enrolment from 8 to 23 students in four years. Several mainstream students involved as tutors are now pursuing studies in rehabilitation and other related subjects.
Irene Freeman
Brooke Elementary School, Delta
Grade 1, all subjects
Young students need authentic reasons to read and write, Irene Freeman believes, so she gives her students an abundance of them, from an email project with pen pals in Australia, to integrated theme projects that see the students taking on all the roles of governing and living and working in "Busy Town." She furthers literacy with reading, listening and writing practice with books, listening tapes and CD-ROM reference materials. As a result, Ms. Freeman's students advance far beyond their grade level in the use of technology, communication skills, teamwork, problem solving and, of course, reading.
Ed Goldstrom
A.L. Fortune Secondary School, Enderby
History, comparative civilization, social studies, food studies, English
Serving up a healthy portion of positive learning satisfies students' hunger for success, says Ed Goldstrom. His students literally eat his words every day. Maintaining that the qualities of discipline and organization, high standards and good communication are essential for learning and employment, Mr. Goldstrom pioneered an outstanding food studies program as a challenging and interesting way for his students to learn. Students cultivate a wide variety of skills, learn to follow written and verbal instructions, develop creativity and work in teams. Many go on to co-op placements, food industry jobs and post-secondary education in food science.
Frederick Hagen
Lansdowne Junior Secondary School, Victoria
Elementary, junior and senior concert and jazz bands, computer-generated music composition
Believing that knowledge, attitudes and abilities are critical for success, yet recognizing that children don't all learn in the same way, Frederick Hagen employs a variety of teaching strategies to find the one most suited to a student's learning style. He draws on other disciplines to enhance his music composition classes, using maps, artwork and documentation to enrich an African music lesson, and historical information to teach the development of music from the medieval period to the 20th century. An extensive music and band program involves 48 percent of the school's students, who enjoy music and learning as much as their teacher does.
Ellen Leroux
Chaffey-Burke Elementary School, Burnaby
Grade 6, all subjects
Ellen Leroux puts students at the centre of their own learning. She poses problems, then supports students as they develop their own learning and leadership. Enlivening science and mathematics with innovative instruction, she fills the class with "potions," machines, butterflies, aquariums and other interesting hands-on learning tools, encouraging discussion and manipulation. Ms. Leroux doesn't stop with her own class; she shares her enjoyment and excitement of learning through enrichment projects for the whole school. These projects include week-long trips to the Vancouver Aquarium, and participation in the Odyssey of the Mind program and the Marsville project, an interdisciplinary program to create a Mars colony.
Craig Walden MacCulloch
Peter Skene Ogden Community Secondary School, 100 Mile House
Career, personal planning
Craig MacCulloch has his eyes on the future. His students' future, that is. Stressing flexibility and adaptability as necessary workplace skills, teamwork and skills development for academic and employment success, and critical and logical thinking for good learning habits, he has revitalized the school and student learning. Mr. MacCulloch has spearheaded school-wide innovations in career planning, so career education is now the focus of all programs and course selections. Apprenticeships, work experience placements both in and out of the small community, and electronic access to post-secondary training courses motivate students to complete school and look to their own future.
David Oakley
Eric Hamber Secondary School, Vancouver
Science, chemistry
David Oakley believes that students' confidence in their abilities to understand and explain science concepts is important. To foster this confidence, he integrates various technologies into his science teaching and emphasizes classroom participation. Working closely with the school's English as a second language (ESL) department, Mr. Oakley incorporates key visuals, supplementary texts and student mentoring into his teaching practices to make science more meaningful for ESL students. The pass rate in his classes is consistently high, with some students achieving scores of 95 percent and higher.
Daniel Rubin
False Bay School, Lasqueti Island
Language arts, social studies, science, math, drama, computer skills
As principal and teacher at False Bay School, Mr. Rubin understands leadership. Leadership isn't just going first and expecting everyone to follow; it's also listening, sharing authority, supporting innovation and encouraging change. Mr. Rubin and his students have written and performed 11 original plays and two Shakespearean adaptations. Working with the elders of the Tsmshian community, he developed material to teach young band members their native language. He also works to keep students up to date with modern technology, engaging private and public sector sponsors to support school programs, and developing a computer network of small island communities around the world.
Jane Sproule
Chatelech Secondary School, Sechelt
Social studies, history
"Know and love your subject." Jane Sproule's philosophy keeps the learning environment fresh and alive for her students. She develops new study units to explore every aspect of an era. Transforming her classroom into a World War II bunker or a medieval banquet hall, for example, brings the period to life. Using a wide variety of media and source material encourages learning and interest. Her approach is so successful that all students - Native, high-risk and mainstream - arrive on time, stay in school and score well above the provincial average in tests and exams.
John Westlake
Burnsview Junior Secondary School, Delta
Humanities, leadership
John Westlake keeps his students learning all the time. Using student-centred activities and effective teaching strategies, he stresses sound decision making and social responsibility as well as intensive research skills. Projects that spark students' interest, such as consulting community sources to research open-ended questions (Should farmland in Delta be used for farming or housing?) also develop strong communication skills as the students report their findings through demonstrations, simulations, charts and graphs, oral presentations and written reports. Mr. Westlake's students score significantly higher than their peers in provincial and district assessment tests. Several students have won scholarships to prestigious institutions.