Meet the Teachers
The 1996 Certificate of Excellence recipients are listed here by province, along with a short write-up about them, their schools and their communities.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Dennis Galway
Amalgamated Academy, Bay Roberts
Dennis Galway of Amalgamated Academy in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, is a trailblazer who gets his students involved in innovative learning projects. For example, his Grade 6 students were on the National Geographic Kids Network seven years ago, long before students at most other Canadian schools had access to the Internet.
He has since had them solving problems and doing research with students from across North America: MathMagic lets his students work as part of international math teams to solve open-ended mathematics problems. Mr. Galway has also introduced his students to traditional and electronic publishing using computers, and was an early promoter of science fairs. One effort that began as a series of science projects for his students has grown into an annual event involving 31 schools and thousands of students.
Although he is an enthusiast, Mr. Galway is also well known for his refusal to dodge difficult issues. His colleagues praise his willingness to criticize ineffective teaching practices. In the classroom, Mr. Galway does not hide the fact that hard work is required for success. And yet, even though his students know he assigns a lot of work, they enjoy being in his classes. They know that responding to the challenges he gives will pay off.
Quebec
Johanne Patry
École secondaire Vaudreuil, Vaudreuil
Johanne Patry's insatiable curiosity has led her to study in a wide variety of scientific fields, ranging from agricultural science to neurology. She conveys this enthusiasm to her Secondary 4 Physics students at École secondaire Vaudreuil in Vaudreuil, Quebec, to instil in them a sense of wonder about scientific exploration.
Ms. Patry is also actively involved in the school's Science au futur club and promotes the study of space sciences, getting students to perform underwater experiments, to approximate low-gravity situations and to carry out a space mission simulation. For many students, the payoff from Ms. Patry's teaching has nothing to do with outer space or the underwater world. They point to her ability to stimulate their intellectual curiosity about very familiar things. After taking her courses, students are much more critical of the claims made on television commercials for products such as toothpaste or antacid medicines, and they have no doubt about the relevance of science to their lives and their opportunities in the future.
Ontario
Jacqueline Aird
Green Acres School, Stoney Creek
Jacqueline Aird feels that, despite the increased emphasis on science in elementary schools, there is still much to do to improve science programs for students just beginning school. At Green Acres School in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Ms. Aird uses her 32 years of teaching experience to integrate math and sciences into the kindergarten to Grade 4 curriculum. Among other things, her students learn how to read, write and understand numbers up to four digits, and create and maintain a garden to learn about the environment.
She has also established a design and technology classroom where children from kindergarten to Grade 8 get hands-on experience to develop problem-solving skills.
Ms. Aird focuses on teaching her students the skills of problem-solving and uses their strengths in one area of the curriculum to stimulate interest in other academic activities. Her students respond positively to these efforts.
She has also inspired many girls to display more confidence and interest in science, technology and mathematics, while boys show an improved level of competence in reading. The mentorship provided by Ms. Aird has also enabled many students, particularly girls, to produce award-winning science fair projects.
Patricia Beecham
Martingrove Collegiate Institute, Etobicoke
Patricia Beecham, head of technological education at Martingrove Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke, Ontario, has devoted 28 years of hard work to creating opportunities for students to learn about microbiology and biotechnology. Just one of her many achievements is a program of five courses in microbiology/biotechnology that Martingrove runs in co-operation with local biotechnology companies. When this program was recently threatened with cancellation, a strong outpouring of support from former students who had gone on to successful science careers helped convince authorities to maintain it.
Ms. Beecham's students praise her interpersonal skills as much as her technical abilities. They claim that her soft-spoken support has given them the inspiration they needed to go on to win awards, to gain entry to university programs and, for many, to start careers in biotechnology. These trends promise to continue as enrolment in technology courses at Martingrove is on the rise.
Edward James
Eastwood Collegiate Institute, Kitchener
Edward James has spent 29 years helping students achieve, paying special attention to the challenges facing girls interested in science. In addition to his work as head of the science department at Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario, Mr. James was instrumental in organizing a math and science program for girls at the school and has helped prepare learning materials for the Women Inventors Project. Other initiatives included setting up peer-tutoring programs and co-teaching a Grade 12 Physics-Technical Studies advanced-level, double-credit course in which teams of students designed and built electric bicycles that travelled at more than 60 km/h.
One notable characteristic of Mr. James' efforts in all these areas is his persistence. His work to introduce more girls to science and to encourage them stretches back more than a decade. More importantly, with his support and encouragement, a significant number of young women are graduating every year with a solid background in mathematics and sciences and the confidence to pursue non-traditional careers.
Zoltan Koritar
Northern Secondary School, Toronto
Zoltan Koritar is head of the biology department at Northern Secondary School in Toronto, where he puts considerable effort into keeping his students abreast of the latest developments in biology. One example is his ground-breaking work to bring biotechnology programs to the high school level, including a co-op education program in which his students do work in biotechnology laboratories that was previously done only by university students.
Mr. Koritar also emphasizes the involvement of parents in education. His work with the parents' association at Northern Secondary has not only helped parents understand what their children are doing in school, but has also increased their scientific awareness.
The result of Mr. Koritar's efforts has been an immensely successful enriched science program. His students — including the one who nominated him for the Prime Minister's Award — have gone on to success in national and, often, international science competitions. Many more have pursued successful university careers, some at the world's most prestigious universities.
Jamie Kwok
Cummer Valley Middle School, North York
Jamie Kwok puts considerable emphasis on hands-on activities to help students who are faced with both learning a second language and completing the science curriculum at Cummer Valley Middle School in North York, Ontario. He well understands the shyness of ESL students as he himself spoke very little English when he first came to Canada at age 16.
The use he makes of his experience dealing with major life changes is particularly important to his Grade 3 to 9 students. During these crucial years, they develop problem-solving skills and learn why these skills are important and useful. All of his students — and especially those who are learning English as a second language or have special needs — enter high school with the ability to talk about abstract ideas in familiar language.
Wayne Thompson
Almonte and District High School, Almonte
Wayne Thompson is a long-time champion of technology education. Boys and girls, advanced students and beginners, exceptionally fast learners and students playing catch-up have all benefited from his help at Almonte and District High School in Almonte, Ontario, where he is head of technological studies.
Mr. Thompson has also gathered support from industry across Eastern Ontario for his programs One prominent example is a distance-learning program that he set up so students could take part in regular classes while working on a construction site away from the school. He also used the video technology and techniques from this project to hook up with another school on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom.
What former students remember most about Mr. Thompson is the way he pushed them to try new challenges and then made sure they got the support they needed to meet those challenges. After being encouraged to try new things, students found they had developed an ongoing interest in doing them. Soon they realized that working with technology was one of their favourite activities.
Carl Twiddy
Markham District High School, Markham
Carl Twiddy is known throughout southern Ontario's York Region as the "chemistry show teacher" because of his annual chemical safety demonstrations. The shows teach more than safety, however, and have done as much to encourage young people to study chemistry as they have to promote the safe handling of chemicals.
Mr. Twiddy, who is head of the science department at Markham District High School in Markham, Ontario, has spent 30 years increasing awareness of chemistry inside and outside the classroom. His programs have earned him respect from industry figures who appreciate his efforts to teach the public about the chemical industry. This close relationship has allowed Mr. Twiddy to develop a successful industrial mentorship program for his students.
Mr. Twiddy's efforts have prepared people to function in a world in which science, and in particular chemistry, is increasingly important. His presentations to elementary school students have helped close the gap between the science they study at that level and secondary studies. He has worked with universities and industry to create programs to prepare high school students for their university-level studies and for the working world. Finally, his public awareness presentations have helped overcome stereotypes about the chemical industry.
Manitoba
Denise McWilliams
Emerson Elementary School, Winnipeg
How do children understand mathematics when they first begin to study it? What, for example, do numerals mean to them? Denise McWilliams of Emerson Elementary School in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has spent her entire teaching career wondering about these issues and, more importantly, working out innovative approaches to teaching mathematics based on her extensive research.
The benefits of her hard work have been felt far beyond her own classrooms, as she has shared her findings with many other teachers and the community at large. Fittingly, she is now a resource teacher serving all students and teachers at Emerson Elementary. Other students from across Manitoba who have never met Ms. McWilliams are following the new provincial curriculum she helped develop. In one way or another, they will all be touched by Ms. McWilliams' passion for teaching mathematics.
Alberta
Michael Dzwiniel
Harry Ainlay High School, Edmonton
Michael Dzwiniel has had a positive effect on students far beyond the walls of Harry Ainlay High School in Edmonton, Alberta. Long before integrating scientific, technological and social concerns became the norm, Mr. Dzwiniel wrote several textbooks using this approach for high school students. He has also used these principles to develop labs, demonstrations and a travelling chemistry magic show. He regularly invites elementary school students to work side by side with his high school students in the laboratory, thereby improving the high school students' understanding of subjects and their communication skills, as well as exposing elementary school students to advanced scientific concepts.
Mr. Dzwiniel argues that the ultimate measure of a teacher's success is the success of his or her students. On provincial examinations, his students regularly outperform the average by a considerable margin. They excel in less tangible ways as well. For example, several students who went on to study chemistry at university credit Mr. Dzwiniel with showing them the exciting possibilities the subject offered.
Jane Skinner
Ottewell School, Edmonton
Jane Skinner is head of the science department at Ottewell School in Edmonton, Alberta. Based on her belief that science is a key element of a well-rounded person, she has developed a program that integrates scientific subjects into the wider curriculum. Her Grade 7, 8 and 9 students learn everything from communications to problem-solving skills in the context of the sciences. One of the many innovative projects she has led was "Getting Hooked On Science," in which her Grade 7 students spent six weeks creating aerodynamics demonstrations that were performed for more than 600 students, teachers and parents during Edmonton's Education Week.
The effects of Ms. Skinner's teaching last for years. The records of her former students, both boys and girls, show consistently strong performances in the sciences right through high school.
Hans van Kessel
Bellerose Composite High School, St. Albert
Hans van Kessel teaches chemistry and physics at Bellerose Composite High School in St. Albert, Alberta, and is constantly looking out for new ways to explain complex concepts in a real-world setting. Based on this research, he has developed new teaching methods and ways of assessing whether students have acquired necessary problem-solving and scientific skills. Whether they are studying combustion or nuclear decay, his students learn how to develop analytic techniques that they will be able to use over and over again. When asked to design an electric cell using an ordinary soft drink can, students learn how to use trial and error and analysis of results to apply science to an infinite number of practical problems.
The payoff has been a very high attendance in Mr. van Kessel's classes and high student achievement. They are drawn into his classes by his infectious enthusiasm and are sustained by the self-esteem that comes from learning that they, too, can do science successfully.
British Columbia
Kanwal Neel
Steveston Secondary School, Richmond
Kanwal Neel of Steveston Secondary School in Richmond, British Columbia, inspires his students to emulate his well-rounded approach to learning. Using Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory, Mr. Neel teaches students to think and respond to problems in seven different ways. The result is a balanced understanding that allows students to see how mathematics problems can be taken out of the isolated context in which they are often taught and fit into everyday life.
Mr. Neel also works to create a classroom atmosphere in which his students feel secure, take risks in their learning and extend their learning potential. At Steveston Secondary, Mr. Neel has made graphing calculators and a computer lab available to students, even during a time of shrinking budgets. He has also passed on his expertise to other teachers through direct help, books and articles, and by teaching a university course. Mr. Neel recently received an award for his work as the co-host of a highly regarded television show called Math Shop.
John O'Connor
Point Grey Mini School, Vancouver
John O'Connor is one of those people who makes things happen. He has the ability to work with others in the community and at his school to get new programs up and running. In recent years, he has played a key role in launching science, technology and mathematics programs at Point Grey Mini School in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he is head teacher.
Point Grey Mini School is part of a research initiative to explore multimedia education that also includes Simon Fraser University's ExCITE Centre and Rogers Communications. It has attracted considerable interest both inside and outside the education community, with one of its many notable achievements being the part it played in the launching of the CD-ROM magazine, Science, Eh? Mr. O'Connor's students were the very first contributors to this publication, which is put out by Vancouver's Science World, a non-profit educational organization that operates the Science World Museum.
Mr. O'Connor's students are expert users of computer technology — networking, upgrading and maintaining the computer laboratory and developing the school website. They have also had considerable success in national science fairs and math competitions.