The Alberta Teachers’ Association

2010 Excellence in Teaching Awards recipients
Left to right, back row: Gregory Voigt, Rebecca Gustafson, Teresa Borchers, Susie Martin, Stacey Mabey, Jennifer Deyenberg, Erin Ochoa and Suzanne Bleaken. Middle row: Joe Garreck, Carol Van Slyke, Deborah Rowley, Kelly Lord, Diane De Fazio, Marsha Fernandez, Kirk Villanueva, Kerry Faber and Matthew Berrigan. Front row: Judy Lynn Miller; Amber Krause; Nancy Knowlton (SMART Technologies); Minister of Education, the Honourable Dave Hancock; Lisa Beebe; Tracy Inaba; and Katherine McKale. Missing: Robert Schaan.

Teachers, students and schools in Alberta are tops

Twenty-three Alberta teachers received 2010 Excellence in Teaching Awards for their work with Kindergarten to Grade 12 students.

“Being selected to receive an Excellence in Teaching Award is a significant honour for any teacher or principal in our province,” said Minister of Education Dave Hancock. “Among hundreds of nominations, 23 recipients rose to the top for their exceptional teaching and leadership practices, demonstrating once again that Alberta has some of the best teachers in the world.”

Award recipients were honoured at a dinner and ceremony with the education minister in Calgary, May 29.

Alberta Education hosted the 22nd Annual Excellence in Teaching Awards with the support of the Alberta School Councils’ Association, the Alberta School Boards Association, the Alberta Teachers’ Association, the Association of Alberta Deans of Education, the Council on Alberta Teaching Standards, the Edmonton Journal and the SMARTer Kids Foundation.

For more information about the Excellence in Teaching Awards, visit www.education.­alberta.ca and click on the ­teachers tab.

Sexsmith students are province’s Envirothon champs

Five students from Sexsmith Secondary School, Sexsmith, are this year’s provincial Envirothon champions. The student team will represent Alberta at the Canon Envirothon International Championship, to be held at California State University, ­August 1–6, 2010.

The Canon Envirothon is an annual competition for high school students. The competition introduces students to diverse environmental issues, ecosystems and topography. During competition, teams from Canada and the United States demonstrate their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management. For more information about the championship, visit www.envirothon.org.

Bonnyville students “Get On Board” to win

Students at Bonnyville Centralized High School have won the provincewide “Get On Board” contest. The winning students produced a TV commercial on the theme of “We Need School Bus Drivers!” The commercial is intended to recruit safety-conscious people who view bus driving as a commendable line of work and who desire the appropriate training to meet professional qualifications. The students and their supervising teacher were each awarded MacBook laptops and Apple Store gift cards. The students are Karl Richter, Caulder Johnston and Allan Cameron, and the supervising teacher is Christopher Cowden.

Cowden commented: “The students pushed their imagination to the limit, and the technology made it possible to realize that vision. We are really fortunate to have learning opportunities like this, and I’m glad I could play a role in guiding the students towards their goal.”

The “Get On Board” project is a partnership between the school bus industry and the Alberta government to encourage more Albertans to consider careers in the school bus industry.

Students Interact to make a difference

Kim Gawryliuk

Creating a green space, volunteering, and assisting an orphanage in Mexico are just some of the plans that members of the newly minted Camrose Interact Club are undertaking. The club came into existence May 27 when Rotary International District 4370 officials presented the newly formed club with its charter during a ceremony at Camrose Comprehensive High School (CCHS). Interact is a junior service club for young people (ages 15–18) and is a branch of the Rotary organization. Each is sponsored by a Rotary club and is entirely self-governing and self-financing. In addition, each club is required to operate at least one local and one international project per year.

Since its formation, the Camrose club has been busy. More than 20 CCHS students belong to the school-based club. Locally, the club has begun developing plans for a green space where students can gather and socialize, and members volunteer with the Bethany Group. Internationally, they are shipping sewing machines to an orphanage in Oaxaca, Mexico. The machines will be used to make blankets and clothing for residents, and to make items for sale to help fund the orphanage’s operations.  

Grande Prairie teacher opens doors to students

Gail Grant, a teacher at ­Crystal Park School, in Grande Prairie, is one of six grand prize winners in the second annual Teaching with Technology contest sponsored by CDW Canada. Grant submitted a story about how she uses computers, digital cameras and printers to create images that replace the spoken word, thereby empowering and helping her special education preschool students to communicate in a world full of complicated languages. Grant writes: “Imagine a world where technology opens the world to those previously not able to participate in it. Imagine a world where a picture truly is worth a thousand words. Imagine a world where a boy with autism or Down Syndrome, a girl with cerebral palsy or Prader-Willi Syndrome, children with global developmental delays and those who love them can communicate. I do. I see it every day. That is why I embrace technology as part of my tool kit as a teacher.” 

Grant’s winning entry is posted online at http://teachingwithtechnology.ca/winner1-2009.php. CDW Canada is a leading provider of technology solutions for business, government and education.