Community members, colleagues and administrators across of the province were encouraged to nominate exceptional teachers for a 2009 excellence in teaching award and this year, Ponoka Elementary School (PES) is proud to announce its two nominees.
Grade 1 teacher, Lois Spade, and Grade 5 teacher, Tina Blackwell are in the running to receive the prestigious award recognizing the innovative and outstanding teaching that takes place in classrooms across the province.
Each nominee will receive a certificate of recognition before the 130 semi-finalists are selected. Each semi-finalist will be honoured at a regional celebration dinner and twenty of those semi-finalists will receive the awards while three will receive SMARTer kids foundation innovative use of technology awards given to teachers who use electronic technology to meet the criteria
Semi-finalists who are not award winners will have access to $1,500 to attend an education conference of their choice. Finalists and therefore award recipients will be formally honoured at a dinner and ceremony with the minister of education on May 30 in Edmonton and will have access to $4,000 in conference funding while the technology award winners will receive comprehensive technology packages. Each recipient’s school will also receive a monetary award and certificate honoring the school’s role in fostering teaching excellence.
The nominees, who are winners regardless of the outcome, are thankful to everyone who made their nomination possible.
“It means a lot to have busy colleagues take the time from their busy days to partake in this extensive nomination process,” said Mrs. Blackwell and Mrs. Spate agreed. “We don’t work in isolation, we’re part of a team. We’re not ‘excellent’ by ourselves – that happens through collaboration with coworkers and the students,” she said.
“These nominations speak loudly to the wonderful learning that takes place at our school,” said assistant principal and teacher, Dania Hill. “While there are a limited number of prizes awarded for the entire province, it is important that we celebrate the contributions that these ladies make to the future of our community.”
The Excellence in Teaching Awards has been celebrated since 1989. So far, more than 8,200 teachers have been nominated and 423 have received awards. Last year, 334 teachers were nominated and 23 received awards.
For more information on these awards visit www.education.alberta.ca/teachers/excellence.aspx