Celebrating our Champions - Inaugural Educator Awards Ceremony

Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey wanted to take the opportunity to recognize the hard work of the Educators who work in our communities across the province. Over the past year, we brought forth the topic with our Education Working Group and discussed the best way to celebrate the people who work in Education from each of our communities. Because every community has jurisdiction over their own education, we felt that the best way to approach these awards was to invite each community to  recognize their educators based on their own criteria. That is how the name of the award - Celebrating our Champions came to be. Each educator who was selected is a champion within their own school and their community provided an explanation as to why the educator was chosen.

The inaugural awards ceremony took place on July 3rd. We were very excited to have the educators join us for a meal, awards presentation, and some entertainment afterwards. We want to extend a huge congratulations to each and every educator. The award winners are as follows:

ABMHS

Rita Gould is the recipient of the Educator Award fromABMHS. She is such a wonderful teacher, and is very creative, caring, and welcoming. She is there for all the students and for the staff as well. She creates a safe space, loves learning new things, and doesn't hesitate to try new things in her class. She has been here since the school opened in 1998-1999and has been an excellent resource for the Mi'kmaq language and culture. She continues to educate herself in curriculum as she is involved with the Mi'kmaq Networking Group and loves to share her knowledge.

ALHS

Jasmine Johnson was selected as the Educator for the award at ALHS. They wanted to recognize the teacher who inspires their students to reclaim their identity through language and culture. She is an excellent role model and motivator. She makes learning fun and her students are much more comfortable speaking the language because of all the work she has done to make it “cool”.  

Bear River

Destiny Spidel Pictou was selected as the Champion for BearRiver. They are a relatively new school with multi-grade level classrooms.Destiny is always working hard to make sure all her students feel valued and safe.

 EEMS

The Champion teacher selected from EEMS is Lauren Furdas. They wanted to honour Lauren as they are celebrating 50 years of exceptional service to the Eskasoni School Board. She has been so dedicated to education in the community of Eskasoni and they wanted her to know how much they appreciate all she has done.

ESK

 Gail Stevens was chosen from ESK immersion school. She is the teacher who completes all tasks on time, and is dedicated to our language in the classroom. She accepts all children and trains herself to be able to teach all children regardless of their abilities. She accepts the changes with technology and challenges of today and is always willing to try new things. .

 Membertou

 Membertou wanted to recognize both a classroom teacher and a staff member as their champions. They wanted the winners to be selected by their colleagues. They wanted their staff to select a teacher and staff member who:

·      Contributed to a healthy, safe and productive school community by
creating inclusive, connected and engaging experiences for students, staff,
parents and the community.

·      Created an exciting and engaging environment for individual students or a group of students through innovative techniques.

·      Built strong collaborative relationships with other education professionals to support a student or group of students, in the school community.

·      Demonstrated a continuing commitment to personal and professional growth.

The teacher and staff member who Membertou chose wereValerie Matthews and Sandi Gould

 Mi’kmawey

Ann Landry was selected from Mi’kmawey School in Potlotek.She is an exemplary staff member who has often stepped up to cover a classroom if needed. She has a strong love for the community of Potlotek and the children who attend their school. She is very dedicated in her position and wants to seethe students succeed in their learning. Her presence in the school can be felt when you walk in the door. You always feel very welcome in her room and the students feel that as well.

 Paqtnkek

 Jenna Peirce was chosen from the community of Paqtnkek. She is a teacher who went above and beyond this year for both staff and students in terms of: innovation, dedication, always being patient, considerate and willing to help others.

 LSK

Rae Williams has been and continues to incorporate Mi'kmaw Culture and Language in her classroom, within the school and community; She seeks guidance from elders when possible, takes the leadership role in organizing outdoor education activities, and participates in many cultural PD's; Rae continues embracing our cultural ways, sharing our history and has a willingness to learn about Sipekne’katik, so that she can share our teachings with her students. Rae is a great mentor to co-workers and is truly devoted to her students.

Wagmatcook

Corrine Phillips was selected by her colleagues at Wagmatcookewey school as the teacher who continues to educate themselves and gain knowledge in order to mentor and model language, and provides opportunities for staff and students, regardless of their ability levels. 

We’koqma’q

Not all Educators are trained as teachers at university.They don’t always have a degree but that doesn’t make them any less valuable to our schools and communities. We’koqma’q school suffered many great losses this year. Through all of that heartache there were always a couple pf people that they could count on to show up and be there for the entire school. They wanted to recognize Joe and Judy who have been there for them this year and many times over the years.

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