Nominations are being accepted for the Premier’s Awards for Teaching Excellence, but it’s important to act fast – the deadline for nominations is fast approaching: Saturday, January 31st. There are six categories of awards:
1. Teacher of the Year
2. New Teacher of the Year
3. Excellent Support Staff
4. Excellence in Leadership
5. Team of the Year
6. Lifetime Achievement
Note that the awards are open to staff in Ontario’s publicly funded schools and boards, but after that just about anybody working at the school is eligible, from the classroom to main office, and everywhere in between.
I’m very proud to say that some years ago I nominated my high school history teacher for an award. It was while I was at university, and I didn’t think too much about it when I completed the nomination, and in fact I kind of forgot all about it until a few weeks or months later I heard that my teach – Mr. Eby – was in fact selected as that year’s winner.
He came to campus to receive the award and give a small talk and I realized just how much it meant to him that I would have even thought to nominate him. I also realized that even though teachers do not get into their profession because they’re looking for special recognition, they deserve and appreciate it when they are recognized for their tremendous efforts.
Our best educators deserve to be recognized for their success, and if we don’t thank them, nobody will.
