Three teachers in the Northwest Territories have won Prime Minister’s Awards for excellence in teaching.
The trio work at schools in Hay River, Yellowknife and in Fort Smith.
Kim Ivanko, an English teacher at École Boréale in Hay River, won a national Certificate of Excellence in Teaching award, one of eleven national winners out of a pool of 246 nominations.
Carolyn Matthews, a French and math teacher at Paul William Kaeser High School in Fort Smith, won a regional Certificate of Achievement in Teaching.
Jennifer Kravitz, a junior kindergarten teacher at N.J MacPherson School in Yellowknife won a regional Certificate of Achievement in Early Childhood Education.
“Teachers are educators, coaches, caretakers, mentors, and number-one fans,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a press release. “Every day, they strengthen communities across our country, and this year, they have been working even harder to ensure that no student is left behind during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
National certificates come with a cash prize of $5,000 while regional awards come with a $1,000 cash prize.
Since the program was started in 1994, more than 1,900 teachers have been awarded.
A previous version of the story misattributed a statement from a press release to Curtis Brown, superintendent of South Slave Divisional Education Council. The story has been changed to reflect this. We regret the error.
