Associate Teacher Tracie Dafoe shares a joke with the crowd after accepting her award in the Junior — Associate Teacher category.
Recognizing educator excellence
One of the happiest events of the year returned last month as the Teacher Education office held its annual ceremony in honour of award-winning educators.
On May 8, faculty, staff, teachers, and community partners gathered at the Faculty of Education for the Educator Awards of Excellence. The event’s name is a rebranding of the annual Associate Teacher Recognition and Awards, which has expanded to also recognize Master Teacher Mentors, Alternative Field Experience (AFE) Supervisors and school communities.
Winners are selected from a pool of nominations, with more than 35 nominations submitted to this year’s event across all categories.
Truly an evening for educators, by educators, the event was emceed by Western Education’s Practicum and Community Engagement Manager Joanne Lombardi and featured live music from Year 1 Teacher Candidate Rudy Nakashima.
The special guest of the evening was Western Nursing Master’s student Demo Kaltabanis, who shared heartwarming remarks on the arduous journey he faced in pursuing education, as well as the teachers who helped him along the way.
Kaltabanis’ story was recently featured in Western University’s The Impact Project.
"This event is a highlight of our program, recognizing just some of the excellent educators who support our teacher candidates,” said Lombardi.
“Individual associate teachers, mentors, AFE supervisors and school communities at large provide nurturing and safe learning environments where our candidates can learn, grow, and flourish. The awards shine a light on extraordinary educators who play a key role in shaping our candidates to become teachers of excellence too."
Demo Kaltabanis goes in for a hug with Teacher Education Manager Clare Tattersall after delivering an emotional address.
Richard Auckland became a two-time winner during the event after being named recipient of the Master Teacher Mentor’s Award for Excellence. He previously won the Associate Teacher’s Award for Excellence in 1997.
Despite retiring from teaching in 2018, Auckland continues to serve future educators through the Master Teacher Mentor program. After the event, he shared what keeps him going.
“My belief is that education is a lifelong process. If I have something to offer students, I’m more than happy to share that,” Auckland said.
“I learn from the students as well, so it’s a really good cooperative experience where learn from each other and hopefully make the profession better.”
You can find a full list of this year’s winners below and you can scroll down a bit further to see photos from the event.
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AFE Supervisor’s Award for Excellence |
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Name |
Organization |
Award Category |
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Danielle Sirek |
Faculty of Education, Western University |
AFE Supervisor |
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Associate Teacher’s Award for Excellence |
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Name |
School |
Award Category |
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Leanne Nagle |
East Carling Public School (Thames Valley District School Board) |
Primary – Associate Teacher |
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Tracie Dafoe |
Holy Name of Mary (Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board) |
Junior – Associate Teacher |
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Erin Dunlop |
Great Lakes Secondary School (Lambton-Kent District School Board) |
Intermediate – Associate Teacher |
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Nail Ramadan |
Westminster Secondary School (TVDSB) |
Senior – Associate Teacher |
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Master Teacher Mentor Award for Excellence |
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Richard Auckland |
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Communities of Excellence |
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St. Jude’s Catholic Elementary School (London District Catholic School Board) |
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Locke’s Public School (TVDSB) |
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Saunders Secondary School (TVDSB) |
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