The Faculty of Education is seeking champions and leaders to join us at the forefront of positively impacting children and youth, families, schools, our communities and alumni.
A new way to give back
The Faculty of Education is seeking champions and leaders to join us at the forefront of positively impacting children and youth, families, schools, our communities and alumni.
In honour of the Faculty’s 50th Anniversary, Western Education has established the Dean’s Transformational Leaders Circle, a unique community for our most loyal donors.
Entrance into the Dean’s Transformational Leaders Circle requires an ongoing monthly gift of $50.
Leaders within the Circle receive special recognition from the Faculty, as well as exclusive invitations to special lectures and events hosted by Dean Donna Kotsopoulos. This support will serve the Faculty’s highest priority needs including student awards, new programming and teaching needs.
Welcoming our first Leader
Soon after the initiative launched in August, Western Education alum Gregg Bereznick jumped at the first opportunity to join.
“It just seemed natural to want to join this group and contribute not just financially, but also in a way that will have meaning for the program as well,” he said.
His storied history in the education sector includes working as a music teacher, a program consultant, a vice-principal, a principal, a superintendent and a head of school.
For several years, Bereznick also taught as an instructor in our Bachelor of Education program and continues to volunteer his time as a Master Teacher Mentor for our Teacher Candidates.
Currently, Bereznick continues to promote lifelong learning as the Manager of Continuing Professional Development for Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
“I was always looking for ways of contributing beyond what I was doing before,” Bereznick said of his career path.
Gregg Bereznick.
What drew the education veteran to the Dean’s Transformational Leaders Circle was the chance to leverage his own experience, along with the experience of other Leaders, to provide ongoing support to the teaching profession and Western Education.
“I think those of us who are interested in this are encouraged by this new opportunity to do some things that maybe we haven’t even done in our own careers,” he added.
For Bereznick, there’s also a sense of nostalgia that comes with joining the Dean’s Transformational Leaders Circle.
“I think there’s an idea of wanting to be connected to your homebase, where you started and where you first developed your awareness of what the teaching profession is,” he said.
“When we think about the Faculty of Education, we think about when we started, what little we knew but how excited we were. It’s nice to revisit that so we can look at the past in connection with the future.”
When it comes to supporting education as a whole, Bereznick says he still has plenty of work left to do.
“When we first get the teaching bug, we know that we’re excited by it, we know that we’re going to learn new things, and more importantly we’re going to learn about ourselves, but out of that, there’s knowledge that we want to pass on,” Bereznick added.
“As we walk away and move into the twilight of our lives, we want to ensure that we have given what was given to us. This is an opportunity to do that.”
To make a donation and join the Dean’s Transformational Leaders Circle, please visit Western Education’s giving page.
