TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2012 /CNW/ - The Bishop Strachan School (BSS) is proud to announce that Grade 6 teacher Harriet Simand has won the 2011-12 Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence. The award honours Ms. Simand as one of the top 15 teachers across Canada for her outstanding efforts in helping students excel and build a successful future. In 2010-11 she was awarded the same Award at a regional level.
"We couldn't be more pleased to have Harriet receive this award," says Head of School Deryn Lavell. "She exemplifies our culture of powerful learning and it's gratifying to see excellence in education valued and acknowledged in this country."
Ms. Simand inspired her students to advocate for a ban on plastic bags throughout Toronto. The Ban the Bag Brigade received a congratulatory letter from former mayor David Miller.
Ms. Simand and the Grade 6 teaching team spearheaded a Robotics initiative, where BSS girls applied their learnings in programing robots to invent iSnoopy, a mechanical "sensing" nose that can help predict an epileptic seizure. In a discipline typically dominated by boys, BSS made it to provincial finals and won an award for the most innovative solution.
"I am thrilled to receive this award," says Ms. Simand. "The credit should really go to the enthusiastic and creative children I get to work with every day, who make teaching so much fun."
Founded in 1867, The Bishop Strachan School is among the premier girls' schools in North America. Day and Boarding students from JK to Grade 12 learn, explore and mature in a rigorous academic and creative environment.
Image with caption: "Harriet Simand with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Photo courtesy of the Prime Minister's Office by Jason Ransom. (CNW Group/The Bishop Strachan School)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20121004_C4441_PHOTO_EN_18914.jpg
SOURCE: The Bishop Strachan School
Marianne Chilco
Director of Marketing and Communications at BSS
[email protected]
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