Jeannine Lindsay’s exceptional work has not gone unnoticed.
Lindsay, an Aboriginal support worker at Lake Trail Middle School has won the Oustanding Support Award in the inaugural Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education. She has been in this role for the past four years but has been working with the school district since 2002.
“It’s pretty humbling honestly,” she said. “There were so many other educators there deserving of this award.”
Lindsay says when she was growing up, she was not taught in school to feel proud of her culture, but now she has the chance to integrate culture into education and help students feel a sense of belonging.
Each winner will receive $3,000 to go towards their professional learning, while an additional $2,000 will go to the school community. Lindsay says she will use a portion of the winnings to apply to university to begin her education degree, but she will also use some of it to attend an Indigenous education conference.
“I would never get the opportunity to partake in something like that at any other time and here’s an opportunity for me to learn more indigenous knowledge and about the education system.”
Lindsay adds that she wouldn’t be where she is today if it wasn’t for her mom’s constant encouragement.
Another SD71 educator, Kirsten Tancon, has been teaching Technology Education at Highland Secondary School for the past four years and was a finalist for the Outstanding New Teacher Award.
RELATED: Two SD71 educators finalists for provincial award
The Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education were launched this spring to honour the efforts of educators across the province. A total of 188 nominations were received for the nine categories.
To view a full list of winners and finalists, visit https://bit.ly/2pKIWS7
