Saturday 26 April 2014

Former Westwood Band Student in the News



Two teachers from the Lundar School were honoured this past week in a ceremony at the Manitoba Legislature. Donald Nikkel and Lauren Marshall both received "Celebration of Excellence in Teaching" awards from the Education Minister, and both say they were surprised and excited to be recognized in this way. Nikkel says nothing happens in isolation as a teacher, because it's always a team effort with the staff, but notes it was a great feeling to learn he had won the Senior Years Teaching Excellence award. He adds although this kind of recognition is very nice, he prefers to focus on what's happening in the classroom and with his students.
Marshall says her first thought upon hearing that she had won the award for Outstanding New Teacher was that she's still getting her feet wet and still learning, so the things she's been doing didn't seem so exceptional. Marshall notes the more she thought about it, however, she realized she has done some pretty good things in her first year and she can be proud of her accomplishments. She adds being surrounded by so many amazing educators at the Legislature last week was a bit overwhelming and she felt emotional during the ceremony as it began to sink in that she was included in that group. Marshall says receiving this honour was very encouraging and gave her confidence to continue to pursue the goals she set out to accomplish as a teacher.

Lauren graduated from Westwood in 2007 and was an active participant in all facets of the Arts at Westwood Collegiate.   Lauren was 1st clarinet in Symphonic Band and was our piano player in Sr. Jazz.  Her work with Sr. Jazz can be heard on the recording A Case for Chaos - featuring the music of Charles Mingus.  Lauren was also a member of the choral program and performed in musical theatre, as well.  She is famous for graduating with just over 50 credit hours, which is a testament to her hard work and dedication to go above and beyond while she was here at Westwood.   

Lauren was nominated through a provincial program called "Celebration of Excellence in Teaching"     

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