Education
RDCRS celebrates Gillian Hallam as 2024 CCSSA Excellence in Catholic Education Award recipient
News release from Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools
Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools is thrilled to announce that Gillian Hallam, a Grade 1 teacher and Faith Coach at Father Henri Voisin School, has been honoured with the prestigious Council of Catholic School Superintendents of Alberta (CCSSA) Excellence in Catholic Education Award.
The CCSSA Excellence in Catholic Education Award is presented annually to teachers who exemplify a deep commitment to nurturing the faith of Alberta’s youth and guiding them to become exemplary Catholic citizens. This recognition highlights those educators who go above and beyond in their efforts to foster spiritual growth and moral development in their students.
Gillian Hallam has significantly influenced both the educational and spiritual environments at Father Henri Voisin School. She embodies the spirit of Saint Matthew’s exhortation, “Let the little children come to Me.” Her initiative, “student faith leadership”, has been pivotal in bringing the student voice into our community, deeply integrating faith into the daily school experience.
Being selected as Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools’ recipient of the Excellence in Catholic Education Award is a huge honour, Gillian stated.
“My passion for fostering a faith-filled environment at Father Henri Voisin School is inspired by our students’ openness and eagerness to grow in their spiritual journey. Every day, I am blessed to guide these young hearts towards a closer friendship with Jesus, helping them to embody the virtues of compassion and kindness in every aspect of their lives,” she said.
“Gillian’s dedication is nothing short of inspiring. Her ability to integrate faith deeply into her teaching and her unwavering commitment to our school community exemplifies the essence of Catholic education. She doesn’t just teach; she transforms lives through her faith, love, and an infectious zeal for spiritual growth that impacts everyone around her,” stated Father Henri Voisin Principal Shane Chisholm.
“On behalf of the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Board of Trustees, I extend our heartfelt congratulations to Gillian Hallam for her exemplary service and dedication. Her recognition as this year’s recipient of the Excellence in Catholic Education Award is a testament to her profound impact on our community,” said Murray Hollman, RDCRS Board Chair. “Gillian embodies the spirit of this award through her tireless efforts to make Christ known to all, guiding both students and staff with love, patience, and wisdom.”
Gillian Hallam not only leads educational activities at Father Henri Voisin School but also serves as a bridge between the school and the wider community, including local parishes and senior care facilities. Her leadership also extends to professional development within the school and support for new teachers in the Division-wide faith formation program.
Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools serves over 10,650 students in 21 schools in Red Deer, Blackfalds, Sylvan Lake, Rocky Mountain House, Innisfail, and Olds. It also supports the learning of over 850 students in a Home Education Program. The Division is committed to serving children and parents with a complete offering of learning opportunities delivered within the context of Catholic teachings and within the means of the Division.
From the Fraser Institute
According to a new study published by the Fraser Institute, if Canada wants to remain competitive with emerging economies around the world, we must increase our math, science and reading scores—and not simply pursue high levels of “equity and inclusion” as the primary goal for our schools.
Indeed, highly equitable and inclusive schools—with declining PISA scores, as is currently the case in Canada—do a disservice to students and society at large.
Why? Because higher test scores translate into greater “knowledge capital”—that is, the full body of knowledge available to an economy—and boost economic growth (and, incidentally, the tax revenues that fund our schools).
Indeed, the goal should be equitable access to a quality education. And the most realistic and meaningful way to measure student progress is through PISA tests, which every three years assess the performance of 15-year-olds worldwide in core subjects of math, science and reading rather than the limited curriculum objectives used in provincial testing, which can only show progress or decline within individual school systems. In today’s world, where competition is truly global, we must know how our students and schools perform compared to their peers in other countries, especially the “Asian Tigers” of Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Tiawan whose rapidly growing economies have been driven by rising PISA scores.
Obviously, countries with higher test scores can teach other countries how to improve—although there are limits and some traps here. Attempting to cut and paste Singapore’s or Korea’s much more meritocratic systems of highly competitive student assessment and selection would be impractical and impolitic in Canada. Even so, policymakers should consider reinstating more meaningful meritocratic norms in Canadian schools to encourage and recognize academic achievement. Nothing succeeds like success, except recognized and rewarded success.
Closer to home, other provinces could benefit from considering why Quebec is such a stellar performer in math and why Alberta has the highest overall PISA test score average of all provinces.
But fair warning, recent attempts at school improvement in Canada show that top-down one-size-fits-all changes—including extending compulsory attendance, reducing average class size and tinkering with course content—have had little positive effect on student performance, although they may please teacher unions. If policymakers want to achieve more equitable success for more students, they should introduce more flexibility, school autonomy and choice into our top-heavy centrally regulated school systems. In this respect it may be no accident that the three highest performing, mid-spending provincial K-12 education systems (Alberta, Quebec and Ontario) offer relatively high levels of school choice, although of quite different kinds.
Equity and inclusion are noble goals, but they shouldn’t interfere with student progress. There’s too much at stake, for students and the country.
Author:
Investing in innovation at Red Deer Polytechnic |
Alberta’s government is expanding student capacity and creating a modern learning environment at Red Deer Polytechnic that will help graduates succeed in the economy of tomorrow.
To support emerging opportunities for students, Alberta’s government will invest $12.9 million to expand the Centre for Innovation in Manufacturing Technology Access Centre (CIM-TAC) at Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP). CIM-TAC is an applied research and innovation centre that gives companies access to state-of-the-art prototyping and manufacturing equipment, along with a multi-disciplinary team with the expertise to turn brilliant ideas into market-ready products.
As Alberta’s economy grows and diversifies, job creators will increasingly seek employees with the skills required to work in advanced manufacturing.
Construction will begin in early 2025 and will increase the centre’s applied research, education and training capacity. The expanded CIM-TAC will grow to provide work-integrated learning opportunities for an estimated 450 post-secondary students and training through workshops and events to an additional 2,000 students annually by 2030. Additionally, more than 500 junior and senior high school students will take part in dual credit programs at the CIM-TAC.
“Investing in this expansion of CIM-TAC will give students at RDP access to cutting-edge technology and skills to succeed in the economy of tomorrow. The strategic investments we’re making in Budget 2024 are part of a forward-looking path to support the goals of our post-secondary institutions, grow Alberta’s economy and create jobs.”
“The expansion will allow Alberta-based manufacturers across multiple sectors to have greater ability to develop, test and scale their ideas. Students will be engaged at the forefront of made-in-Alberta technologies and manufacturing solutions.This investment will help meet high demand from entrepreneurs and industry for applied research and will take the facility beyond its current capabilities to become an advanced technology training and hands-on learning centre.”
“This expansion project will build on the CIM-TAC’s 15 years of success and leverage the centre’s industry partnerships and manufacturing expertise to provide even more capacity for applied research, as well as education, training and work-integrated learning opportunities for students. We thank the Government of Alberta for this investment that will benefit not only RDP students and researchers, but also the entire central Alberta region and its critical industries like health care, agriculture, energy and construction.”
“Manufacturing and advanced manufacturing are driving job-creation, economic growth and made-in-Alberta solutions that improve the lives of people around the world and right here at home. The funding to expand RDP’s CIM-TAC is an investment that will allow Alberta companies greater access to the tools, technology and next generation of skilled talent that will allow our industry to solve real-world challenges, develop better products and ultimately increase productivity.”
Quick facts
- The expansion of CIM-TAC at RDP will support a variety of sectors through advanced manufacturing capabilities, including energy innovation, transportation, aviation and agriculture. The centre will also support RDP’s future expansion into more medical device manufacturing and health-care innovations to support both patients and providers.
- RDP’s expansion of the CIM-TAC will grow the facility’s footprint from 15,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet.
- The CIM-TAC currently houses $7.6 million of advanced manufacturing equipment.
- In 2022, RDP attracted more than $2 million in applied research investment. RDP also completed 64 projects for 57 companies and participated in more than 1,300 engagements with industry partners.
- Since the CIM-TAC’s inception in 2009, RDP has supported more than 300 industry partners (including repeat clients).
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