Four Chinook's Edge School Division teachers have been selected as semifinalists for Alberta's Excellence in Teaching awards that will be handed out after the May long weekend.Cheryl Martin (Grade 2 River Valley School in Sundre), Darlene Kusick (Grade 3 at Ecole Olds Elementary School), and Renu Mathew and Gayla Moore (Olds High School), were selected among 341 teachers nominated across the province for the awards.Rod MacLean, principal of River Valley School, said students are always better learners after they have finished Cheryl Martin's class.“Every day she changes the lives of students. Students come out of her class every day better than when they went in. They learn incredible amounts and feel great about themselves. She is just an exceptional person of extremely high character,” he said.One of Martin's greatest strengths, MacLean said, is that she has developed a caring attitude over several years in Sundre that allows students to succeed in her classroom.Darlene Kusick brings an excellent understanding of the curriculum to the classroom, said Debbie Thompson, principal of OES.“(She) has a genuine love of teaching and students and a desire to always get better. So her own professional growth and learning is something that she continuously works on. As well, she provides an opportunity to share her skills and her passion, and she works with teachers … around our province. She is really committed to her profession,” she said.Gayla Moore runs the kaleidoscope program at OHS that helps students with learning difficulties develop socially, emotionally and intellectually.“It's designed to take kids who might be struggling in one of those areas and really move them forward from where they're at. Almost all of the students in that program end up graduating with a full high school diploma, and that's a result of Gayla's tremendous work with each student individually, designing programs to personalize the learning,” said Gaylene Roelfsma, a vice-principal at the school.Renu Mathew from OHS has also been selected as a semifinalist. Mathew teaches arts, cosmetology and theatrical arts at OHS.“She's done amazing work with our art program, She's also doing theatrical arts and make-up with our students as well as set design, so she's an integral part of a lot of the fine arts events that we have at our school. And she's really a living model for an artist and a person who has incredible integrity,” Roelfsma said.
