Two people from Olds College received awards during the annual Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board awards.
Elizabeth Kawahara, who teaches landscape horticulture, was presented with the top instructor award for the southern part of the province and Cory Feswick was named top apprentice concrete finisher.
Kawahara was humbled to receive her award.
"It's a pretty huge honour, to be honest," she said during an interview with the Albertan. "To receive an award like that, in order for me to receive it, it means that a student cared enough or felt strongly about it to actually nominate me."
"I understand they have to write a short essay and it has to be well written to be considered," she added.
"So it means that they obviously felt strongly enough about it to take that kind of time, which is really rewarding, because sometimes when you're doing your job, you don't know if you're actually being appreciated, or your efforts are appreciated, so it's really touching."
Kawahara is actually an Olds College grad (2011). She began teaching at the college in 2014.
"I was actually top apprentice in 2011, so it's sort of like a double feather (in my cap), because I was top apprentice in 2011 and then top instructor in 2017," she said.
Kawahara wonders if her teaching philosophy is part of the reason she was nominated.
"The big kind of movement in education right now is more an inquiry-based method. So instead of having the teachers stand at the front and just talk at you for an hour, what they're trying to do now is more engage the students and equip them so that they can educate themselves," she said.
"Especially when it comes to a lot of the stuff we do, you need to know where to find answers. So instead of me just spewing answers, the idea is that we try and educate them on where they can find the answers to their questions -- to what they need."
"So it's kind of a half and half thing. Some stuff (is) just easier to learn when you're told, but as often as possible, I'll try and give them activities or opportunities to talk to me about their experiences. So I'm constantly drawing on their experiences," Kawahara added.
"So for example, instead of just teaching 'these are the different types of greenhouse furnaces,' the first thing I do is say, 'OK, well what do you know about your own furnace in your home? How do you heat your home? How does that work? What would be the benefits of this and this and this?'
"And then after we've discussed kind of what they already know -- even if they don't know they know it -- then we can go on and talk about the new information. And I think a lot of students kind of relate well to that approach," she said.
Feswick could not be reached for comment.
