Two teachers in Prince George have been recognized with provincial awards for their dedication to teaching.
DP Todd Secondary teacher Susan Klein, who has been teaching band for over 30 years, received the 2023 Outstanding Professional Secondary Music Educator Award from the BC Music Educators Association on Oct. 19.
“She is an outstanding band director and educator for us here in our district for many, many years. This is a highly contested award that is given every year and it is incredibly rare that this is awarded to a teacher from outside the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island,” said acting superintendent Pam Spooner, at School District 57’s (SD57) board of education public meeting on Oct. 24, where the awards were recognized.
“We are incredibly honoured to have her in our district she has taught generations of musicians here and been an inspiration to so many band teachers over the years. Our students are very fortunate to have had her as a classroom teacher.”
Prince George teacher-librarian Joseph Jeffery also received a provincial award for his work in the district.
Jeffery, who is the lead teacher-librarian for SD57’s District Learning Commons, received the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians Association President’s Award which recognizes the commitment and achievement of teacher-librarians who have made outstanding contributions presented on October 19 in Surrey.
Jeffery is involved in teacher-librarian initiatives nationally, provincially and locally. He has worked with Canadian school libraries to establish national standards, helped to develop the Canadian school libraries diversity tool kit on equity and anti racism, is a board of director for the Canadian school libraries and Canadian school library journal and is the lead planner of the Canadian school libraries conference.
He also works to support teacher-librarians with passion projects throughout SD57.
“You can see his efforts and his time and his passion for the work that he does here,” said Spooner. “So congratulations to Joseph Jeffery for receiving this award in Surrey.”
