A Day Made Better Award sponsored by Grand & Toy
On October 6, 2009, Parkdale School, staff, and children were in for a delightful surprise as upon their arrival in the school gym they found it decorated with colourful balloons! An assembly was held in the morning and Parkdale welcomed the Regional Director of Region 2, Ms. Roma Medwid, to her first official visit to a school event at our school. The Principal, Itrat Ahmad, introduced the representatives of Grand & Toy: Ms. Blouin, Ms. Durand, Ms, Manganelli and Ms. Gareau. While everyone was wondering what the assembly was all about, Ms. Manganelli made an announcement that one of Parkdale's teachers, Stacey Monk, had won the "A Day Made Better" award for the Province of Quebec! Picked from hundreds of other candidates, this award commended Stacey Monk for her passion and contribution towards the education of children. She received a new teacher's chair for her classroom and a gigantic box full of incredible school supplied for all of her students. All the students and teachers at the assembly erupted with joyful applause!
There was only one winner from each of the provinces in Canada. On the day this award was being presented to Stacey, a similar assembly was being held in Calgary and across various parts of the United States. This was a great achievement for Pardkale, Stacey Monk, and the English Montreal School Board. Later on, all of the children and the staff were treated to fresh crunchy apples, compliments of Grand & Toy.
Teacher Profile
I believe that Stacey Monk is an excellent candidate for the "A Day Made Better Award" because of her professional and caring attitude towards her Cycle 2 Year 1 (third grade) students both in and out of the classroom. She is patient, kind and always ready to help any of her students. Stacey is not afraid to try new things and has recently implemented both the Daily 5 Early Literacy Program and the use of a classroom SmartBoard to advance her student's technological competencies. Stacey always responds well to the needs of her students and has created a classroom that comprises many different levels of learning. The children are encouraged to always try their best regardless of reading level, mathematical ability or outside influences (which sometimes make learning in the classroom very difficult for our inner-city students).
Outside of the classroom, Stacey participates in many of the committees that are offered at Parkdale School. She is the Chairperson of the School Council and a member of our Technology Team and School Safety and Lockdown Committees (that implemented our new evacuation-lockdown procedure for the 2008-2009 school year). Stacey has added another layer to her teaching career for the 2009-2010 school year by agreeing to become our Early Literacy Coordinator for Preschool and Cycle 1. She will be working as a mentor to her peers, showing them different strategies to use in order to develop proper literacy skills beginning at an early age. Please accept this as my nomination for the A Day Made Better recognition award.
School Profile:
Parkdale Elementary School is an Inner-City school (population 370) which serves the area of Ville St-Laurent, Quebec. Our children come from many different ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Many of our children live below the poverty line and come to school each day without the necessary tools for learning (proper food, school supplies, sleep etc). We offer a Breakfast Program and an After-School Daycare and Homework program to help parents and children meet those needs. Our staff is extremely dedicated to the success of each and every one of our students.