Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all the challenges that we face, it’s a sincere pleasure when I have the opportunity to stand in this House and celebrate outstanding success and achievement.
Today I want to give recognition to the South Slave Divisional Education Council for taking top honours in the Education category at the National Public Sector Leadership Awards given out earlier this year for achievement in 2013.
These awards celebrate innovation and excellence in the public sector, and this achievement marks the first time a school board and an organization from the NWT has won an IPAC leadership award.
The South Slave Divisional Education Council took home this top honours award for its groundbreaking Leadership for Literacy Initiative which has increased academic results for students and resulted in leading-edge Aboriginal language instruction. This award was accepted in Toronto by SSDEC superintendent Curtis Brown and assistant superintendent Brent Kaulback on behalf of the staff, DEAs and council members of our region.
There is an overview of the Leadership for Literacy video available online, and I encourage my colleagues and the public to go online and see the work that’s being done in this area by the SSDEC. This is a very inspirational video – I watched it again today – and it concludes with commendations from the Governor General of Canada to our education council in the South Slave.
In addition to this recognition of excellent leadership at the SSDEC, I would also like to acknowledge Brent Kaulback, assistant superintendent for the SSDEC. He has been honoured by the Canadian Association of School System Administrators as both the NWT and Canadian Superintendent of the Year. This prestigious award, known as the EXL National Award, was accepted by Mr. Kaulback in Calgary this past July.
Brent Kaulback is an amazing individual who has designated 40 years to education. Most of these years have been in the North and most of his work has been in Aboriginal education initiatives on promoting resources for Aboriginal students to learn in their own languages.
Over the course of the past seven years, Mr. Kaulback has helped and organized the publication of over 250 Aboriginal language books, including dictionaries, children’s books, graphic novels and stories of legends as passed down by community elders.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted