BURNABY – Five CUPE K-12 support staff have been named as finalists for the 2019 Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education.
“I’m pleased to see the number of CUPE K-12 support workers who’ve been nominated for the Premier’s Awards this year,” said CUPE BC President Paul Faoro. “More than 28,000 CUPE members work hard every day to make our public schools safe, inclusive, clean and welcoming places for students so they have the best opportunity to succeed.”
Finalists in the Outstanding Support – School Community category are Indigenous youth care worker Jodi Guy, a CUPE 723 member at École Phoenix Middle school in Campbell River; Dorothy Jones, a CUPE 523 member and Indigenous education worker at A.L. Fortune Secondary School in Enderby; and Wendell Williams, a CUPE 379 member and safe school specialist at École Alpha Secondary in Burnaby.
CUPE member finalists in the Outstanding Support – Teaching Assistant category are education assistants Elaine Bayles, a CUPE 947 member at Glanford Middle School in Victoria, and Marie Kielpinski, a CUPE 3523 member at Mount Boucherie Secondary School in West Kelowna.
An additional category, Outstanding Support – School Community, was added this year to recognize support staff including CUPE members who work as bus drivers, crossing guards, student supervisors, aboriginal cultural facilitators, custodians, maintenance/tradespeople, and clerical workers.
This year’s Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education drew 140 nominations from throughout B.C., with nominations running from January 7 to April 30. The winners in each category will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held at Government House in Victoria on October 4.
Read the Awards backgrounder and finalist bios.
Meet the 2018 CUPE finalists and award winner here.
