The Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists (http://www.cctt.ca/) gives out an annual award to grade 7 - 12 teachers in Canada for "outstanding efforts in encouraging and promoting interest in technology studies" (http://www.aettnl.com/Portals/0/AETTNL%20Newsletter%20Publication%20Spring%20Issue%20May%202010%20%284%29%20.pdf).  I was honoured to be one of the recepients of the award this year.

Although the award was a nice surprise the best thing about it was that I was nominated by some of my former students. As a teacher, getting an award is rare and being appreciated by students is sometimes even rarer. I had taught this group of students for three years and they were all members of our school's LEGO robotics team. They all come back and volunteer every year as mentors in the robotics program at my school and act as referees and helpers at the provincial LEGO robotics competitions (FLL and Skills Canada) in Newfoundland.

I wish I could give everyone of them an award because in truth I am the lucky one. They help me realize that what I do is important and that I am making a difference. You can lose sight of that when dealing with the daily grind and mounting problems teachers face in the k-12 public education system. Once again my students have taught their teacher a valuable lesson.