Two educators who were recently recognized for taking their roles beyond expectations were special guest presenters at the South East Cornerstone Public School Division's board of trustees meeting June 20.
Josh LeBlanc from the Estevan Comprehensive School and Susan Wilson from Wawota had been singled out by the Saskatchewan Business Teachers' Association (LeBlanc) for the Award of Merit and the Math Teacher Award (Wilson).
LeBlanc, who taught for two years in Midale before transferring to ECS, said he has been a member of that association since his university days.
LeBlanc emphasized the need to make crucial entrepreneurial connections within the community and within the school curriculum by introducing modules like income and taxation with outcomes and indicators. He noted that the pilot project has been picked up by school divisions in Kindersley as well as in both Regina Public and Catholic divisions.
"I'm a huge believer in entrepreneurship, and my kids leave the program with transferable skills," he said.
LeBlanc's two business class teams recently walked away with five awards for taking a business program into the real world of production, marketing, retail sales and share sales with full accountability on the financial and educational scales.
LeBlanc said he sees his work in the future being one that increases awareness of the importance of business education and that it was not just about trying to make a profit, but also how to teach about business and markets as a whole.
Cornerstone's director of education, Marc Casavant, added that the communications have extended to chambers of commerce as well as the Southeast Regional College. They are inviting retail and manufacturing industries to reach out and talk about sales and working together so that the promising students have a guide for their future.
LeBlanc said the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce has a big interest in student involvement, especially now when student part-time employment appears to be falling off, rather than picking up during a big surge in the provincial economy.
Wilson, a math consultant, picked up her award at the recent Saskatchewan Understands Math conference. The service award recognizes rare individuals who have had an impact on math education in the province.
"I do believe in what I'm doing and the direction we're going," Wilson told the trustees.
"She's confident and knowledgeable," said Casavant, following-up on Wilson's presentation, noting that the award caught her totally off-guard during the conference seminar sessions.
