Educator to be feted at 25th anniversary celebration for Faculty of Education
Rhonda Draper from Kelowna has been announced as the recipient of the first Excellence in Teaching Award presented by the Faculty of Education at UBC’s Okanagan campus. Draper will be recognized at the 25th anniversary celebration dinner on July 26, 2014.
Rhonda Draper, inaugural recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award, presented by the Faculty of Education at UBC’s Okanagan campus.
The award was created to recognize the exceptional teaching inside and outside of the classroom to highlight the remarkable educators in the valley. Draper receives a $2,000 cash prize and a sculpture created by local Okanagan artist Ede Axelson.
“I am honoured to be receiving the inaugural award,” says Draper. “Like my colleagues, I strive each day to nurture and develop Canada’s most precious resource – our children.”
Draper, who is a music specialist at École Glenmore Elementary, is a Governor General’s award-winning teacher who brings 24 years of teaching experience to her Okanagan classroom.
“It is our pleasure to recognize and celebrate Rhonda Draper’s outstanding contributions to the Okanagan community,” says Susan Crichton, director of the Faculty of Education. “She represents the remarkable dedication and exemplary practice for which we created this award.”
Nominators emphasized Draper’s passion as an educator and as a community leader, acknowledging her successful strategies for integrating the arts across a variety of subjects.
Draper is lauded as the creator of the award-winning stage musical “How Canada Came to Be,” which teaches Canadian history through Canadian folk songs. She was the winner of the Okanagan Arts Award for Education, and is president of the Central Okanagan Music Education Association.
A former TEDxKelowna speaker, Draper founded Month of Love at the Global Citizen Conference, a tool which teaches social compassion which has raised more than $50,000 for humanitarian aid. Draper is currently studying her master of arts with the Faculty of Education.
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