Lacombe Teacher Receives Prime Minister’s Award

Duane Rolheiser

Published

6 years ago

4 minute read

Government of Canada News Release

Steven Schultz, a Grades 10 – 12 Mechatronics-Robotics teacher at École Secondaire Lacombe Composite High School has been awarded a Prime Minister’s Award, Certificate of Excellence.

Mr. Schultz will be celebrated at an awards ceremony with the Prime Minister on May 28 in Ottawa.

The Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence honour outstanding and innovative elementary and secondary school teachers in all disciplines. Recipients are recognized for their leadership and exemplary teaching practices as well as for their commitment to help the next generation of Canadians gain the knowledge and skills they need for future success in a world inspired by ideas and driven by innovation.

From robotics to beekeeping, Mr. Schultz shares his wide-ranging passions with students and engages them through hands-on projects and activities that have inspired a surge of interest in STEM fields in central Alberta.

The Prime Minister’s Awards, offered at the Certificate of Excellence (national) and Certificate of Achievement (regional) levels, carry cash prizes of $5,000 and $1,000 respectively. Each recipient receives a letter and a certificate signed by the Prime Minister.

Certificate of Excellence Recipient

General Science, Chemistry, Electro-Technology, Agriculture, Green Certificate
Beekeeping, Mechatronics-Robotics, grades 10–12
École Secondaire Lacombe Composite High School, Lacombe, Alberta

“Steve is helping to shape Lacombe one child at a time. His energy and drive are matched only by his sincere commitment to helping his students.”
— President, community environmental association

Steven Schultz started a robotics program 15 years ago, that has since involved hundreds of students at 10 schools. He shares his project-based approach, and STEM and robotics activities, with teachers and students in schools and orphanages around the world.

Teaching approach

A great listener, Steven finds the positive in any situation, encouraging students, regardless of ability, race or gender, to pursue their passions and strengths. Inspired by multiple intelligences theory, he uses project-based learning strategies to help students gain confidence and improve performance.

In the classroom

Goes beyond the curriculum with EcoVision environmental projects—building a tropical greenhouse, establishing a two-acre garden and launching a composting program—that allow students to develop leadership, communication and innovation skills not possible in the classroom.
Pioneered a robotics team for young people to learn programming, design, mechanics and electronics skills; has led to considerable interest in STEM subjects in central Alberta.
Integrates technology to enhance teaching and learning: computer-assisted instruction supplements classroom time in electro-technology and robotics course; Netflix and YouTube videos sustain beekeeping course over the winter, when students can’t access the hives.
Leads international trips to extend learning: students learned about recycling, biodiversity and Indigenous culture in Costa Rica, and developed lesson plans in Kenya.

Outstanding achievements

Secured partnerships with a college leading to mechatronics and robotics program for high school students, and another college to develop the first-of-its-kind high school Green Certificate beekeeping program; students then launched the urban beekeeping program with municipality.
Has been part of Science 30 curriculum development team for Alberta Education for 25 years, developing and testing innovative diploma exam questions, and reviewing and marking exams.
Classes are continually above provincial averages; less than one percent of students have failed his courses over 25 years, including diploma-level courses in chemistry and science.
School named Canada’s Greenest School in 2018 (tied for first); robotics team regularly earns spot in world championships; Steven named 2018 Citizen of the Year by local chamber of commerce.

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Duane Rolheiser

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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DEI

University System of Georgia to ban DEI, commit to neutrality, teach Constitution

Published on November 23, 2024

Todayville

The University of Georgia in Athens

From The Center Square

By Tate Miller

“The basis and determining factor” for employment will be “that the individual possesses the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the role, and is believed to have the ability to successfully perform the essential functions, responsibilities, and duties associated with the position for which the individual is being considered.”

The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents has recommended a number of new and revised policies for its institutions, such as a commitment to institutional neutrality, the prohibiting of DEI tactics, and a mandatory education in America’s founding documents.

The University System of Georgia (USG) is made up of Georgia’s 26 public colleges and universities as well as Georgia Archives and the Georgia Public Library Service.

“USG institutions shall remain neutral on social and political issues unless such an issue is directly related to the institution’s core mission,” the board’s proposed revisions read.

“Ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements,” will be banned from admissions processes and decisions, employment processes and decisions, and institution orientation and training for both students and employees.

“No applicant for admission shall be asked to or required to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about political beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles, as a condition for admission,” the new policy states.

Additionally, USG will hire based on a person’s qualifications and ability.

“The basis and determining factor” for employment will be “that the individual possesses the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the role, and is believed to have the ability to successfully perform the essential functions, responsibilities, and duties associated with the position for which the individual is being considered.”

Beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year, the school’s civic instruction will require students to study founding American documents among other things.

USG students will learn from the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers, the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, as well as the Georgia Constitution and Bill of Rights.

When reached for comment, the Board of Regents told The Center Square that “these proposed updates strengthen USG’s academic communities.”

The recommended policies allow a campus environment “where people have the freedom to share their thoughts and learn from one another through objective scholarship and inquiry,” and “reflect an unyielding obligation to protect freedom, provide quality higher education and promote student success,” the board said.

The board told The Center Square that it proposed strengthening “the requirements for civics instruction” with the inclusion of “foundational primary sources” because of higher education’s duty to students.

Colleges and universities “must prepare [students] to be contributing members of society and to understand the ideals of freedom and democracy that make America so exceptional,” the board said.

As for ditching DEI, the board explained that “equal opportunity and decisions based on merit are fundamental values of USG.”

“The proposed revisions among other things would make clear that student admissions and employee hiring should be based on a person’s qualifications, not his or her beliefs,” the board said.

The Board of Regents also said it wants to “ensure [its] institutions remain neutral on social and political issues while modeling what it looks like to promote viewpoint diversity, create campus cultures where students and faculty engage in civil discourse, and the open exchange of ideas is the norm.”

USG’s Board of Regents recently urged the NCAA to ban transgender-identifying men from participating in women’s sports, in line with the NAIA rules, The Center Square previously reported.

Red Deer

Judge upholds sanctions against Red Deer Catholic school trustee who opposed LGBT agenda

Published on November 18, 2024

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Monique LaGrange was ousted last December from the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools’ board for comparing the LGBT agenda targeting children to brainwashing.

A Canadian judge ruled that a school board was justified to place harsh sanctions on a Catholic school trustee forced out of her position because she opposed extreme gender ideology and refused to undergo LGBT “sensitivity” training.

Justice Cheryl Arcand-Kootenay of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta ruled Thursday that the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) Board’s sanctions placed against former trustee Monique LaGrange will stand.

LaGrange had vowed to fight the school board in court, and it remains to be seen if she can take any further actions after the decision by Judge Arcand-Kootenay.

The judge ruled that the RDCRS’s policies in place for all trustees, which the board contended were breached, were “logical, thorough, and grounded in the facts that were before the Board at the time of their deliberations.”

As reported by LifeSiteNews, the RDCRS board voted 3-1 last December to disqualify LaGrange after she compared the LGBT agenda targeting kids with that of “brainwashing” Nazi propaganda. As a result of being voted out, LaGrange later resigned from her position.

The former school board trustee initially came under fire in September 2023 when she posted an image showing kids in Nazi Germany waving swastika flags during a parade to social media, with the bottom of the post showing an image of kids waving LGBT “Pride” flags along with the text: “Brainwashing is brainwashing.”

After her post went viral, calls for her to step down grew from leftist Alberta politicians and others. This culminated in her removal as director of the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA).

In September 2023, the RDCRS passed a motion to mandate that LaGrange undergo “LGBTQ+” and holocaust “sensitivity” training for her social media post.

LaGrange, however, refused to apologize for the meme or undergo “sensitivity” training.