Michael Wilton recognizes Linda Wilton and Brian Oleson//photo courtesy of @UM_agfoodsci
Inspiring our future leaders
Most of us can think of at least one teacher who made a difference in our lives as we were growing up in the educational system. It may have been someone who spent time after school to help us understand a math problem, or a coach of a high school basketball team who drove you to do more lay-ups until you got it just right. Maybe it was a teacher who listened as you described personal troubles, or someone who was simply just there for you.
Today, May 13, 2015, some students who are graduating in a few weeks from the University of Manitoba will take time to recognize and thank some extraordinary teachers from kindergarten to university who have made significant impacts on their lives. Students selected from each faculty will name and honour a K-12 teacher and a university faculty member who inspired, guided and encouraged them when they needed it most.
Addison Cullen recognizes Colleen Feader & Jared Carlberg//photo courtesy of @UM_agfoodsci
One such teacher is Joy Dell, at Collège regional Notre-Dame in rural Manitoba. She was cited by not one, but two graduating students in different faculties. Julie Comte is graduating from psychology in the Faculty of Arts, while Manon Foidart is graduating from the College of Dentistry in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Both said dell was an inspiration to them during their high school years.
“I remember them both well,” Dell explained. “They were very good students who were a pleasure to teach. I am glad that they both went on to do so well at university.”
But not everyone was taught in a school. Michael Wilton, who is graduating from the School of Agriculture, named his own mother, Linda Wilton, who homeschooled him, as the teacher who had the most influence in his life.
“She was pretty hard on me at times,” Michael Wilton said of his mother. “She made sure I did all my homework and too it very seriously. She taught me to appreciate a strong work ethic.”
For his university professor who made the most difference, Wilton named Dr. Brian Oleson, head of the department of agribusiness and agricultural economics in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.
“Dr. Oleson was very approachable and understood the needs of his students,” Wilton explained. “He was a friend as well as a teacher. He made the adjustment from home schooling to university very easy.”
The Students’ Teacher Recognition Reception is hosted by the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL), is a faculty development unit that works in collaboration with faculty and graduate students to provide leadership, expertise and support in fulfilling the teaching and learning mission of the University of Manitoba.