FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2003

Ray Jones of Quinte Secondary School receives prestigious Prime Minister’s Award
Special people are deserving of special things. Ray Jones, Science teacher at Quinte Secondary School, is one such special person. Last night, he was presented with the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence at the public meeting of the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board.

Recipients of the respected award make tremendous accomplishments to their schools. Mr. Jones was chosen from among 258 nominations for having made an exceptional effort to equip students for the challenges of our changing society and knowledge-based economy. Through his dedication, hard work and innovative teaching practices, Mr. Jones has achieved exceptional results with students while inspiring them to become life-long learners.

“As an individual who has dealt with a learning disability all of my life, I felt that teaching to the ability of my students, whether they were Grade nine essential or OAC scholars, was critical. My goal has always been to present scientific concepts in their simplest and if possible, a visual form,” says Ray Jones. “This has made science more interesting for me and my students because it has forced me to be more innovative,” he adds.

Mr. Jones has taught at Quinte Secondary School in Belleville for the past 29 years. He will retire at the end of this school year.

“We are very proud that Ray Jones was selected for a Prime Minister’s Award,” remarks Judy Edgar, Chair of the Board. “Ray has been an inspiration to thousands of students over the years, and an extraordinary addition to Quinte’s staff. Our board is fortunate to have a teacher like Ray with us for so many years.”

The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board has 54 schools serving 18,900 students and employing 1,083 teachers. The Board covers a wide geographical area of 7,221 square kilometres bordered by Maynooth to the north, Deseronto to the east, Prince Edward County to the south, and Quinte West to the west.

For information contact:
• Judy Edgar, Chair of the Board, (613) 921-3203, or 1 800 267-4350 x2354 (to leave a message)