FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 21, 2004

School board celebrates end of school year with award presentations
Congratulations are in order for some Hastings and Prince Edward citizens who help to make the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board A Great Place to Learn and A Great Place to Work!

3rd Annual Great Place Awards
The 3rd Annual Great Place Awards were presented at this evening’s public Board meeting. These prestigious awards recognize and reinforce outstanding contributions by Board students, staff, parents and community partners and are the highest form of recognition within the Board.

Great Place Award recipients are:

• Marie Saint Pierre, Bayside Public School
• Ian Jarvis, School Response Officer, Belleville Police Service
• Trudy Duff, Brenda Green, Roxanne Lloyd and Shelly Reid, Secretarial Team, Centennial Secondary School
• Edmund Dowling, Principal, Deseronto Public School
• Ruth Owen, Administrative Assistant, Education Centre
• Shari Fish, Linda Kempenaar, Janet Martin and Justina Rigsby, School Council Executive, Foxboro Public School
• Heather Giffen, Educational Assistant, Harry J. Clarke Public School
• Dave Henderson, Teacher, Kente Public School
• Glenda Baumhour, Ed Broomfield, Michelle Ferguson, Gloria Green, Rod Hendrick, Debbie Henry, Rick Toner, and Gordon Wadforth, Custodial and Maintenance Team, Quinte Secondary School
• Jessica Knight, Student, Trenton High School

The Great Place Awards Committee was excited by the number of nominations received this year from various sectors of our school communities. A total of 51 nominations came in representing all eligible categories—students, employee groups, volunteers, parents and community partners.

Jack A. MacDonald Award of Merit
Congratulations to Lianne Irish from North Hastings High School, this year’s recipient of the Jack A. MacDonald Award of Merit. This annual award is given to an outstanding Ontario public school student for a sound academic record and outstanding community service and leadership. Lianne will receive a $500 honorarium.

OPSOA Scholarships
The Ontario Public Supervisory Officials’ Association (OPSOA) annually awards scholarships totalling $1,000 to the district school board of the OPSOA Provincial President in recognition of their support during his/her term as Provincial President. For 2003-04, the Provincial President was Larry Langdon, Director of Education.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients:

• Janel Avarello, Quinte Secondary School
• Erin Parks, Centre Hastings Secondary School
• Laura Prest, Centennial Secondary School
• Laura Seeger, Bayside Secondary School

Each will receive a $250 scholarship towards post-secondary studies in a degree or diploma program that could lead to a career in education.

“On behalf of the Board, I offer congratulations to all award recipients. These people have made meaningful contributions to students, school communities, helping make our Board A Great Place to Learn and A Great Place to Work!” says Judy Edgar, Chair of the Board.

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
• Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, (613) 966-1170 x2354, or 1 800 267-4350 x2354