Address To Tiss Assembly Honouring David Sheridan

March 01, 2007

Thank you. I am pleased to be here today.

We are here to present a Prime Minister’s certificate of achievement to Mr. David Sheridan, a teacher here at Thousand Islands Secondary School.

With this certificate, we are honouring his commitment to excellence in teaching.

In a rapidly changing global economy, Canada’s advantage lies in the education and training of its citizens.

Education and training remains the single most effective investment in the future prosperity of Canadians.

These awards celebrate the men and women who excel in their role as educators and we commend their achievements.

Educators play an integral role in developing a skilled and committed workforce and shaping the Canadian leaders of tomorrow.

It is a special vocation. By imparting their knowledge and experience to the next generation, teachers and educators are helping chart the destiny of our great country.

Every Canadian has a special memory of a teacher that made a difference in their lives and helped or inspired them to realize their potential.

Since 1993, the Prime Minister's Awards have recognized almost 1,100 outstanding teachers and educators from preschool through elementary and secondary school who better equip their students with the skills needed to meet the challenges of an advancing society and economy.

Nominations are submitted by colleagues, parents and students of teachers and educators, and are evaluated by independent selection committee members.

These volunteers represent the education community, the private sector, and provincial ministries of education.
 
There are only 90 of these awards being presented this year.

Mr. Sheridan has taught for 20 years.

A community minded arts teacher with a flair for inspiring students to reach their true potential he is best known for inspiring his students to create community art projects throughout Brockville from the Con Darling memorial statue on Blockhouse Island to the mural on the city’s train station.

His peers note that he is an innovator who has a unique ability to get students excited about learning and engaged in learning.  He is extremely enthusiastic and he transmits that enthusiasm to his students.

Mr. Sheridan tries hard to showcase his students’ artwork because he wants them to have “living memories” of their time at TISS.

He creates partnerships between his students and community businesses and instills in his students a caring attitude toward Brockville through community art projects.

Over his 18 years teaching at TISS he has amassed an impressive list of community projects from three-dimensional sculptures to murals. 

Through his major projects and installations, Mr. Sheridan promotes positive student attitudes, creativity, adaptability, an ability to think critically, problem-solving skills, goal setting, time management and independent work habits.

Projects that he has helped create both at school and in the community include: the TISS Millennium Sculpture, the Con Darling statue, the VIA Rail station mural, the 2004 Upper Canada District School Board‚  Buddy the Upper Canada Beaver  - A Kindergarten colouring book, and the TISS outdoor mural.
 
He has also been involved in a relief sculpture of the TIDE NASCAR racing vehicle, and most recently in helping create the TISS community track project sculpture.

Apart from his work with school students he is involved in several projects outside TISS to promote quality education for Upper Canada District School Board students.
 
He was one of the authors of the recent Grade 12  “Exploring the Arts” provincial curriculum.  He served as Program Leader at TISS for the Arts Department from September 1997 to June 2002.
 
He is also very active as a professional illustrator, including his work on eight Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation teaching publications, as well as illustrations for many books from various publishers.

Today, we commend Mr. Sheridan’s achievements and excellence because it is in our classrooms and in our schools that we build a better Canada and a better world.

On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper I am pleased to present this certificate to a well-deserving teacher.