The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Education:

Minister Congratulates Inclusion Award Winners

Mr. Speaker, this morning I had the pleasure of joining students and staff at Bishops College in St. John’s as they were presented with an Inclusive Education Award from the Newfoundland and Labrador Association for Community Living.

As a government, we support the philosophy that all students should attend school with their peers, and receive appropriate, quality programming in inclusive school environments. We have, in fact, invested millions in teachers, teacher training, additional support staff, as well as the latest technologies, to make this possible.

Bishops College, under the leadership of Principal Bridget Ricketts, is one school which has truly taken the inclusion message to heart. Its students and staff have gone above and beyond to ensure all students are involved in a range of school activities, and that all are recognized as valued, contributing members of the wider school community.

I was proud to be with them today, Mr. Speaker, and to see some of their inclusive activities in practice.

I also offer my congratulations to the six other nominated schools: Fatima Academy in St. Bride’s; Roncalli Central High School in Avondale; Coley’s Point Primary; Menihek High School in Labrador City; St. Matthew’s Elementary in St. John’s; and, Sacred Heart Academy in Marystown.

Mr. Speaker, the Association for Community Living also honours an individual educator each year, and this year’s recipient is Mr. Bill Chaisson, Principal of St. Gerard’s Elementary in Corner Brook. Mr. Chaisson has demonstrated both a professional and personal commitment to making inclusion work in his school, making him most worthy of this provincial honour.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in this Honourable House to join me in congratulating and thanking schools throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, especially the staff and students of Bishops College and St. Gerard’s Elementary, for showing us, each and every day, how inclusion can be a positive experience for all involved, and for society at large.

2012 05 02                               2:20 p.m