From the Honourable Gene Zwozdesky, Minister of Education

Our students are Alberta's most precious resource, and as the new Minister of Education my goal is to ensure that every student in our K-12 system is provided with opportunities that maximize his/her potential.

Alberta has an outstanding education system and our students continue to rank among the best in the world in international tests. Their success is due to their own commitment, supportive parents, excellent teachers, outstanding learning and teaching resources, and so on.

However, in order to continue this tradition of excellence, we must address the changing and sometimes challenging complexities of the classroom. Therefore, some of my highest priorities are: reducing class sizes; ensuring that students with special needs, and ESL students, have proper access to learning opportunities; and, in general, accelerating government's response to the remaining recommendations of the Alberta Commission on Learning Report.

Albertans have identified education as a top priority and I know that you, as retired teachers understand and support this priority. As a former teacher, I know that your work and outstanding efforts have helped Alberta youth realize their dreams and for that we are all truly grateful. Thank you!

[Editor's note: Mr. Zwozdesky was re-elected to his fourth term as MLA for Edmonton Mill Creek in November 2004. He previously served as Minister of Community Development. He is also Deputy Government House Leader.]

ARTA © 2005

Big Sister finds big excitement in winning ARTA Award.
(The following story of appreciation comes from the U. of A. and is about Katrina McCabe, a 2004 ARTA Award recipient.)

Increasing tuition costs, and the stress associated with finding future teaching positions, can break some students in their final year of study. Not Katrina McCabe.

For the first time in her U. of A. student career, McCabe recently won a scholarship: the 2004 ARTA Award. She was ecstatic to find out she had won. "It was a huge help. It was an unbelievable stress reliever finding out I had won the award."

Awarded annually, the ARTA Award recognizes a student in satisfactory academic standing who has completed the Introductory Professional Term within an undergraduate degree program in the Faculty of Education.

The recipient is selected on the basis of demonstrated excellence during the student teaching experience and displays an ongoing commitment to working with young people in either paid or volunteer positions (i.e. coaching, youth groups, tutoring, mentoring etc.). McCabe's IPT mentor teacher called her "a natural teacher" and she out-qualified all other applicants in the volunteer criteria. Not only is she active as a Big Brothers/Big Sisters volunteer, she tutors students from her IPT school in her free time and works two days a week with the Family Linkages Foundation of Alberta.

Katrina says her ability to juggle these roles is a result of the scholarship funding. "Without the scholarship I would have had to secure a second job and would not have been able to commit to my volunteer roles." She adds, "As an Education student I can't just go to classes, graduate, and expect to get a job. I need to gain practical experiences along the way." Student awards like the ARTA Award make this philosophy a reality for students like Katrina who also won the Perl Turner Memorial Award in 2004.

McCabe was impressed with the ARTA Award stating "before I found the ARTA awards I did not realize that there are student awards that recognize more than just a decent GPA. There should be more of these to encourage more students to become involved in the volunteer movement."