EHS teacher, Tammy Sheppard receives 'Teacher of the Year Award'

On Tuesday, May 12, Rainbow District School Board honoured its dedicated employees and community partners with the Awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Co-Curricular Program, Community Partnership Awards, the Go Green Globe Awards, Awards for Excellence, the Barbara Konarek Memorial Award and the William N. Roman ‘Teacher of the Year Award’ along with individuals with [...]

Article content On Tuesday, May 12, Rainbow District School Board honoured its dedicated employees and community partners with the Awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Co-Curricular Program, Community Partnership Awards, the Go Green Globe Awards, Awards for Excellence, the Barbara Konarek Memorial Award and the William N. Roman ‘Teacher of the Year Award’ along with individuals with 25 years of service. The awards ceremony was held in the Sheridan Auditorium at Sudbury Secondary School. Rainbow Schools Board chair, David Farrow said, “We are proud of our award recipients for their individual and collective contributions to Rainbow Schools in Sudbury, Espanola and Manitoulin Island.”

Recommended Videos This year, Espanola High School mathematics teacher, Tammy Sheppard received the William N. Roman ‘Teacher of the Year Award’ at the recent awards ceremony. Sheppard, who grew up in Webbwood and graduated from EHS in 1990 went on to post-secondary education at Laurentian University, graduating in 1995 and began a career as a professional engineer of Ontario. In year 2000, she took a teaching position at EHS, as a mathematics teacher.

At the awards celebration, Sheppard was described “as a compassionate and energetic mathematics teacher, numeracy lead, mentor and role model, who empowers students. She participates fully in school life, encouraging a strong sense of belonging for student achievement and well-being. Her classroom promotes creativity, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration.”

Sheppard’s unique background in engineering was cited as a prominent factor in her ability to connect curriculum to real-world applications, using a tiered approach to her instruction, with intentional groupings, enabling students to build confidence and challenge themselves. An award well-deserved for a dedicated teacher who goes beyond and above to motivate and include all her students to foster deep understanding on the relevance of mathematics in engineering, technology and global contexts. As a student said, “she taught us more than just math, but how to work for what we want, not give up on the first try, and to believe in ourselves.”