March 16, 2017 · 0 Comments
By Mike Pickford
Nominations are now open for the 2017 Everyday Hero Awards and the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) is looking to celebrate the initiative’s tenth anniversary in style.
For the last decade, the local school board has been recognizing “special” individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to helping out at one of its facilities and Heather Loney, Communications and Community Engagement Officer with UGDSB, is calling on the public to help them do it all again.
“This is a really cherished event that happens annually throughout the Upper Grand District School Board,” Ms. Loney told the Citizen. “We feel it’s really important to recognize people, especially when they go that extra mile on a daily basis to make someone else’s life a little brighter. It’s a really nice way for people to acknowledge and show their peers, colleagues and volunteers throughout the school system.”
Anyone who has a connection to any of the district’s “school communities” is eligible to be nominated, with Ms. Loney noting past recipients include an employee who worked tirelessly to ensure technology programs are available to all students across the board, a teacher that spearheaded a massive collaborative fundraising drive and several volunteers who worked hard behind the scenes for decades, helping to improve the UGDSB for all.
“The purpose of this award is to recognize the outstanding achievements of our employees and people within our school communities – it could be a staff member, student, parent or volunteer. It could be a crossing guard, a bus driver – anyone that steps up and makes a difference in the lives of our students.”
Nominations are open until April 13, while the awards ceremony itself is scheduled for May 30 at John F. Ross CVI in Guelph. Ten nominees will be selected prior to the ceremony, with this year’s winner being announced that night. Anyone interested in making a nomination is encouraged to do so by visiting the UGDSB website at ugdsb.on.ca/heroes.
“This is our chance to say thank-you to all the people that do such a phenomenal job on a daily basis helping to protect, educate, engage and inspire the next generation,” Ms. Loney said.