Education and Early Childhood Learning

Manitoba's Excellence in Education Awards

Award Recipients 2025-2026

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Premier’s Award for Excellence in Education

The Student and Graduate Support Program (SGSP) teacher team of Karla Grobb, Doug Hemmerling, and Laurie-Anne Regula works together to give students long-term and whole-person support. Using the Circle of Courage® model, the team builds socio-emotional development plans, conducts regular check-ins, and offers first-level counseling. At the Grades 6 to 8 inner-city school, their program serves current students and alumni who are now in high school or post‐secondary institutions, offering support in the evenings and throughout the summer. Regula, a lead teacher at Gonzaga, specializes in providing daily regulation routines and an after‐school tutoring program where even former students can seek help in math, literacy, and test preparation. Grobb, the Intervention Specialist, uses a tiered intervention approach to ensure that students' behavioural needs, learning barriers, and family challenges are recognized and addressed. Hemmerling, the Graduate Support Director, stays connected with more than 100 alumni across 15 high schools to ensure continuity of care. His work includes mentorship, case management, advocacy, and building strong, collaborative relationships with multiple school divisions, agencies, and community partners. The team also helps students connect with their own cultures, histories, and identities through cultural programming and access to Indigenous, newcomer, and faith‐based supports. The impact of the SGSP teacher team on students is clear: higher attendance, improved academic achievement, and greater confidence to move toward a brighter future.

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Teaching Excellence Award

Leanne Chornoby has dedicated over 30 years to educating Early Years students in a remote, fly-in region of northern Manitoba. Her career began at a First Nation school in Garden Hill and has continued since 2013 at Stevenson Island School. Known for her patience, kindness, and high expectations, she creates a Nursery to Grade 5 classroom where every student feels important and capable. She offers individualized support to students with unique or complex needs, helping them succeed in meaningful ways. One recent example is her work with a non-verbal autistic student, whose confidence and participation grew greatly under her care. Chornoby champions student achievement in all subject areas. Her students grow as readers, writers, and speakers. They tackle math challenges, dive into scientific discovery, and learn to be kinder and more responsible community members. An advocate for student wellness, she promotes physical fitness, healthy choices, and pride in athletic achievement. Her influence goes beyond her classroom. She volunteers as a coach, mentors other teachers, and contributes to curriculum initiatives across the division. Chornoby also plays a key role in building a healthy school environment. Visitors are often struck by the warm and welcoming culture: laughter echoing in the halls, an active schoolyard at recess, and a strong, shared sense of belonging. Chornoby’s longstanding commitment to education and community has made a deep and lasting impact on generations of students.

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Teaching Excellence Award

Kurt Hangle joined the Exchange Met School as a teacher advisor over four years ago, bringing nearly two decades of experience teaching industrial arts. In his current role, he teaches the same group of students through all four years of high school. This allows him to build strong relationships while supporting their interests, strengths, and goals. Through project-based learning and internships, he helps students meet curriculum outcomes while encouraging them to develop their unique gifts. Hangle also builds important community connections, including a partnership with North Forge, where students can design and build using professional tools and technology. His guidance has supported major school projects like creating a warming hut for The Forks River Trail and six access ramps, in partnership with the City of Winnipeg. His love for the outdoors and land-based learning shines through during the multi-day canoe trips he leads on the Stewart Lake Loop and with his involvement with the cultural credit program. There, students learn practical skills such as fishing, dressing a deer, working with leather, and cooking outdoors. In the Student Leadership Group, Hangle brings contagious enthusiasm and steady support to student-led activities, including fundraisers, spirit weeks, and school-wide events. As a teacher, role model, and mentor, Hangle helps students grow into resilient and thoughtful young people prepared to face the future with confidence and purpose.

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Teaching Excellence Award

Dawn Knight has taught visual arts for more than 26 years and has become a master of her craft. She uses artmaking to build empathy, support social justice, and create meaningful learning experiences. Focused on belonging and inclusion, she fosters a learning environment where students of diverse backgrounds and with a wide range of cognitive and physical abilities feel valued. She carefully selects artworks that honour students’ identities, spark curiosity, and invite open dialogue. She teaches visual literacy and critical thinking while helping students deepen their understanding of themselves and the world around them. In her high school art classes, Knight nurtures students’ creativity, confidence, and skill by encouraging exploration, risk-taking, and learning through the creative process. She also runs an art ambassador program that builds student leadership, and she leads large community art projects and installations that strengthen school communities. Knight shares her passion with educators across Manitoba. She has facilitated more than 150 professional learning workshops and helped develop several art education resources, including Art Alive and Resilience teaching resources with Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA), and the Grades 9 to 12 Visual Arts Curriculum Framework. She is also an active leader in the Manitoba Association for Art Education, working to enhance visual arts education throughout the province. Knight demonstrates that art is not only a form of expression but a force for connection, understanding, and change.

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Outstanding New Teacher Award

In her first year of teaching, Riley Paull has already earned the respect of families and coworkers through her genuine care and steady professionalism. As a Grades 1 and 2 teacher, she offers a variety of soft-start activities that help students settle into the day and manage their emotions. Through student-led routines and her calm verbal cues, students learn to handle their feelings with increasing independence. Paull has an innate ability to recognize individual needs and works closely with colleagues, social workers, and families to make sure every student receives the right support. Her classroom is a warm and welcoming place where even the most anxious child becomes engaged and confident. She uses hands-on, multimodal activities that allow all students to learn together and make steady progress. Paull is committed to improving her practice and regularly seeks out professional learning opportunities. Research‐based approaches and student data inform her work. She offers focused literacy instruction across disciplines, as well as practical strategies that help students work through negative thought patterns. Paull contributes positively to the school community. Her kindness, curiosity, and empathy toward students and staff shine alongside her natural gift for teaching.

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Outstanding Team Collaboration Award

Danielle Iliffe, Rachel McKenzie, Ainsley Richardson, and Erin Weekes demonstrate what can be achieved when educators work together with creativity, teamwork, and a shared responsibility for every student’s success. The Grades 2 and 3 team developed a highly effective literacy initiative based on careful assessment. After screening their students, the four teachers met to review the results, identify student needs, and create flexible cross‐class groupings for targeted literacy support. They worked closely with the school’s literacy support teacher to plan lessons and include enrichment activities for advanced learners. Throughout the year, the team monitors student progress and adjusts groupings as needed. Together, they ensure that no student is overlooked and that interventions are timely and effective. Beyond literacy, the team has also created engaging discovery centres, daily problem‐solving challenges, and meaningful interdisciplinary learning experiences. A memorable social studies and science unit took students on a “trip around the world,” where they explored architecture, landforms, food, and traditions. To enrich classroom discussions, families and community members are regularly invited to share their culture and perspectives. The team’s cross-classroom learning activities bring students together, helping them form new friendships and easing the transition to the next school year. The work of Iliffe, McKenzie, Richardson, and Weekes has inspired colleagues and contributed to a stronger culture of collaboration and innovation across the school.

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Outstanding School Leader Award

As Education Director, Barbara Reimer has transformed the MITT Adult Learning Centres into inclusive, accessible, and innovative environments where adult learners can thrive. In 2021, she brought six independent centres together into one learner-focused network. With equity and access in mind, she worked with staff to reimagine a learning community that best meets adults’ needs. The HyFlex model was adopted, allowing learners across Manitoba to participate in person or online, either live or on their own time. This flexibility supports adults as they balance school with work and family responsibilities. Reimer also helped create career-focused Pathway Programs, including Office Assistant and Introduction to Health Services. These programs let learners earn high school credits and advanced standing toward post-secondary studies at MITT, helping them move more quickly into further training. Reimer encourages staff to explore new ideas that improve teaching and engagement. Under her leadership, new initiatives were implemented, such as Tech Tuesdays for staff, flipped classroom practices, and simpler admissions and enrolment processes. To address socioeconomic barriers, Reimer expanded supports such as Healthy Start breakfasts, transportation assistance, and partnerships that connect students to mental-health resources, food security programs, and career services. She added new staff, including an Elder in Residence, a career and college specialist, and student support and retention workers to better guide learners. Reimer’s collaborative leadership and commitment to excellence have built a learning community that nurtures hope and supports adults as they shape the next chapter of their lives.

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Nello Altomare Award for Excellence in School Nutrition

Paul Augst and Joshua Hogan play key roles in strengthening student access to nutritious food in schools across the Lord Selkirk School Division. As lead chef, Hogan provides overall culinary direction, while Augst plays a vital supporting role in menu development, meal preparation, and daily kitchen operations. Together, they helped expand the existing breakfast and snack programs so that students at Ruth Hooker School and Robert Smith Elementary now receive healthy hot and cold lunches three times a week. The team operates from a commercial kitchen accessed through a partnership with a local church. From there, they create balanced, kid friendly, and culturally inclusive menus, while carefully meeting individual dietary needs. Their work ensures that more than 400 students receive meals that support their learning, engagement, and well being. The success of this initiative comes from strong teamwork within the community. School staff, delivery drivers, local volunteers, and partner organizations all help make sure students have access to meals without barriers or stigma. High school students also take part by earning volunteer credits as they help with organization and delivery, gaining leadership and life skills while supporting younger students. Augst and Hogan’s dedication is at the heart of this effort. Their creativity, reliability, and commitment have helped shape a community supported initiative that strengthens food security and brings people together

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