A Blue River educator is up for the Premier’s Awards of Excellence in Education for the Outstanding New Teacher category.
Maymie Tegart, who’s on her third year teaching at Blue River Elementary School, was nominated by Lee Onslow, the parent of a student, for her impact in the classroom and in the Blue River Community.
Nomination letters were also written for Tegart by Lori Bradstock, principal at Clearwater’ Raft River Elementary School and Gregory Hamett, a retired principal in Kamloops.
“I was so shocked and just so grateful for them taking the time to really think about the projects we’ve been doing; I read the letters of recommendation and it definitely brought some tears to my eyes,” said Tegart.
“It’s really good to know I have such a strong parent community, and even if people aren’t in Blue River, they still are very supportive of what I’m doing here, which is really nice.”
Onslow, whose 7 year-old son Richard is in Tegart’s class, said she nominated Tegart because she is grateful her son is one of the lucky few to be educated in Tegart’s classroom.
According to Onslow, Richard said, “I like Ms. Tagert because she teaches us a lot of stuff and it makes us smarter.”
She added the new teacher is a valued member of the Blue River community and brought with her new ideas, new energy and an enthusiasm for teaching when she chose to begin her career by teaching in a one room classroom
“She immediately challenged herself to update her classroom and to make it a more engaging and visual learning room; she has been instrumental in the implementation of many learning initiatives including learning the life cycle through the raising of butterflies, salmon and chicken,” Onslow said.
“Maymie’s students are comfortable in her classroom and feel confident in their ability to discuss their learning in a safe, supportive and stress free environment—to put it simply, Maymie is an excellent motivated new teacher and is very deserving of the Premier’s award for Excellence in Education.”
There were a total of 188 nominations for the Premier’s Awards, with three including Tegart in the Outstanding New Teacher category, which requires nominees to have five years minimum experience to be eligible.
Tegart grew up in Kamloops before attending Quest University in Squamish, then received her teaching degree at the University of British Columbia.
Now she teaches children from kindergarten to Grade 4 as the only staff member onsite.
Since she began at Blue River Elementary she’s guided her students through other activities like outdoor education projects, building an indoor garden to teach them about healthy food, and other interactive pursuits like having the children take part in Skype sessions with other students in schools in Chile, Brazil and across the United States.
“I’m just very grateful because it feels pretty amazing to be appreciated, regardless of whether or not I’m the actual winner, it’s pretty cool to be a finalist and I’m excited,” she said.
“I think it’s really important for kids to learn about where food comes from and also be able to learn in their own community—I’m a huge advocate for rural education and I think it’s really important kids have access to a quality education no matter where they live.”
She added she brought some of her pre-teaching experiences to projects she does with the students of Blue River, using her time from a research project she did in Uganda as an example to help teach local children about nutrition.
Tegart’s enthusiasm in the community outside school hasn’t gone unnoticed either.
She added since her arrival she’s joined the Blue River Fire Department and when she’s not at the school or fire hall, she can be found enjoying the outdoors, cross-country skiing or snowmobiling and taking in the other forms of recreation Blue River offers.
“I’m in love with the mountains here, so I really try to live in this area, as where a lot of teachers in rural schools might commute from a big city, but I really try to make Blue River my home.”