News of an award for academic achievement may finally put to rest any remaining talk of poor performance at St. Mary of the Lake School.
The Slave Lake school, which is part of the Living Waters Catholic Schools, has been nominated by the Fraser Institute for a Garfield Weston Award for Excellence in Education. The school is a finalist in the improvement in overall academic ratings over the last five years. The awards, including prize money, will be presented on Thursday, Nov. 13 in Calgary.
“This is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of Principal Trevor Mitchell and his staff at St. Mary of the Lake,” said Living Waters Catholic Schools Superintendent Carol Lemay. “Their devotion to building a school committed to students, excellence and success for all has been tremendous. I salute them.”
The Garfield Weston Awards for Excellence in Education has one of Canada’s largest and most prestigious awards program for school teams – administrators, teachers and support staff. The annual awards take place in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec and acknowledge school teams whose skill, hard work, perseverance and enthusiasm have contributed significantly to the their students’ academic performance.
“Being a finalist is a huge thrill,” said Principal Mitchell. “Whether we win or not, being in the running (top three) is outstanding. I am so proud of the staff, students and the families who have been focused on building a culture of excellence in our school. To us, the awards ceremony feels like going to the Oscars. It will be a very special evening for the school.”
Indeed, to be chosen in the top three is a testament to the schools achievement, as echoed by Vice Principal Cara Block.
“To be chosen in the top three, out of 713 schools, is quite an achievement,” said Block. “We are seeing the results of many years of hard work, but the upswing has been happening for some time. The changes, either positive or negative, don’t happen overnight.”
But, award or not, students at the school are making strides in other areas too. An average of 89.2 per cent of Grade 3 students writing the language arts exam achieved the acceptable standard set by Alberta Education, compared to 87.2 per cent of students across the province. This shows an increase of 15.1 per cent over results of just five years ago.
Still, despite the good news, no one is resting on their laurels, said Principal Mitchell. There is still work that needs to be done.
For the current school year, a greater emphasis is being placed writing traits and expanding the Math for Everyone program.

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