BC's outstanding principals honoured at awards luncheon

Contacts:

Suzanne Walters, Director of Communications
The Fraser Institute (604) 714-4582
Email suzannew@fraserinstitute.ca
 
Peter Cowley, Director of School Performance Studies
The Fraser Institute (604) 714-4556
Email  peterc@fraserinstitute.ca

For Release: 6 December 2001

VANCOUVER, BC— BC's outstanding secondary school principals were honoured today at the second annual W. Garfield Weston Outstanding Principals Awards Luncheon, at Vancouver's Delta Pinnacle Hotel.

Based on the results of the Fraser Institute's widely-cited Report Card on British Columbia's High Schools, these annual awards recognize the critical role principals play in accomplishing their school's mission, and for inspiring excellence among their students and teachers. These Outstanding Principals Awards recognize a secondary school principal who, as the chief operating officer of the school, has made an outstanding contribution to the success of its students.

"You can't have outstanding schools without inspired leadership and effective management. Today, we presented the W. Garfield Weston Outstanding Principals Awards to BC principals who offer both of these qualities to their school communities," says Peter Cowley, director of school performance studies at The Fraser Institute.

Awards of $3,000 were presented to the winning principals in each of these three categories: Academic Excellence, Improvement in Academics, and Academic Performance in Excess of Expectations. The finalists in each category received a $1,000 award.

Academic Excellence

Ms. Barbara M. Walker
Head of School (Former), Crofton House School
Vancouver

"Exceptional leadership, motivated students, and supportive parents are necessary conditions for a strong learning environment that makes for a truly successful school," notes Walker.

Improvement in Academics

Mr. John Messelink
Principal (Former), Pacific Christian School
Victoria

Talking about his school's success, Messelink notes "it is important to develop a competent teaching staff and to provide them with the necessary facilities, resources, and professional development opportunities."

Academic Performance in Excess of Expectations

Mr. Ed Vanderboom
Principal, Credo Christian High School
Langley

Vanderboom attributes his school's success to "an educational environment that is supportive of staff, sensitive to the needs of students, and conscious that teachers have been entrusted with delegated responsibility."

"We hope that by recognizing outstanding leadership we can encourage principals from small schools and large ones, from private and public sectors, serving rural and urban communities that every school can make a difference and every school can improve," says Cowley.

Awards were also presented to outstanding principals in Alberta on Tuesday, December 4, in Calgary.

Established in 1974, The Fraser Institute is an independent public policy organization based in Vancouver with offices in Calgary and Toronto.