Thursday, June 9, 2022
VOLUME 4 I ISSUE 50
MERIDIANSOURCE.CA
The best retirement gift ever! Local educator wins National Inclusive Education award TAYLOR WEAVER
EDITOR
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Inclusive education was Monday’s topic of discussion at St. Mary’s Elementary School, but for principal LoriAnn Betton, it’s been a 36-year teaching goal. Betton’s hard work has more than paid off as, over the weekend, she was honoured with Inclusion Canada’s 2022 National Inclusive Education award at a ceremony in Saskatoon. What she didn’t know was the entire school was gathering in the gym on Monday morning to celebrate her and her successes. “Oh my goodness; (my first thoughts were of) shock, amazement, and then an overwhelming sense of ‘wow, after a whole career being passionate about the kids and about inclusive education, and then to find out I was the recipient of this award, was just incredibly overwhelming, surprising, and humbling,’” she said, adding the fact this will be the last year
of her career. “It’s quite the way to end a career,” she said. “Thirty-six years in education and every single one of those days you want the kids to be successful and feel like they belong. To see it come to fruition in an event like this, where, it’s the first time since COVID we’ve had all of the kids together, is heartwarming. “To know that after 36 years, all these kids I’ve touched have been successful, and I certainly hope they have felt like they belong, and this is just a testament to that.” Betton has lived and worked in the Border City for 30 years and has been humbled with the role of principal at St. Mary’s for roughly 15 years. “Time flies when you’re having fun,” she said. So, after a teaching career spanning more than three decades, what does inclusive education look like for Betton?
“To me, it’s just one word, it’s a sense of belonging,” she said. “For the kids to belong to a school, to a family, to a classroom, to have friends to be part of a bigger picture, and then how to get there and how to do it, and just make sure they’re successful, and they just call this home, that’s inclusion in a nutshell for me.” Although she’s retiring, Betton will be the first to admit she’ll likely end up doing some substitute teaching in the future as her p ass ion f or t e ac hing isn’t going anywhere. Not being at school every day next year will be a big change for the long-time educator, and she’s definitely going to miss it. “Oh my goodness, 100 per cent the kids and the good mornings, and having (the kids) come into the office and me seeing them, and the names (are what I’m going to miss the most),” she said.
Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
St. Mary’s Elementary School’s principal Lori-Ann Betton was absolutely beaming on Monday morning as her entire school surprised her with a congratulatory assembly in the school’s gym. Betton received Inclusion Canada’s National Inclusive Education award over the weekend alongside friends and family.