WELLINGTON COUNTY – Diane Ballantyne was surprised to find out in August that she was among the recipients of this year’s teaching excellence award from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“It’s a very important reward in the teaching field in Canada,” Ballantyne told the Advertiser by phone recently.
Unbeknownst to her at the time, she was nominated for the award by a Centre Wellington District High School (CWDHS) department head.
“It’s a huge honour to think … the things that I’ve done in my career warranted recognition at that level,” Ballantyne said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the recipients of the awards, which celebrate outstanding educators across the country for their dedication and commitment to their students, on Oct. 5.
The same day, Warden Andy Lennox recognized Ballantyne, also a county councillor, in a statement about the award.
“[She] is an inspirational educator who made a real difference in the lives of the students she taught for over 28 years,” stated Lennox.
“On behalf of county council and the residents of Wellington County, I would like to congratulate councillor Ballantyne on this well-deserved award, and thank her for her dedicated service to the Wellington County students she taught.”
Over a teaching career spanning 28 years with the Upper Grand District School Board, including 23 years at CWDHS, Ballantyne specialized in teaching law, history, anthropology, social justice and world cultures in Grades 10 and 12.
Ballantyne said the social sciences are about understanding that citizens have an active societal role.
Educating students in their mid-teens about what Ballantyne calls “active citizenship” is what earned her the Prime Minister’s recognition and the Certificate of Achievement, along with nine others in the provincial category.
“I wanted students to understand and believe that they mattered, and that they can take action for things that they believe in,” Ballantyne explained.
“It isn’t just about external powers that be; you as an individual person matter.”
That motivation, along with a desire to imbue a life-long love of learning, kept her going her until her June retirement, she said.
“That’s what got me to get up every single day and go do a job that’s incredibly demanding, and still feel like I loved it until the very last day,” she added.
Ballantyne figures she has influenced the lives of more than 4,000 teenagers over nearly three decades, including those she took on trips to Egypt, Peru, Iceland, Turkey, Greece and Brazil.
Her approach to the classroom — an “enormous responsibility” — included showing up prepared, enthusiastic, flexible, and with a desire to make lessons authentic and relevant.
“A good teacher is someone who is able to develop a positive rapport, or a relationship, with their students,” she said. “You have to see them as a whole human being.”
“There are so many different lived experiences that are coming into that classroom,” she continued. “You never want to inadvertently hurt anybody’s feelings, or make them feel left out.
“All the curriculum and all the technology in the world isn’t going to take the place of being able to build meaningful relationships with students.”
Those relationships may matter more than ever before with new societal changes youth are now facing.
Ballantyne said the biggest change over her career has been the challenge presented by mental health.
“There’s not enough supports for the kinds of challenges that young people are experiencing,” she said.
“Sufficiently-funded, universally-accessible, public education is absolutely essential to build a healthy society.”
There’s no individual student or experience that stands out when Ballantyne reflects on her career.
What “truly makes [her] heart sing,” she said, is having former students, now adults with families of their own, approach her in the community with a memory from her classroom.
“I’m able to see those kids grow up,” she said. “Being a part of somebody’s memories of their life … that is better than anything.”
She added, “I can’t remember every single one, but they all impacted me, and challenged me … we worked together to building something that was really special.
“I think I learned far more from them than I ever was able to teach. The award really is about them.”
