Sharon Malec, Past President of the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s Religious & Moral Education Council, and Dorothy Burns, Director of Religious Education for Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools (CRCS), attended the Board meeting to present FSD with the “Dawn Kirvan Award of Merit for Collaboration” in recognition of its support to CRCS during the flood recovery in 2013-2014. Dawn Kirvan was a teacher and Religious Coordinator with Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools when she passed away of cancer. She believed that groups of people can change the world, and this award was established in her memory.
Together with Dorothy Burns, FSD’s nomination was supported by CRCS’s Superintendent, Scott Morrison, and the principals of Holy Spirit Academy and Notre Dame Collegiate (NDC), which lost the use of their facilities due to the flood. With the addition of portable classrooms, École Senator Riley Middle School hosted NDC students and staff for approximately six months until NDC was restored. Holy Spirit Academy, which was housed in the High River Memorial Centre, thanked Spitzee Elementary School for sharing their playground facilities, and also acknowledged the staffs of Spitzee and École Joe Clark School for their tremendous moral support.
In a letter to FSD’s Superintendent, John Bailey, which accompanied the nomination package, Sharon Malec wrote:
“You opened up your schools to the staff and students that allowed them to continue educating the students of Christ the Redeemer. They were treated with respect and dignity. The Dawn Kirvan Award of Merit for Collaboration recognizes your team and the many ways that you demonstrated the values of Faith, Dignity and Respect.”