Windsor teacher wins 2007 Lt. Governor's teaching award

Steven Van Zoost, a high school English teacher at Avon View High School, is the 2007 recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Teaching Award.

In a ceremony held last at Province House, the Honourable Mayann E. Francis, ONS, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, and Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union president Mary-Lou Donnelly presented Van Zoost with the award, a specially designed Nova Scotian Crystal sculpture and a framed certificate to recognize this achievement.

Van Zoost teaches advanced English, Film and Video Productions and an IB course, the Theory of Knowledge video, at the Windsor-based school. He was part of the writing team for Advanced English 11, piloted the course and has written the advanced English 12 curriculum guide for the province and developed an on-line component for the course.

"As a teacher, I can see how young people create hope for their lives in our classrooms and in our schools," Van Zoost said. "I’ve been fortunate to regularly witness students' transformations as they challenge their own understandings of the world. Contrary to how they are frequently depicted in media, it’s my experience that young people are interested in learning and determining their role in the world. This creates great hope in my life and I’m grateful to be working in the teaching profession."

He has been very involved in the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union, having served as the chair of the provincial equity, professional development and curriculum committees, and was elected as an NSTU delegate for the Canadian Teachers' Federation.

For the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board he was part of the assessment, fine arts, language arts, middle level education and school-wide enrichment leadership teams.

He has brought his passion for teaching and teachers to the world scene, spending his summers in countries including Mongolia and India as part of the Canadian Teachers' Federation development program Project Overseas. Recently he was in South Africa volunteering with a film crew that’s producing an academic film about technology in the classroom.

They had filmed in his ,classroom and classrooms in South Africa to support research being done at Dalhousie University.

Her Honour, the Honourable Mayann E. Francis, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, said young people need great teachers to prepare them properly for an increasingly complex and competitive world.

"Today's young people will inherit a world full of challenges. A good education is crucial to finding the solutions," she said.

"I’m so pleased to present this award to Steven," says Donnelly. "His involvement with students and teachers not only in his own community. But in those around the world inspires us all. He truly reflects the outstanding work done daily by teachers."

Van Zoost was a member of the Education faculty of Mount Saint Vincent University in 2005-06, where he taught teachers in Masters Programs and continued to work on his Doctorate in Philosophy, Education from the University of South Australia. He has a Masters of Education in Curriculum from Acadia University and a Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce from Mount Allison University.

He received a Roy C. Hill Award (a national award for innovative classroom practices) from the Canadian Teachers' Federation 1997 and a Governor General's Gold Medal in Educational Research from Acadia.