New Myrnam Makes Top 10 Shortlists of World’s Best School Prize

New Myrnam Makes Top 10 Shortlists of World’s Best School Prize

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

The headline: Inspirational Canadian School named in top 10 shortlists for $250,000 World’s Best School Prizes.

The official press release states, “The five World’s Best School Prizes, founded last year by T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture, American Express, Yayasan Hasanah, and the Lemann Foundation, are the world’s most prestigious education prizes.

New Myrnam School, a public school in Myrnam, Alberta, Canada, which has worked through eco initiatives to reverse the slow decline of its small rural community, has been named in the Top 10 shortlist for the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action.

The five World’s Best School Prizes - for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives - celebrate schools everywhere for the pivotal role they play in developing the next generation of learners and for their enormous contribution to society’s progress, especially in the wake of COVID. The prizes were established to share the best practices of schools that are transforming the lives of their students and making a real difference to their communities.”

Jill Huntley, Managing Director of Global Corporate Citizenship at Accenture, stated, “Congratulations to New Myrnam School on being named in the Top 10 shortlist for the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action 2023.

Teachers everywhere will be inspired by the example of this outstanding Canadian school, whose inspirational work shows the path to a better tomorrow.

Accenture is proud to collaborate with T4 Education on the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action, which celebrates schools’ incredible efforts to empower the next generation to harness new technologies and innovative practices that tackle the global sustainability issues that impact us all.”

Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said: “The schools shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prizes, no matter where they can be found or what they teach, all have one thing in common. They all have a strong school culture. Their leaders know how to attract and motivate exceptional educators, inspire change, and build excellent teaching and learning environments.

I must congratulate New Myrnam School on being named in the Top 10 shortlists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2023. Schools across the globe will learn from the story of this trailblazing Canadian institution and the culture it has cultivated.”

New Myrnam School is located in the Village of Myrnam and lies within the borders of the County of Two Hills. It is operated by St. Paul Education, which also put out an announcement on June 21. Jan Rajoo, local school board trustee, remarked that, “New Myrnam School continues to be a bright and shining example of what can be achieved with true consultation and collaboration with multiple stakeholders. Our community is immensely proud of our staff and students and recognize their tremendous efforts in ensuring the continuing success of this world class facility.”

County of Two Hills Reeve Don Gulayec, said, “County council, administration, staff and residents are ecstatic to hear that New Myrnam Public School has been named as one of the Top 10 finalists in the category of Environmental Action.

This worldwide competition involving millions of schools and students highlights this school’s commitment towards the advancement of education. The school itself is just a building, it’s the students and educators within that facility that move the marker towards excellence. The educators, staff, parent council and school division has proven that when you step outside the box and break the mould of “One Size Fits All” you can accomplish great things.

This is not just a teaching facility, but a training ground for future entrepreneurs. This worldwide acknowledgement will follow the students, educators, staff and facility for years to come, in the same way as it does for those who attended or are attending prestigious schools such as Harvard. Congratulations to the school and community.”

Principal Danielle Eriksen said she was on a field trip to the Telus World of Science when she received notification. She admits that she could “barely contain her excitement” when she received the email. The toughest part was not being able to share the good news with everyone right away.

From L-R: Assistant Principal Robert Tymofichuk, Edward Balash, Lt. Governor of Alberta Salma Lakhani, Cassie O’Reilly, Harper Matthews and Principal Danielle Eriksen at 2023 Emerald Awards on June 7.

(Alberta Emerald Foundation/Photo)

“We were under strict instructions to keep the announcement under our hats until the announcement was made by the World’s Best School Prizes organization. After it was announced, we could tell our kids. Due to time zone differences, it was announced at 12:01 am on June 15.

We had planned an assembly for that morning and were hoping no one would have heard about it before we told everyone. We planned a slide show highlighting our student successes over the year ending with our seventh consecutive A+ for Energy grant from Inside Education and our Alberta Emerald Award win. We then played the promotional video which announced those short listed. Robert, (Tymofichuk) Alyssa, (Kalynchuk) and I then revealed T-shirt’s with the World’s Best School Prizes logo on the back. It was so much fun.

We then had a barbecue with Superintendent Peter Barron, School Board Chair Sylvie Smyl, School Board Trustee Jan Rajoo, County of Two Hills Councillor Murray Phillips, Mayor of Myrnam Donna Rudolf and CAO Elsie Kiziak and other parents and community members. We had an ice cream truck by Confectionary 881 hand out ice cream, bubbles, music, line dancing and lawn games. It was a relaxed celebration.”

Eriksen said they are doing things differently at the school and said it is great to be recognized for it. She’s also hoping the publicity the school has received over this will bring more people in to come and tour the school and see what they’re all about. “It’s hard to express what a caring and welcoming learning environment Myrnam School is. The staff are top notch and they students are terrific. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of our family!”

If New Myrnam School is awarded first place in its category, it will receive an equal share of $250,000 (US dollars) to expand and enhance their education projects. The top three finalists for each of the five World’s Best School Prizes will be announced in September, followed by the winners in October.