Toronto, October 9, 2013 — Mr. Scott Masters, a teacher at Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, Ontario, won the Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education for his innovative approach to promoting understanding and awareness amongst students of the Holocaust as well as its implications.
The award winner was announced today by Jason Kenney, Minister for Multiculturalism, at a special event to honour Holocaust survivor educators held in conjunction with the bi-annual meeting of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
“Mr. Masters has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to Holocaust education,
” said Minister Kenney. “He has developed innovative and meaningful teaching practices and has been successful in instilling an interest in the aftermath of the Holocaust in his students. I am happy to announce that he is the recipient of this important award.
”
This award is one of several special initiatives that are part of Canada’s 2013 IHRA Chair Year. Teachers from across Canada working in a provincially or territorially accredited school, teaching grades 6-12 (elementary 6 to secondary 5 in Quebec), were eligible to apply for the $5,000 award to support Holocaust education at their school. A total of 34 nominations from nine provinces were received for the award. A panel of three judges—a representative of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, a Holocaust educator from the Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education Centre in Winnipeg and a Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) official—selected the top six applications based on the evaluation criteria.
Mr. Masters was selected as the overall winner for his distinctive approach to Holocaust education as well as his ability to engage students in a meaningful and innovative dialogue about the Holocaust, both within his own class but also more broadly. His Oral History Project resulted in a Web page containing almost 200 interviews, including World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors, with students creating digital videos of interviews with members of their family and community. In addition, he organized student participation in the Toronto-wide Holocaust Education Week as well as mounted a human rights and diversity symposium attended by more than 200 students from ten different schools.
The other finalists selected for the award were: Mr. Dale Martelli, Vancouver Technical Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia; Mr. Ken Ipe, Dr. Charles Best Secondary School, Coquitlam, British Columbia; Mr. Graeme Stacey, Kelowna Secondary School, Kelowna, British Columbia; Mme Line Dubé and Mme Annie Frenette, Marie-Clarac secondary school, Montréal, Quebec; and Ms. Tricia Leduc, Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School, Ottawa, Ontario.
Information on Mr. Masters’ and the other top five teachers’ lesson plans, pedagogical approaches and teaching resources will be made available on the CIC website as a resource for Canadian teachers.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is a consensus-based intergovernmental body composed of government officials and experts from 31 countries. Its mandate is to promote Holocaust education, remembrance and research around the world.
For more information on Canada and the Holocaust, visit: www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/holocaust.asp.
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For further information (media only), please contact:
Alexandra Fortier – Minister Kenney
Minister’s Office
819-994-2482
Alexis Pavlich
Minister’s Office – Minister Alexander
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
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