Beaumier Award for High School/CÉGEP Chemistry Teachers

Sponsored by the Beaumier Churcott Foundation

The Beaumier Award for High School/CÉGEP Chemistry Teachers is presented in recognition of excellence in teaching chemistry at the high school or CÉGEP level and to encourage and promote chemistry at the high school and Cégep level in Canada.

View the Terms of Reference and list of Past Winners

The 2024 winner of the Beaumier Award for High School/CÉGEP Chemistry Teachers are:

Jennifer Winters
Amos Comenius Memorial School, NL

Jennifer Winters completed her Bachelor of Science at the University of Prince Edward Island in 2001 and Bachelor of Education at St. Thomas University (Fredericton, NB) in 2002. She was immediately offered a position to teach senior high science and math in the predominantly Inuit, remote community of Hopedale (Northern Labrador) at Amos Comenius Memorial School. Jennifer is still teaching there today. Through discussions with her students, members of the community, and her love of exploring nature, she has been able to tie traditional Inuit knowledge to subjects such as Chemistry, Earth Systems, Biology, and Math. Her continued belief is that the best way to engage students is through the discussion of topics that relate to their everyday lives. Once students begin to see the value in acquiring knowledge about their own environments, specifically through a scientific lens, they begin to be engaged in the curriculum that is still necessary for the prerequisite knowledge that is used to pursue more advanced topics in science.

 

Reuben Mahaffy
Spruce Grove Composite High School, AB


Reuben Mahaffy is a passionate and creative Chemistry teacher at Spruce Grove Composite High School in Spruce Grove, Alberta. Over the past decade here he has fostered a classroom culture where Chemistry is accessible and interesting, and he has played a pivotal role in the ongoing development of an innovative and robust lab program.
Beyond the classroom, Reuben is a popular speaker at Teachers’ Conventions, where he shares his enthusiasm for student-led lab design, performance assessment, and the importance of storytelling in science education. His YouTube channel, Adventures in Chemistry, highlights his efforts to make science accessible and boasts over 300,000 subscribers. A short film, “Adventures in Chemistry: Heart of Silver” (an ode to a redox reaction), was featured at the 2022 Edmonton Short Film Festival.
It has been Reuben’s privilege to work within a collaborative and innovative science department where his creativity has been nurtured, and his zany antics have been embraced. He has benefited immeasurably from the ongoing support of his colleagues and in turn has become a mentor for new department members and other chemistry teachers in the province.
Reuben holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a B.Ed. in Secondary Education, both from The King’s University in Edmonton, Alberta.

Website

 

Past Winners