Paige Kindopp, who currently teaches Grade 1 at Mother Teresa Early Childhood Learning Centre, was speechless after finding out she was a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
Originally published: https://www.meridiansource.ca/kindopp-wins-prime-ministers-teaching-award/
Whether she’s in the classroom or out in the community, Mother Teresa Early Childhood Learning Centre’s Paige Kindopp is the epitome of a 24/7 teacher and always takes the opportunity to be kind.
Kindopp, who currently teaches Grade 1 at Mother Teresa, started this school year on the right foot when she found out she was a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
“I’m overjoyed about it, I was in shock about it, and I wouldn’t be here without the support from everyone around me,” she said.
“My colleagues, the community members, the support I’ve had from admin to take my ideas and run with them … the trust people have put into me is just so impactful and meaningful to me. I wouldn’t have been able to do it if nobody trusted me.”
One of Kindopp’s ideas to get the green light from admin was her “Go Nuts For Donuts” campaign, which consisted of 263 lbs of donut icing, 60 lbs of chocolate fudge icing, 10 lbs of sprinkles and resulted in a total of 5,476 individual donuts sold and $3,422.50 being donated to local organizations.
“We started the donut campaign in January, which is such a stressful time, and I see that in my students,” she said.
“It’s just after Christmas, money’s tight, people’s spirits were down and we just went through a pandemic, so I wanted to lift up spirits.”
Sobeys jumped on board as the producers the first year, which snowballed into a second year and brought in over $11K for local non-profits.
Now in her eighth year of teaching, this will be Kindopp’s sixth year with the LCSD; she cherishes every day in the classroom.
“The best part of my day is the kids,” she said. “Seeing their light bulbs go off, greeting them in the morning, having them greet me in the morning and ask how I’m doing; that’s the best part of my day.
“Their kindness and compassion amazes me.”
Kindopp was inspired to become a teacher in Grade 2 while in Betty-Anne Namur’s class at Martin Browne School and still credits this experience with passion today.
“I had such an influential teacher in my childhood and she just sparked elementary for me; I’ll never forget it,” she said.
“I really relied on teaching just like she did and making an impact just like she did.”
Originally published: https://www.meridiansource.ca/kindopp-wins-prime-ministers-teaching-award/
;
