Recipient's Name:  Ruth Letson

School:  Glenview Park Secondary

Grade: Grades 9 and 12 math

Number of Years Teaching: 16

• Ruth Letson is in her sixteenth year of teaching.  She loves driving her '62 Beetle to Glenview Park Secondary where she teaches math.

Ruth believes that her job is to find the good in each student who walks through the door.  She cares for her students before she teaches them math.  Ruth is very sympathetic to their age group and realizes that we often forget that what is small to us as adults is not small to teens.  She lets them have their bad days and reminds them that tomorrow they get to start fresh.  An important part of each day is greeting her students as they enter her room.  She gets to have conversations with them and asks them how things are going.  If something is really "eating" them then Ruth says, "Today doesn't need to be about math but about life."  She notes that stresses at home are tenfold what they used to be.  As a teacher she needs to understand this, nurture her students, work with them and help them find successes and feel good about themselves.  Ruth gives lots of hugs!

Ruth spends lots of time convincing her students that they can do math and that she will guide them.  She believes math is key because it teaches one how to problem solve and find solutions.  Life is about finding solutions. 

Donna, one of Ruth's students, was inspired by her.  She wrote:

I have known Mrs. Letson personally for about 3 years and have come to know her very well.  Her days are spent preparing lessons by power point which can take hours.  This shows true dedication to her job and that she wants to share her knowledge.  Day after day she spends motivating her classes to do their best.  Having her as a teacher twice in one year I have heard her speeches on how much she cares and wants everyone to succeed in math.  For the first two years of high school I came out with nearly failing math marks.  Once I hit her class my marks rose by as much as 30%. 

Mrs. Letson treats every student exactly the same with a kind and caring heart.  She values everyone's opinions and never has anything bad to say.  I now think that I can do anything because of her outward and positive attitude that everyone can succeed.  I had no idea what I wanted to be when I first entered high school.  Now I want to be a teacher.  I see no better person for this award than Mrs. Letson.  Her true dedication and kindness makes her an awesome teacher.