(Photo: CPAC)

Engagement is one of the tools used by a Riverview teacher who recently received a Prime Minister’s award for teaching excellence.

Andrew Harris is a grade 2 teacher at Riverview East.

He focuses on getting the students excited about learning, “Make their learning fun and interactive. And I incorporate a lot of technology and games and try to kind of think like a kid when I’m planning my lessons to make sure it’s something that they’re going to enjoy doing. The students when they’re young have such a natural excitement for school and they love coming to school and they’re so interested and passionate about so many things. It is definitely my hope to not diminish that through their learning and make sure that they’re excited about school and see it as a place where they’re accepted and that they can express themselves, and keep that going as they get older and make sure that flame doesn’t die out.”

Harris adds projects are a key part of the curriculum, with themes that involve ideas that can be used in real life.

“I think that it’s important that teachers just make sure that they keep their teaching strategies and the content they’re teaching relevant. Every day, the world is changing in such a dramatic way, and the things that are important for our students to know are changing.  With that we have to make sure that we are staying current and modern and keeping up with the times,” Harris says. “Projects get the kids engaged and excited and when we plan projects that are grounded in real life when the students can see that this is a real skill, we really are building something that is in the real world. We find it very engaging for students and help them realize that their education is practical and it will provide use for them in their real life.”

Harris is one of three New Brunswick teachers to receive an award in 2022. Angela D’Entremont and Shauna Kelly, from Fredericton, each received the Prime Minister’s Certificate of Achievement.

Harris was in Ottawa last week to receive a Teaching Excellence award from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.