Tilchen Award for Excellence in Teaching

Yesterday was the last day of school which meant awards for the top students in each class.  This year, we added a new element.  We also gave awards to the top teachers.  Teacher Joyce and I worked with Henry Timnick to create an award for effective teaching that would reward teachers who had done well this year.

The award requires three things:  effective teaching, hard work with a positive attitude and fair, respectful discipline.  The recipients of the awards were determined by student survey, observations and student performance on exams and classwork. 

This year, we were lucky to have three clear winners.  They were presented with certificates and cash awards that were donated by Henry Timnick in honor of his mother.  The teachers and the students were very surprised.  It was so fun to be able to reward the teachers for their hard work.  They were extremely grateful for the recognition.  It was a wonderful day to be at KEMPS!

Below is an introduction written by Henry Timnick that describes the award's namesake: 

Ottilie ( Tilchen) Schroeter Timnick was born in Russia of German parents in 1894. She immigrated to Canada in 1928, penniless, because the Bolsheviks expropriated her family's wealth and property in the Russian Revolution.
She had to start all over in a new land at age 34, learn English, and help her family survive a devastating world depression. She graced those fortunate to meet and know her for 108 happy years.

Through hard work and strong faith, Tilchen led her family to prosper in Regina, Canada. She was the embodiment of a Renaissance woman. She was a talented singer and mandolin player, gardener, actress, herbalist, story teller, and loving mother.

She was an unforgettable person, who made everyone laugh and feel important. Tilchen's life was about serving others.

Although she didn't have an extensive formal education, she educated herself by being a voracious reader, and amazed everyone with her quick wit and brilliance. Education and music were at the top of her list for everyone in her family, and even with limited means during the depression, she somehow found the money to send her children to the best secondary school in Regina.

She would have been thrilled to have visited KEMPS, to meet all the wonderful and beautiful children, and to speak with the Administration and teachers of this extraordinary school. And because she believed everyone ought to do their best in everything one does, she taught us that the goal in one's endeavors should always be to reach EXCELLENCE. She had little patience with mediocrity.

How excited she would have been to celebrate with the teachers who will be receiving their Tilchen Teaching Award of Excellence today.

Her humble and very proud son-----Henry Otto Timnick        November 11, 2015