ARCHIVED—Recipient Bios
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Year: 2002 – Province: Ontario
Certificate of Excellence Recipients
John Cordukes
School: Cobourg District Collegiate
135 King Street West
Cobourg, Ontario K9A 2M7
Principal: Caroline McNamara
School Telephone: 905-372-2191
School Fax: 905-372-1155
School Website: www.cdciwest.com
Grades/Subjects Taught: Grades 10-12, science, chemistry, biology, environmental science
Teaching Approach:
- Heighten students' awareness of global environmental issues and instil in them a sense of social conscience and civic responsibility towards the environment.
- Help students understand that they are important and that what they are learning is valuable.
Outstanding Achievements:
Fosters academic learning and global environmental awareness with innovative Web projects:
- The World Wide Biome Project allows students from around the world to share information about the flora and fauna of their areas and discuss by email various relevant ecological issues.
- Co-developed a science website with course-specific pages that provide hints for tests, review materials and enrichment questions, slide shows of student labs, movie clips of science activities and mark updates. In addition, students can contact the teacher by email for tutorial assistance.
Brings science to life with field trips, interesting biology projects and contests:
- Students see science in action with field trips to a nearby nuclear station, the Ministry of Natural Resources and hospitals in the area.
- Students gain authentic experiences of field work through partnerships with Ministry of Natural Resources personnel and university research scientists.
- Students challenge themselves and each other through participation in science-related competitions and fairs, scoring in the 78th percentile nationally in the University of Toronto national biology contest and winning gold medals at the Canada-Wide Science Fair. A Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West student was chosen to join the first student expedition to the Antarctic in 2000.
Rave Reviews:
"Thank you, sir, for being a bit of stability during high school, this time of chaos. Thank you for listening, instilling, believing in each of us. You have a spirit that each of us respects and strives for." Student
"When students find out that Mr. Cordukes is teaching a class, their response is inevitably a mixture of excitement and relief. They know that the course material will be delivered in an interesting, innovative yet totally comprehensive manner." Fellow teacher