Year: 2019 — Province: Alberta
Certificate of Excellence Recipient
Communication Technologies and Media, and Communication Technologies, grades 7–12
Father Patrick Mercredi High School, Fort McMurray, Alberta
"Tamarra [has proven] to be a dedicated and dynamic teacher. Regardless of the subject of the curriculum Tamarra knows how to reach the students! As she continues to spend her time in schools, her dedication continues to grow."
— Principal
A long-time educator, Tamarra Price Chambrinho is the "heart and soul" of the school's communications technologies and media design program. She builds close relationships with students who take her classes every year or even every semester from grades 7 to 12.
Teaching approach
Tamarra seeks to instil strong leadership characteristics in her students, teaching them about determination, teamwork, independence, reliability and self-sufficiency. Acting as a class facilitator, she makes young people feel valued and productive, which leads to high attendance and success.
STEM in the classroom
- Ensures students—at a school in a remote community—have the technology they need: she opens the school on weekends so students can use the Internet and resources they might not have at home; students regularly participate in regional and provincial skills competitions.
- Enables all students to participate, learn and grow in their digital and creative literacy: provides visual supports for students new to speaking English; teaching videos let students see and replay instructions, which benefits special education students, who develop new skills and feel included.
- Emphasizes cooperative learning and mentorship: advanced students help those who are new to communication technology and media design; others create enriched projects outside the scope of her classes (e.g. using stop-motion animation to demonstrate concepts in biology).
- Teaches students how to capture and display their materials in a professional manner, stressing the importance of following copyright procedures and respecting privacy, and how to be professional when taking pictures and videos in the school and community.
Outstanding achievements
- Created school's communications technology and media design program: developed and aligned curriculum, and prepared classroom with hands-on learning resources to differentiate instruction for the hundreds of students; has rebuilt after damage from Fort McMurray wildfires.
- Is a mentee and soon to be a mentor in the Indspire program, gathering ideas for helping meet the diverse needs of the school's Indigenous students (e.g. implementing traditional beading with coding for middle school robotics and computer classes).
- Instrumental in planning 2016 graduation, despite losing her home to the wildfires, six-week evacuation and there being no venue big enough to hold it due to ongoing clean up.
Get in touch!
Father Patrick Mercredi High School
455 Silin Forest Road
Fort McMurray AB T9H 4V6
780-799-5725
fm@fmcsd.ab.ca; https://fathermercredi.fmcschools.ca/
Facebook: @trapperpride