Armand Doucet

Year: 2016 – Province: New Brunswick

Certificate of Excellence Recipient

Armand Doucet

Riverview Middle School
45 Devere Road
Riverview, New Brunswick  E1B 2M4

Principal: Nancy Matthews
School telephone: 506-856-3449
School email: nancy.matthews@nbed.nb.ca
School website: http://rms.nbed.nb.ca

Subjects and Grades Taught: Physical Education, Health, grades 6 to 8

An engaged and compassionate member of the community with a larger-than-life personality, Armand Doucet turned to teaching after a successful private sector career to make a difference in children's lives. He has instilled pride, hope and a sense of possibility in the students and staff at his large middle school.

Teaching approach

"Mr. D." develops and nurtures students' desire to ask and answer questions by providing constant constructive feedback, and teaches students how to reflect and communicate in a professional manner. He uses team-building and problem-solving exercises to help students learn how to work together, set goals and be accountable for their decisions and actions.

Outstanding achievements

  • Implemented a testing program so more than 300 students could become aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and how they learn best by assessing multiple intelligences, and predominant personality traits and characteristics.
  • Raised funds in less than a month to bring technology into his classroom, including an iPad cart, Macbook, iPads, Apple TV, video cameras and other devices.
  • Rebuilt classroom damaged by water and vandalism to construct brainstorming centres with repurposed desktops on which students can write with dry erase markers during group work.
  • Garnered international attention for the school by transforming it into Hogwarts to bring the Harry Potter books to life, encourage reading and improve student literacy.
  • Leads by example. For his "Iron Will—What will you do' campaign to encourage students to get active, he ran 30 km for 30 days in a row (and 91 km on Day 31). The campaign involved 13 schools, 2,500 students and more than 5,000 community members.
  • Introduced technology such as pedometers and health apps in Physical Education so students can monitor their progress and take ownership of their health and fitness.

Rave reviews

"[Armand's] drive to help his students is unmatched, his enthusiasm is contagious, and the results speak for themselves: his students love to learn with him."

Parent

"Every day we are learning, developing and practising new ways to think critically or to show leadership."

Student