Yvan Girouard

Year: 2016 – Province: Quebec

Certificate of Excellence Recipient

Yvan Girouard

École secondaire les Etchemins
3724, avenue des Églises
Lévis (Québec) G6X 1M4

Principal: François Sylvain
School's telephone: 418-834-2462
School's email: etchemins@csnavigateurs.qc.ca
School's website: http://esle.qc.ca/web/

Grades and subjects taught: Environmental sciences and technology in secondary 4

He has been dubbed "Professor Duracell", and that name suits him to a T! Because Yvan Girouard is an untiring dynamo, always looking for new ways to light up his students and make knowledge shine in his class and his school.

Teaching method

Mr. Girouard's approach is to inspire his students by offering them a plethora of innovative projects and incorporating technology into his teaching. A dedicated teacher, he utilizes his many interests to bring his students to excel not only academically, but also in sports and their social lives.

Outstanding achievements

  • An early adopter of information and communications technology (ICT), he has produced approximately a hundred 3D videos—scientific experiments, extracurricular activities—to help his students learn, which are loaded onto the school's website.
  • Originator of numerous projects aimed at stimulating creativity and innovation among young people, including creating a "museum class" and building a dinosaur almost 10 meters long from recycled materials, which was submitted to the Guiness Book of Records.
  • Recipient of the Commission scolaire des Navigateurs' Phare 2012 prize and chosen as one of Quebec's best teachers by the Journal de Montréal.
  • Engaged in many extracurricular activities, including the Michael Smith Challenge Canadian science competition where he led his students to win the certificate of excellence on three occasions.
  • Produced two videos, with 1,500 and 900 students, that took honours at Amnesty Canada and Amnesty International competitions. 

Complimentary comments

"Integrating ICT, which is front and centre in his inventory of teaching methods, makes him a most forward-thinking teacher."

A colleague

"Above and beyond his passion for teaching science, Mr. Girouard has the soul of a teacher and everything he does on a daily basis clearly reflects that."

A school principal