Abbi Easton

Year: 2016 – Province: Alberta

Certificate of Achievement Recipient

Abbi Easton

Holy Trinity Catholic High School
230 Powder Drive
Fort McMurray, Alberta  T9K 0W8

Principal: Lucy Moore
School telephone: 780-792-0012
School email: ht@fmcsd.ab.ca
School website: http://holytrinity.fmcschools.ca/

Subjects and grades taught: Math, Science, Blogging, Website Design and Health, Grade 9

Kind and compassionate, driven and focused, flexible and adaptable—and tech-savvy—Abbi Easton never backs down from a challenge and goes out of her way to mentor both students and colleagues.

Teaching approach

Mrs. Easton creates a stimulating learning environment and plans impeccably to offer open-ended opportunities for enquiry so students can develop skills through problem solving and application.

Outstanding achievements

  • Transitioned from teaching Grade 1 to Grade 9, bringing with her techniques to engage her older students, such as having experts help them apply what they are learning; for example, students explained to a master electrician the circuits they had built; he, in turn, helped them solve problems.
  • Spearheaded the introduction of Promethean boards (interactive whiteboards) to the school, introducing the idea to the parent council (who then fundraised for them) and showing teachers how to use them effectively to create a student-centred learning environment.
  • Co-created and delivered a unit on cyber-bullying in Grade 9 Health, having noticed a lack of resources on the topic during her first year teaching the course.
  • Instrumental in helping teachers prepare Grade 9 students for provincial achievement test: the school exceeded provincial averages for both acceptable and excellent performance.
  • Developed more than 300 interactive whiteboard lessons for use in all areas of the Grade 1 curriculum, and shared them with teachers across the school and district.
  • Led a team of primary-level educators to identify learning outcomes and improve instructional techniques for reading and writing.

Rave reviews

"Abbi is selfless with her time, resources, and creativity. She is always willing to help a co-worker become inspired, and uses professional learning time to collaborate with others on their own lesson planning."

Colleague

"She exemplifies what it means to be an engaged teacher, quickly fostering and nurturing deep relationships with students and parents long after a school year ends. Once a Mrs. Easton student, always a Mrs. Easton student."

Vice-principal