Carla Cuglietta

Year: 2016 – Province: Alberta

Certificate of Achievement Recipient

Carla Cuglietta

St. Joseph High School
10830 109th Street
Edmonton, Alberta  T5H 3C1

Principal: Hugh MacDonald
School telephone: 780-426-2010
School email: 8407web@ecsd.net
School website: http://www.stjoseph.ecsd.net

Subjects and grades taught: Religious studies, Grade 11, Service Learning Grades 10-12.

With her contagious energy, Carla Cuglietta leaves a lasting mark on everyone she encounters, her students most of all. Inside and outside of school, her ability to lead and inspire positive change has had a wide and enduring ripple effect.

Teaching approach

Mrs. Cuglietta weaves physical, intellectual and spiritual development into all she does. She engages students in activities that balance skill and character development, recognizing that the greatest lessons result from students implementing knowledge in tangible ways that benefit themselves and the community.

Outstanding achievements

  • Developed and led the 2015 WE Stand. WE Lead leadership summit, bringing 1,500 students together to learn about being leaders in their own lives and in the local and global communities. The 2016 Summit was even more successful than the first and has now started to travel the world with its first stop in Shanghai, China last February and more stops scheduled.
  • Initiated full-school assemblies to celebrate student achievement and develop a sense of community among staff and students in an otherwise independent learning environment.
  • Instrumental in bringing the "flipped classroom" model to the department: content is delivered outside of class time, through videos and podcasts, leaving school hours to focus on absorbing, transmitting, contextualizing and implementing the new knowledge.
  • Leads a social justice club and service-learning program: students volunteer in the school and with organizations such as paired reading programs, soup kitchens, Habitat for Humanity and Ronald McDonald House.
  • Chosen as one of two Canadians to pilot and implement a peace curriculum with teachers and the Ministry of Education in Sierra Leone and soon to be leading a team to Uganda and with the Canadian Teachers' Federation.
  • Awarded the YWCA Women of Distinction Award 2015 for her work in gender equity education and women's' microfinance loans in India.

Rave reviews

"With [Mrs. Cuglietta], I feel that anything is possible. She has been a role model to me and I hope to become as compassionate, dedicated and inspiring as her."

Student

"[Carla] is a powerful and passionate leader who inspires and enables others to lead lives of strength and service."

Colleagues