Carla Pace

Year: 2016 – Province: British Columbia

Certificate of Achievement Recipient

Carla Pace

Shaughnessy Elementary School
4250 Marguerite Street
Vancouver, British Columbia  V6J 3G3

Principal: Robert Moore
School telephone: 604-713-5500
School website: http://shaughnessy.vsb.bc.ca

Subjects and grades taught:  Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Drama, Physical Education, Grade 5

Carla Pace makes an individual connection with each of her students each day, helping children succeed, quelling behaviour problems and making a lifelong impact on them all.

Teaching approach

Ms. Pace's educational philosophy is grounded in participation as a route to self-discovery and to building the confidence to try and succeed. She teaches to each child's strengths, adapts learning expectations to meet student needs, and promptly addresses lagging skills and exceptional talents.

Outstanding achievements

  • Creates a stimulating learning environment by incorporating art and creativity into almost every area of the curriculum: students design and build board games, 3D models of the digestive tract, and historically accurate projects of First Nations villages.
  • Leads an annual Grade 5 production of a Shakespeare play: rewrites the text for accessibility but maintains the rhyming couplets, ensures each child has a part—even those who speak little English—and organizes a performance with backdrops, props and costumes.
  • Builds student interest in citizenship and participation: class wrote letters to the editor asking that a historical artifact be donated to a museum rather than sold, and took part in a student vote initiative for the 2014 municipal elections.
  • Connects with each child every morning with a handshake and greeting at the classroom door.
  • Art Specialist: students experience a variety of mediums such as pottery, fibre arts, and painting.
  • Head Coach for the Cross Country and Track and Field teams—encourages her whole class to join in with their school community—175 participate yearly.

Rave reviews

"As a university student currently pursuing a career in film-writing and set-designing, I am thankful for Ms. Pace's faith in my artistic abilities so early on in my life."

Former student

"[Ms. Pace] is one of those rare teachers that every child in the school knows long before they have the chance to be in her class, and every child continues to know long after they have been her students."

Parent of nominator (one of Ms. Pace's students)