Quebec teacher up for $1M prize

MONTREAL — An educator from a remote northern Quebec community who is vying for a prestigious $1-million US teaching award wanted to keep the spotlight on her students — so she brought three of them to attend the ceremony in the Middle East.

Maggie MacDonnell is one of 10 people up for the Global Teacher Prize, having beaten out 20,000 other applicants from 179 countries. She is the only North American to make the final cut.

The winner will be announced today, but MacDonnell, somewhat reluctant about applying at first, said she’s happy to share the experience with some of her students at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai.

“Any relationship is a two-way street — they also trusted me or invited me to come into their lives,” MacDonnell told the Canadian Press. “They’re a huge part of the story and the reason I chose to get involved [in the award] was to make sure it could in some way benefit their lives.”

The students were able to get to the Middle East thanks to financial help from the Kativik School Board and Air Inuit.

MacDonnell, a native of Afton, in Antigonish County, N.S., is being recognized for her work at Ikusik High School in Salluit, Quebec’s second-most northern community.

She repeatedly balked at the idea of a nomination. “[A friend] finally convinced me by saying: ‘You work with such a unique population, think about this as a way to raise their profile.’ ”

MacDonnell has championed physical activity and has seen tangible success starting a running club and helping set up a fitness centre. They’re welcome in a region where youth battle substance abuse, isolation and suicide. Ten kids have taken their lives over a twoyear period in just her community.

MacDonnell, who worked in Botswana, Tanzania and Congo before moving to northern Quebec, said that in a place where student needs outweigh available resources, teaching them to use physical activity to help with their mental health is key.

“I can’t say it’s going after the root issues — physical activity isn’t the solution to the housing crisis, it isn’t a solution to the food security those kids are facing in the north,” said MacDonnell. “But it is a tool to building resilience and it’s a really great coping strategy for them to have considering all that they’re dealing with.”

If she wins, MacDonnell wants to start an environmental stewardship program for northern youth, focused on kayaking.