Montreal special needs teacher honoured with Prime Minister’s Award

A Montreal high school teacher is the only teacher from Quebec this year to be recognized with the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

Gail Bernstein, a teacher at L.I.N.K.S High School in Ahuntsic, was nominated by the school’s principal after her role in helping the school and special needs students transition to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With perseverance, they learned together how to use several online platforms,” said Maria Caldarella, Principal of L.I.N.K.S High School. “She carried her philosophy and experience forward to every level and course she taught. Her priority was to delve into each student’s strengths, interests, talents and learning style through experiential learning and a cross-curricular approach.”

“We have to remember how we make people feel and here at links, especially. Gail It’s important that, you know, working on student’s self-confidence, their image and just a sense of belonging in the community, in a school, in a job is, speaks, speaks mountains.”

Since 1994, 1,700 teachers across Canada have received the award showcasing their achievements in education.

“Throughout my career, I have always been given very positive feedback for my projects and ideas and thanked for my mentorship and dedication,” she said. “However, this award puts an official stamp of recognition of my career from the highest level,” said Bernstein after learning about the award.

“I have learned many valuable lessons over the years,” Ms. Bernstein continued in a statement. “Inspiring people to believe in our students, but most importantly inspiring students to believe in themselves. By trusting my instincts, I always have faith that my students will rise to the occasion and will go along for the ride if they see my complete investment in their journey.”

(CREDIT: Sasha Teman/CityNews)

(CREDIT: Sasha Teman/CityNews)

Thursday, Bernstein told CityNews her main priority is exposing her students to the real world beyond the classroom. “We like to transform the narrative what they can do, not what they can’t do. So we want to tell everybody what they can do, what their talents are, what their interests are, what their strengths are, and focus on that,” she explained.

“Connecting the students to the community, advocating for them, sensitizing the public to be aware that we have some amazing students here, we’re always trying to get our students to behave a certain way, interact a certain way with the public. We should be spending more time on sensitizing the public on how to interact with these special individuals.”

During her 35-year teaching career, Bernstein has taught in a variety of areas within special education, which includes The Douglas Psychiatric Hospital, Social Integration Services (SIS) at Marymount Adult Education Centre (now Wagar), and Galileo Adult Education Centre before moving to L.I.N.K.S high school.

(CREDIT: Sasha Teman/CityNews)

(CREDIT: Sasha Teman/CityNews)

-With files from Sasha Teman