North Island Secondary School Principal Jay Dixon was nominated this year for a Premier’s Award for Excellence in Education, under the category of School and District Leadership, ultimately finishing as a runner up for the prestigous award.
There were a total of 188 nominations that were narrowed down to three people in seven categories.
“We were invited to the Government House in Victoria for World Teacher’s Day (Oct. 5) for a formal event with the lieutenant governor, education minister, our premier, and many other lead educators from around the province,” said Dixon, who noted that “As a small-town boy from Port McNeill, it was the most formal event I have ever attended. It was truly an eyeopener and was fascinating to have dinner with all the other finalists and talk about how they approach learning in our province, and I really learned a lot.”
Dixon added that it was incredibly fascinating for him “to be at an event with likeminded people who all want the best for kids in our province. It was an honour to be invited and to be noticed as one of the top schools in our province. I believe that our students, our parents, and our community should be proud of the work they are doing. This is not about me, this is about our communities working together to get to this point. I’ve been blessed to help guide that.”
Dixon praised School District 85 (SD85) as an amazing organization to be a part of, noting he was an SD85 graduate in 1995.
He returned home to the North Island for a temporary place to live “and I’ve been here for over 12 years now. I’ve invested my time and energy into SD85 and they have reciprocated and been a fantastic employer. They are leading our school district in a direction that is forefront in our province. They want the best for all learners, and I believe it’s all of our responsibility for all our schools to provide quality education and keep striving towards that goal.”
Dixon actually got to shake hands with Premier John Horgan at the awards banquet that night, stating that he found Horgan to be “Very supportive of the work we do, and he has visited NISS before informally … he’s a caring, easy going premier, and he really wants the best for the youth in our province, and that’s where he and I share the same opinion.”
The Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education were created to recognize the enormous contributions of B.C.’s exceptional teachers, administrators and support staff that are vital to the cultural, economic and social well-being of the province.
