A provincial education organization has given a Moose Jaw educator an award for her efforts to enhance the Catholic faith in new teachers and improve religious education for students.
During a ceremony in Lloydminster in mid-October, the Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association gave Jodie Bzdel the SCSBA appreciation award, which honours people for their commitment and contribution to Catholic education in Saskatchewan.
Bzdel has worked in Catholic education for 32 years, including 11 years with Holy Trinity Catholic School Division as a classroom teacher, reading intervention and student support teacher and a French, literacy, and early learning consultant. Moreover, she spent the past five years as a religious education consultant.
In that role, Bzdel was responsible for the professional development of new educators, explaining the expectations of teaching in a Catholic school and supporting them on their faith journey. By co-teaching, modelling lessons and planning together, they learned how to permeate faith throughout the day.
Furthermore, she believes Catholic education should bring students to Jesus Christ and enable them to bring Christ to the world. This means Catholic educators and leaders should pray for and with students and teach them to pray.
Bzdel was also involved in writing and reviewing provincial curricula and religious education programs for kindergarten to Grade 12. She accomplished this while completing her master’s degree in religious education.
She returned full-time this year to École St Margaret as the vice-principal and student support teacher and is teaching some classes in grades 7 and 8.
“I was very honoured to even be nominated. All the hard work we do in our schools, it’s awesome to be nominated by our trustees. And receiving a provincial education for Catholic education was just a real honour,” Bzdel told the Express, noting this is validation for the great things the division does in its classrooms.
Two leaders in each school guide faith permeation activities throughout the year, Bzdel explained. When she was the religious consultant, she brought those people together to plan and share ideas of what worked best to educate “the whole child” and address students’ physical, spiritual, intellectual and emotional characteristics.
“Our faith is the base of all we do every day,” she remarked.
Holy Trinity was already doing amazing with promoting the Catholic faith when Bzdel stepped into the role, she continued. Her goal was to better connect parishes and school communities to strengthen those relationships.
Priests began attending meetings and interacting with schools’ faith leaders. They then began visiting the schools more often to support teachers, students and families on their faith journey.
“I think lots of great things were done through God. God is the backbone of all we do in our school division,” said Bzdel. “He gives us the opportunity every day to have Catholic education and Catholic schools and to teach students to know God, to love God and to serve God every day.”
Bzdel enjoyed visiting schools and helping them pursue projects focused on issues like development and peace fundraisers, social justice activities and truth and reconciliation initiatives.
In Moose Jaw, some schools are working with St. Joseph Parish to support a church in Pelican Narrows in northern Saskatchewan by providing clothing and other supplies.
Other projects included yearly Moving in Faith walks that fundraised for the food bank, regular interactions with priests in the archdiocese, and supporting everyone who entered a Catholic building.
Bzdel said she always felt supported by the division’s education directors and boards of education; they always approved of her team’s ideas and anything that supported the faith journeys of students and staff.
Moreover, they provided funding to bring in motivational speakers for annual faith days — which every employee attended — that helped kick off the school year.
“There’s lots of exciting things that have happened over the last five years,” added Bzdel, “and I know we’re going to continue (them) with Lisa Busta taking over as division chaplain.”
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