"Leadership in the OCDSB is the demonstration of personal initiative to achieve a positive outcome."
Students
Under the direction of staff, our student ambassadors serve as representatives of the student population, organizing events and activities for the benefit of all students. They coordinate many events such as school spirit days, a winter activity day for all students, and lead fund-raising initiatives for charitable organizations.
Student representatives have also been included on both our School Improvement Planning Committee and our Character Committee. We greatly value and appreciate the input and ideas from our students.
Our students show leadership and school spirit in sports; an area in which they consistently proudly represent our school at various regional and board events.
Student leadership is consistently demonstrated by the students in our music program. Students regularly perform for a variety of audiences and represent Featherston at an annual music festival.
In addition to formal recognition, we also acknowledge their contributions in our classrooms via our school announcements, newsletters, assemblies, principal’s report to school council, and end-of-year awards ceremonies.
Staff
As a dedicated Professional Learning Community, staff members actively participate in Board-wide and school based professional development sessions in all areas of the curriculum. Our staff also demonstrate leadership and leadership qualities in many ways. Through daily interactions with students and parents/guardians, professional dialogue, and contributions to our school, our staff are continuously building a strong community through their actions. We recognize staff leadership in many ways, including a simple thank you for a job well done to more formal recognition such as cards, letters, announcements, newsletters, assemblies, performance appraisals, and reports to school council.
We would like to highlight the leadership of some of our staff members:
Tanya O’Brien (Learning Resource Teacher) - Mrs. O’Brien was a Director’s Citation recipient 2012. Mrs. O’Brien was a also Capital Educators Awards finalist. She was recognized for her caring, compassion, commitment, and dedication to our special needs students. Mrs. O’Brien is a true leader and models leadership skills on a daily basis.
Yves Seguin (Chief Custodian) - Mr. Seguin was the recipient of the Director’s Citation Award. He received this award for his outstanding contributions to Featherston. Not only does Yves care for his school and the people within it, he is an excellent role model and sets standards for excellence for those who work on his team.
Maggie LeMay (Learning Support Teacher) - Mrs. LeMay along with her colleague, Mrs. O’Brien are the EarthCare team leaders. Their leadership skills were formally recognized at the EarthCare Expo, where Featherston’s EarthCare team was awarded the Jenny Award for their incredible initiatives at the school to make a difference in protecting our environment.
Parents/Guardians/Volunteers
Featherston is extremely fortunate to have many dedicated volunteers who work with our students and staff on a regular basis. We are very grateful to have volunteers who support our instrumental music program and sports teams. Our volunteers also read with students in our classrooms and support our teachers in many ways. For the past three years, our school has participated in the OttawaReads initiative, in which employees from the Canadian Pediatric Association come to our school to read with our primary students on a weekly basis. We also receive volunteers through the Ottawa Centre for Research Innovation (OCRI)- Ottawa Network for Education.
Our dedicated school council meets monthly, working collaboratively with staff to plan activities and fund-raising events to support our school. Last year, our school council purchased technology and science equipment for the school. They also funded arts performances for each pision, reading clubs, sports events, and our school leaving ceremony. One member of our school council is a community representative who works with our school’s EarthCare Team to beautify our school grounds and support our environmental initiatives.
As invaluable partners, we thank our parents/guardians and volunteers on an ongoing basis and look for opportunities to acknowledge them formally through school announcements, our principal’s report to school council, school newsletters, and our annual volunteer appreciation breakfast.
Community
We are pleased to run a breakfast program at the school, which is funded by the Ottawa Network for Education. Last year, Manulife Financial along with two anonymous donors, have provided funding to support the swimming program for the students in our autism program. Our classes access the local City of Ottawa Public Library. Classes visit the library and benefit from a variety of programs being offered. Our teachers also access books and other resources for their classes while visiting the public library. Featherston is proud to have a partnership with our community newspapers (Vistas and EMC), which regularly publish articles about our school initiatives and/or events. In previous years, our school council received a grant from the Tree Canada Foundation (FedEx Express Canada was the corporate sponsor) to plant trees, shrubs, and gardens on our schoolyard.