GNS Celebrating Staff Excellence

At Grande Yellowhead, we are very proud of our staff’s dedication and passion for always ‘going the extra’, whether in a professional or volunteer role, to ensure their students’ success. Many are also recognized externally for their efforts at the provincial and national levels. We wanted to share with our stakeholders just a few of these individuals about their recent achievements and awards, and that their contributions have not gone unnoticed!

Michael Hargas, Teacher and Senior High Athletic Director at Grand Trunk School in Evansburg. Mr. Hargas received the North Central Award of Merit 2024 in December for his outstanding service towards the promotion and operation of athletic programs in their zone of the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (ASAA).

Shirley Caputo, School Board Trustee, Hinton. Ms. Caputo was awarded a King Charles III’s Coronation Medal in December acknowledging her many years of significant volunteer and charitable contributions in her community. MP Gerald Soroka presented the medal to Trustee Caputo.

GYPSD Communications and Critical Incident Command Teams. Members of both teams were nationally recognized with a BRAVO! award for their 2024 Wildfire Planning and Crisis Response work from the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education (CACE).

We also wish to congratulate Brian Orge, Director of Facilities, for his 2024 appointment to the Executive for the Alberta Educational Facilities Administrators’ Association as Zone Director, and to Kandis Gilks, Supervisor Teacher-Educational Technology, as the new Zone 2 Director for the Alberta Technology Leaders in Education. We have no doubt that the Division is well represented at the provincial level by these hard-working individuals, and that they will ensure that GYPSD is on the cutting edge of innovation and leadership development.