Media Release
Ottawa pays tribute to the City's top educators

OTTAWA, April 25, 2003 – Ottawa paid tribute to 15 of its top educators Thursday evening at the second annual Capital Educators' Awards and EduGala, held at Algonquin College. The evening included: a reception; a special dinner prepared by students in Algonquin's hospitality program: and the awards ceremony featuring guest speaker Rick Chiarelli, Ottawa City councillor.

Organized by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI), this gala event recognized individuals who have made a significant impact on the lives of their students by acting as role models, instilling confidence and nurturing leadership.

"Ottawa's economic development and prosperity depend heavily upon how well we prepare our young people for the future," said Jeffrey Dale, OCRI's President and CEO. "OCRI is proud to be part of an event that recognizes the men and women that are models to our academic community and whose contribution within classrooms city-wide, create new learning opportunities that help to build strong minds and a strong workforce."

The Capital Educator's Awards recognize educators currently employed by a publicly funded elementary or secondary school, college or university located within the boundaries of the City of Ottawa.

More than 300 local educators were nominated by current and former students, professional colleagues, friends and family. From there, a panel of judges, representing the community, reviewed the publicly submitted nominations and selected 15 award recipients from 62 finalists.

"This year's award recipients are representative of Ottawa's finest most dedicated professionals," said Ottawa City Councillor Rick Chiarelli. "They are exemplary educators that are leading the way to a better future for Ottawa's students and we are proud to have the opportunity to let them know how much we appreciate the work they do each day."

Recipients of the Capital Educators' Award for 2003 were:

About OCRI:
The Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) is Ottawa's economic development corporation. OCRI is the rallying point to bring business, education and research together to create the winning economic conditions that allow Ottawa's technology companies to thrive locally and compete globally. At OCRI we promote sustainable economic development to maintain our high quality of life. For more information on OCRI visit our website at www.ocri.ca and for more information on the Ottawa Region please visit www.ottawaregion.com.

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