The Lakeland Catholic School District gave Julie Chorney the Excellence in Catholic Education Award earlier this month at their annual Blueprint conference.
The Lakeland Catholic School District gave Julie Chorney the Excellence in Catholic Education Award earlier this month at their annual Blueprint conference.
The award is given every year to a school board member who best exemplifies both practicing Catholicism as well as someone who works to improve their ability as an educator. It’ s an award Chorney is proud to receive.
“The Excellence in Catholic Education award, in my eyes, is a pinnacle of recognition,” she said. “It reflects one’ s commitment and dedication to Catholic Education. It’ s not about being ‘the best,’ it’ s about striving to make education the best for our students.”
Chorney is the religious education co-ordinator for Lakeland Catholic District School Board, which means she helps organize religious education in schools throughout the district. She has served in Light of Christ Catholic School in Lac La Biche during the school’ s first year of operating in Lac La Biche, as well as serving in Waskatenau, Bonnyville and Cold Lake the last eight years since becoming an administrator.
She was raised in a Catholic family and has always had a desire to teach, mentoring Air Cadets when she was younger and then doing volunteer teaching at her former high school as many as five days a week when she was in university.
Chorney said that he passion for Catholic education in particular was always there.
“In some regards, I have likely always known that I would be a Catholic educator,” she said. “I just needed to realize that I wanted to follow this path.”
Her career with Lakeland Catholic School Board started in 2002 in Cold Lake, first as teacher, then as a coach and then as an administrator. Aside from her professional work, she and her family are also active in St. Dominic and Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Churches in Cold Lake.
But she is also fond of her placement at Light of Christ Catholic School in Lac La Biche, saying that the new school is doing many good things and she is proud of the work she is doing at the school.
“Light of Christ Catholic School has had an incredibly powerful culture of inclusion from its very beginning and I have supported our staff and students in growing that culture,” she said.
In particular, Chorney points to a spring concert tied in with Mother’ s Day that was held for seniors as a recent example of what’ s being done.
But for what she’ s doing now, the educator also points to her beginnings going with her mother to help volunteer at the family’ s local Catholic school.
“Everything felt so exciting and yet comfortable that it was clear that I would both enjoy and have some gifts to offer this amazing profession,” she said.
One person in each Catholic board in Alberta was given the award.
