When playschool teacher Aline Beaudoin got notice of a Purolator package to be picked up, she assumed it must have been something her husband had ordered.
She let her husband know about it, and he picked it up, leaving it unopened and lying around the house. It was much later when she picked up the package and realized, ‘Hey, this is for me!’
When she opened it, she was struck dumb by the contents. Inside was a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office, recognizing her with the 2014 Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in early childhood education, making her one of 19 recipients from across the country.
“I was totally speechless . . . It’s very humbling.” She stops, unable to continue for a few minutes, before getting up to wipe her eyes.
For 14 years, Beaudoin has been a constant, smiling presence at École du Sommet’s playschool.
“Aline never has bad days,” Principal Karen Chalmers-Beaulieu says. Oh, she might have the odd bad day, but no one ever knows about it if that’s the case.
When a child comes to school crying or upset about being left behind, Beaudoin is quick to comfort and cheer them up, keeping an eye out through the day for the little one.
“She’s kind of grandmaman, but at the same time, she’s also educating,” said Chalmers-Beaulieu, adding Beaudoin’s skills and work made her a natural choice to be nominated for the award, with several people supporting the nomination with reference letters.
As the playschool teacher, she serves as the ambassador for the school to new parents, and her talent for welcoming people serves her well in the role, Chalmers-Beaulieu says.
“She’s the one that’s opening the door to École du Sommet.”
Beaudoin ran a dayhome for 15 years before moving to St. Paul, and spent a year in the community before she got a call from Margo Fauchon, who was then chair of the École du Sommet parent committee. Fauchon told her about a playschool teaching opportunity.
“She says, ‘Aline, you would love this,’” remembers Beaudoin. “She says, ‘It would be easy,’” and at this last statement, Beaudoin breaks out in one of her customary full-out belly laughs.
“I thought, ‘OK, I’ll try it out.’”
That first year, there were 20 students in the class, a big change from running a dayhome and one that required a steep learning curve. But as the years went on, Beaudoin says she’s developed a lot more confidence in her teaching abilities and with the training she’s taken on, more understanding about children’s needs.
Beaudoin is quick to give credit for the award back to her colleagues and the parents for supporting her, saying, “We don’t do anything by ourselves . . . I love doing what I’m doing because people have encouraged me.”
And she doesn’t plan to stop any time soon. “I’m learning so much personally on child development and the importance of their well-being. I can’t get enough of it,” she said. “I just know this is where I’m supposed to be.”
