A teacher at Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby is being recognized for her exceptional work.
Penny Senior was among the recipients of the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM, receiving a Certificate of Achievement.
The awards celebrate outstanding teachers from elementary to high school across all subjects, as well as early childhood educators, for their innovative approaches. Categories include Teaching Excellence, Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and Early Childhood Education.
These awards honor remarkable elementary and secondary school teachers across various disciplines along with early childhood educators for their creative practices. Awards were given at both regional and national levels within these categories.
Senior serves as the Director of Experiential Learning at Trafalgar, where her leadership has played a key role in making the school one of just 23 Apple Distinguished Schools in Canada. Trafalgar hosts an award-winning robotics team, a dynamic tech-focused curriculum, and fosters an environment where students build confidence and passion while taking pride in their educational journeys.
Here are some examples of how she incorporates STEM into her classroom along with her notable achievements:
Created a cross-curricular “Accessibility Project” that blends math, tech, and robotics-students pinpointed inaccessible areas in the school, devised solutions, and programmed robots to test those designs Introduced woodworking into the Design Tech program by equipping the classroom with tools and benches so students could design and create birdhouses Teaches digital literacy and responsible AI usage by inviting guest speakers such as Microsoft engineers to discuss cybersecurity and emerging technologies Utilizes interactive resources like VR headsets and green screens in the “Design Tech Classroom” to enhance STEM learning-from coding lessons to studying local creek ecosystems Organizes field trips that link technology with empathy and health; for instance, exploring how VR can assist dementia patients Launched “Beyond the Castle,” a week-long initiative where students investigate everything from Indigenous sites to potential career paths; Grade 10s focus on “Women in STEM” through collaborations with Deloitte, Microsoft, and University of Toronto Established the school’s first post-secondary STEM partnership which provides conditional acceptance and scholarship opportunities at Ontario Tech University Initiated “Trafalgar Talks,” a speaker series showcasing women from fields such as nuclear engineering, pastry arts, and entrepreneurship Leads award-winning robotics teams that compete nationally including Ontario Tech’s LEGO Sumobot Challenge-Grade 8s received the Women in Engineering Award for Sportsmanship while Grade 7s won Best Poster Design Creates learning experiences beyond the classroom-for example, leading a trip to the Dominican Republic centered on gender equity, environmental issues, and community impact Fosters student leadership by mentoring robotics team members while guiding student council projects and coordinating volunteer activities with community organizations like Durham Feed the Need
Photo courtesy of Trafalgar Castle School
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