Wellington County councillor receiving prime minister’s teaching excellence award

A former teacher and current Wellington County councillor has been given the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

Diane Ballantyne spent 28 years teaching in the Upper Grand District School Board, 23 of them at the Centre Wellington District High School, before retiring in June.

Ballantyne was chosen by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a 2023 recipient for her activism and advocacy for fundamental values.

“It’s a great honour to cap off such a deeply rewarding career,” Ballantyne said.

“It’s a really nice connection to a career that I really deeply loved.”

Ballantyne was one of 26 teachers selected to receive the award honouring outstanding educators for their dedication and commitment to their students. She credits the students she has taught over the years for the award.

“Their enthusiasm, their curiosity, the humour of working with teenagers is honestly a joy to experience,” Ballantyne said.

“I really learned so much from them so this award is for them.”

County warden Andy Lennox offered his congratulations to Ballantyne for her work as a teacher.

“Ballantyne is an inspirational educator who made a real difference in the lives of students she taught.”

Ballantyne was still teaching when she was first elected to county council in 2018. She says her experience as a teacher helped her in the transition to municipal politics.

“My areas of teaching were about politics, social justice, law, the Charter, and Canadian history,” said Ballantyne.

“All of those subjects meant I could talk about authentic, day-to-day aspects and challenges within our society in the classroom, and then also talk about how to encourage active citizenship in the community as well.”

Ballantyne hopes this award inspires others to follow their own path. She adds it is about the journey and not necessarily the destination.

“Education and learning is about trying new things, trying to pick yourself up and dust yourself off, make missteps and have some reflection on how you might have been able to do something better.”