There are many people throughout the Island’s public service who make an extra effort to encourage and promote diversity, says Premier Robert Ghiz.
Each year, some of these employees are acknowledged during Public Service Week with the presentation of the Premier’s Award for Diversity Leadership. This award is given to those who demonstrate leadership in the promotion of diversity and inclusiveness within the public sector, which is a commitment and priority of government.
The award was presented today to the ArtsSmarts Newcomer Project Leadership Team, which includes Cecile Arsenault from the Department of Tourism and Culture and Vicki Allen-Cook and Lucille Fontaine from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
“This ArtsSmarts project benefited many people on many different levels,” said Premier Ghiz. “It was an important experience for not only the students, the teams of educators and newcomer artists who participated, but for all who had a chance to appreciate their work in the galleries. I want to thank and congratulate Cecile Arsenault, Vicki Allen-Cook and Lucille Fontaine for recognizing that our workforce and our communities are stronger when we encourage diversity and inclusion.”
The ArtsSmarts project, “Celebrating Diversity: Exploring Culture, Language, Identity and Global Citizenship,” brought together eight teams which each included a newcomer artist, a pre-service teacher and a cooperating teacher in three of the Island’s schools. These teams worked with students to create art projects that not only supported existing curriculum, but that also fostered understanding between newcomer artists and students and between newcomer students and their peers. The experience was of great benefit to pre-service teachers in their training and was enjoyed by all who participated. At the conclusion of the project, students had the opportunity to showcase their work at the Confederation Centre of the Arts and the newcomer artists were featured at The Guild Gallery.