The Lethbridge Polytechnic Faculty Association and Lethbridge Polytechnic Students’ Association are pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Teaching Excellence Awards. Nichole Fox, an Environmental Science instructor, received the Teaching Excellence Award, while Rylan Spenrath, General Arts and Science instructor, was recognized as Rookie of the Year.
There were 198 nominations submitted by students this year, a significant increase from 113 last year.
Fox graduated from the Criminal Justice – Policing program in 2000 and returned to the polytechnic to begin teaching in 2015, which she describes as a “dream realized.” She says the encouragement and mentorship she received from her instructors while she was a student played a pivotal role in her success and helped her launch a career in law enforcement. Nichole has a master’s degree in counselling psychology and by bridging her two passions – law and interpersonal communication – she brought a unique and powerful combination of expertise to her teaching. Her courses emphasize essential skills such as crisis intervention, verbal judo and conflict de-escalation – tools that are critical for success in law enforcement and public safety professions.
“The most rewarding part of teaching is the opportunity to offer students the same level of support and encouragement that I once received,” says Fox, who says watching her students’ goals take shape and seeing them grow into confident, capable professionals gives deep meaning to her work.
Spenrath completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English at the University of Lethbridge. Although his family was involved in education, he says this was initially a deterrent to a career in teaching until he began coaching badminton and began to see past the workload of his parents and found a passion for teaching in general. Spenrath continued coaching badminton while working toward a position teaching English at the post-secondary level.
He began working in the Learning Café at Lethbridge Polytechnic in 2012 before leaving to complete his master’s. Rylan returned to the Learning Café in 2017 and, after several years working with students one-on-one, Spenrath was able to move into the classroom where he teaches English Composition. By leveraging his experiences from coaching and working with students, Rylan tries to meet students where they are at and provide practical, hands-on education with an emphasis on application and critical thinking.
This year's recipients were celebrated at a Teaching Excellence Awards ceremony April 7.