MARATHON – Holy Saviour School principal Terri Harmer has been awarded principal of the year from the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario, the professional association for Principals and Vice-Principals in Ontario's publicly-funded Catholic school system.
Harmer said that she was shocked to receive the call informing her of her selection for the award, as she had assumed that the call was related to her work with the organization at first.
“Absolutely, I was surprised because I didn't even know at the time that there was that they were nominating somebody for CPCO, so when I got the phone call from Gaby Aloi, I remember actually even saying to her, I thought there was an error,” she said.
“Not that I wasn't the right selection, but, because I was on a negotiating team, I thought maybe I was being called for another matter.”
The Superior North Catholic District School Board was more than enthusiastic to celebrate Harmer’s win calling her an inspiration to students, staff, and her principal and vice principal colleagues, while touting her dedication to the school and the community.
“Through her leadership, the school supports the local women’s shelter and retirement home, has championed outdoor learning space to the benefit of the entire town and has coordinated with parish clergy to ensure the ongoing provision of opportunities for faith formation and the celebration of Catholic culture,” the school board said in a release.
Harmer said that she’s immensely grateful to receive such support from the school board and said that she owes a lot of her success to them.
“It's with their support that I was able to make it through some of those achievements, like for example, I completed my master's degree from Royal Rhodes and the senior team cheered me on through that whole process,” she said.
“So. they were always there in the background and helping and supporting and guiding me along the way. They've always been there to mentor me if I needed additional help. They've always provided support if I need it so like I think just it's the acknowledgement is a reflection of the support that I get.”
Harmer travelled to Toronto to collect the award and said she would like to thank her senior team, all the senior leads, her staff at Holy Savior School, her husband and their two children, and especially her father, who had passed away last year.
“He helped me through a lot of the challenges that I had to go through in leadership roles and was there for part of my journey through my master's program,” she said.
“So he's definitely someone who is an Important person behind the scenes.”
