2023 AECEA Awards
Every year, the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta (AECEA) presents awards to recognize and highlight the work of educators and leaders in Alberta's early learning and child care community.
We would like to thank everyone for submitting nominations for these awards and we appreciate your time and effort to acknowledge an early childhood educator that is making a difference in the lives of children and families.
A huge congratulations to all of the 2023 award nominees for the Dr. Sherrill Brown Award of Distinction and the AECEA Early Childhood Educator Award of Recognition!
Dr. Sherrill Brown Award of Distinction
The Dr. Sherrill Brown Award of Distinction recognizes the outstanding historical contributions of an educator and leader in Alberta’s early learning and child care community. This award was established to honour those who have demonstrated excellence, leadership and advocacy in early learning and child care over a significant period of time.
The AECEA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Dr. Susan Garrow-Oliver is the 2023 recipient of this award.
Dr. Susan Garrow-Oliver exemplifies the commitment to children, families, educators and the child care profession that Dr. Sherrill deeply valued. She demonstrates a true concern for children and families and a commitment to advance the early learning and child care workforce through her advocacy work. Dr. Garrow-Oliver has highly supported and influenced the evolution of the early learning community by holding major leadership roles with AECEA, Accreditation of Early Learning and Care Services (AELCS), and Alberta Early Learning and Care Leaders Caucus (ALC). In these roles, Susan exerted influence and practical support to the child care community in moving toward professional recognition.
Dr. Garrow-Oliver has been instrumental in nurturing Mount Royal University students since 2014. She is dedicated to ensuring frontline practices are aligned with the advocacy work done behind the scenes where Dr. Garrow-Oliver actively drives policy change to strengthen the field. Dr. Garrow-Oliver is a valued member in the field through her many professional affiliations and memberships, publications and journals, community service, and curriculum development.
Dr. Garrow-Oliver stands out as a true leader in Alberta and Sherrill would be very pleased with her accomplishments.
Early Childhood Educator Award of Recognition
The AECEA Early Childhood Educator Award of Recognition shines a light on an early childhood educator making outstanding contributions within Alberta’s early learning and child care community.
The AECEA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Jonabel Cabasal is the 2023 recipient of this award.
Jonabel was nominated by her colleague, Chona Delos Arcos for the AECEA Early Childhood Educator Award of Recognition. Chona shared Jonabel's dedication to ongoing learning.
"In a six month period, she attended 100 online courses in various topics."
She also commented on the quality of relationships that Jonabel developed with children.
"It was not a professional but rather personal relationship that ensued long after a child or family would graduate from the daycare. Jonabel’s love of children didn’t end on Friday afternoons as she is either sending gifts and doing fundraising projects to the Children’s Stollery or providing feeding programs and funds to underprivileged children abroad or purchasing learning aids for the daycare to assist us as her co-educators."
We were fortunate to receive many submissions this year highlighting the commitment and caring that early childhood educators across Alberta demonstrate in their work.
The Early Childhood Educator Award of Recognition nominees were:
- Amanda Otto
- Analiza Fortu
- Carly Kavanagh
- Chary Defante
- Damien Anderson
- Helouise Anida
- Jessica Lalancette
- Letycia Rojas
- Lindsay Penrice
- Lyss Delicia Ngabirano
- Nicole Lussier
- Noshaba Harji
- Raveena Nehal
- Ronadel Gallardo
- Schen Patron
- Shivangi Morya
AECEA wants to acknowledge the contributions of all the nominees and will be sharing their stories on social media, so keep an eye out!
We thank you all for the work you have done over the years and your commitment to the early learning and child care field!