Argyle Secondary School teacher Kathy Mulder

Under the auspices of the Governor General of Canada, Right Honourable David Johnston, the Loran Teachers Building Leaders Award was introduced in 2015. It recognizes teachers who have been integral in the development of young leaders of character who serve Canadian communities. ​This year, Argyle Secondary School teacher Kathy Mulder won the award. Mulder was nominated by Laura Thorne, a former student.

When Thorne graduated several years ago she was one of 30 students from across Canada, of approximately 4000 applicants, to be named a Loran Scholar. Every year since 1988, the Loran Scholars Foundation selects the top 30 secondary school graduates across the country as Loran Scholars - based on exemplary character, commitment to service in the community, and leadership potential. Loran Scholars go on to university with a full four-year scholarship, including mentorship and a summer internship program. Thorne completed her Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary Studies and Social Anthropology at the University of King’s College in 2015. This coming fall, she will move to New York to complete a Master's Degree in Publishing.

The right to nominate a teacher for the Teachers Building Leaders Awards falls only to Loran Scholarship winners and Thorne nominated Mulder. Here is what Thorne says about Mulder:

Kathy Mulder is the single best educator I have encountered. She teaches with outstanding integrity, enthusiasm, and commitment, both towards her subject matter and her students. Her instruction inspires confidence, intelligent critical thinking and engagement, which positively influence her students' lives in unquantifiable ways. For me, Mrs. Mulder's classroom was a place where I felt real challenge, where I felt inspired. She accepted me into her Literature 12 class as a Grade 11 student, and expected that I would keep up. She taught in a way that was accessible to all students, but that also opened up a world of new possibilities. Her class is the reason I have made the choice (uncommon in today's world) to pursue a liberal arts education. Mrs. Mulder introduced me to new ways of thinking about thinking, writing, and reading that have since become the touchstones of my education. Mrs. Mulder's impact also reached outside the classroom. She is the epitome of an active citizen, an active school community member: she is the teacher who attended student plays, kept up with the scores of our soccer games, and kept a stack of my student-run arts magazine at the front of the classroom. She taught by example, and in doing so, passed on valuable lessons about responsibility, engagement and respect that still inform my character today.  Thank you Mrs. Mulder.

Congratulations to Kathy Mulder! In dedication to Mulder's teaching and developing of young leaders of character, the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, has a few words to share: