St. Davids teacher Bryce Honsinger receives Prime Minister's Award

When Justin Trudeau’s office announced the 2023 winners of the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence last week to mark World Teachers’ Day, St. Davids Public School Grade 7 and 8 teacher Bryce Honsinger’s name was among the recipients. 

The staff and students surprised Honsinger Thursday with a whole-school celebration of him being named a recipient of a certificate of achievement for challenging students to become critical thinkers.

Just before the opening bell, Honsinger took his usual spot outside the doors to usher students into the building for the start of the school day. Unbeknownst to Honsinger, kids from junior kindergarten to Grade 8 had already begun lining the hallways and the outdoor spaces, many holding signs congratulating him for the honour. 

When a shocked Honsinger entered the building, he was greeted by students on both sides of the hallway, armed with noisemakers, silly string, balloons, streamers and confetti. 

A smiling Honsinger walked through the crowd high-fiving as many as he could as he worked his way back toward the main office, out the front door, past the kindergarten drop-off area, around the side of the school and back in through the Laura Secord primary wing toward the main office. 

But the celebration wasn’t over yet. 

Just minutes later he was ushered into the gymnasium, where the entire student body had gathered to formally celebrate his achievement. Lights went down, a dry ice machine spewed smoke clouds and Honsinger burst through a set of colourful laser beams of light marking his entrance. 

St. Davids principal Carl Glauser stepped to the front of the gym to announce Honsinger’s award to raucous cheers from the students. After showing a short video tribute, he passed the microphone to Honsinger.

“To say that I’m overwhelmed would be an understatement,” Honsinger said. “This is a wonderful school with wonderful teachers. To work with such a strong staff, and to be around such great young people, is its own reward on a daily basis. I feel exceptionally thankful for all of this.”

The Prime Minister’s Award wasn’t the only honour received by Honsinger Thursday. 

Prior to the opening bell, Glauser led the staff members from the main office to Honsinger’s classroom where he was conducting an early morning meeting of his robotics team. With DSBN director of education Warren Hoshizaki, superintendent Darren Van Hooydonk and thirty students looking on, Glauser presented Honsinger with the school’s Principal’s Award.

“It’s a teacher-to-teacher award that we have here in this school,” Glauser explained. “It’s to recognize other teachers for something special they have done. It’s fitting too, that Bryce is getting it today because he’s the one who came up with this award three years ago.”

A St. Catharines native, Honsinger is one of many teachers in his family. He and his brother Brian, also with the DSBN, are both educators, as are both of their wives. The brothers grew up helping their mother Christine cut out shapes after dinner in preparation for her elementary class the following day. 

“She started in 1970,” Honsbinger told The Local. “She retired from Ferndale in 2003. My earliest memories of my Mom as a teacher were my brother and I sitting at the card table in the living room helping her out. We learned right away that teaching wasn’t 9-to-5. You have to have a passion for it.”

Bryce’s parents Christine and Murray, as well as his wife Michelle, were all at the school to witness the celebration. Murray wiped tears from his eyes as the students clapped for his son.

“What a dynamic, supporting, caring community this school is, that allows someone like Bryce to flourish,” said Honsinger’s proud mother. “It’s wonderful. Bryce has been so involved in the wider education community, mentoring hundreds of teachers, and I think that’s part of why he is winning this award. He’s always been willing to share his skills and his resources.”

Honsinger counted Christine as an inspiration, of course, as well as his former high school teacher at Governor Simcoe Secondary School, Mike Simpson. 

“He was our football coach, but also an academic, a true renaissance man,” Honsberger remembered. “I have always tried to be like him.”

Honsinger is in his fourth year at St Davids. He began his career 23 years ago at Parliament Oak in Niagara-on-the-Lake and also spent time at Caistor Centre, Applewood and Harriet Tubman Schools. Honsinger also spent a year with the board as an instructional coach and for five years worked at Brock University's Faculty of Education. Outside of the DSBN, he has been involved with Boy Scouts as a leader for 25 years. 

Hoshizaki first met Honsinger when he was a teacher at Applewood. He was delighted to see Honsinger receive the accolades Thursday. 

“It’s the engagement that happens with all the kids in his classroom,” said Hosizaki. “Every single year it’s the same thing. He gets the kids engaged and they want to learn. Just look around his room and you can see that it’s so important to him, and to the kids.”

The nomination process for the Prime Minister’s Award began with Amanda Adam, a parent of children who attend St. Davids Public School. 

“I know without a doubt that he has changed my son's life for the better, and I now know that he has done the same for hundreds of other students and scouts over the last twenty years,” says a quote from Adam on the Government of Canada website. “Mr. Honsinger takes advantage of every opportunity to use the latest technology, bring to light a global issue to make his students more socially conscious, and enlighten them with his vast knowledge of history."

They chose the right person for the Prime Minister’s Award,” Glauser told The Local. “He’s a very special person, a very special teacher. He leads by example, he really is creating the next leaders of tomorrow. We’re all so proud of his accomplishments.”