ICSS teacher takes home one of three Canadian Crumbl Teachers of the Year awards

By Garrett Simmons 
Lethbridge School Division Communications 

Maureen Milne was completely caught off guard on Thursday – in a very good way. 
The long-time Immanuel Christian Secondary School teacher was surprised by a prestigious award, as she was one of only three teachers in all of Canada to receive the Crumbl Teachers of the Year award. The Crumbl Cookies honour came with a $1,000 cheque, and a cookie party for her Grade 12 students. 
“Yeah, it was a huge surprise to me yesterday,” said Milne. “I hadn't heard about it before. One of my Grade 12 students nominated me, and then they had contacted our principal Matt Bekkering and made the arrangements. And so Matt came to the door and said, ‘Oh, I need you to go to this classroom at 10 a.m.’ and that was how I found out.” 
Milne was particularly honoured that one of her students nominated her for the award. 
“It meant the world to me. I so appreciate the thoughtfulness that she had in doing that for me. That made all of the difference in the world.” 
Milne's teaching journey began in 1991 with a one-year stint in Grimshaw. In 1992, she made her way to ICSS, where she has taught ever since. 
“I love this place. I appreciate Christian education and I'm thankful to be able to be here doing that. Our students are awesome.” 
Her teaching career at ICSS has certainly come full circle. Early in her time at the school, she taught current principal Matthew Bekkering. She now teaches his children at the northside Christian school.
“I'm teaching students of my students now that I've been here so long,” she said. “But I love that continuity and the community that we that we have."
Milne teaches senior high Social Studies, a subject that is near and dear to her heart. 
“That's been my focus all these years. Social Studies is the best subject, because everything that's happening in the world, we can connect to whatever curricular outcome we're looking at. So, it's important to know what's going on and to make sense of it. Teaching is all about relationships and building those relationships and trying to get students interested in in the world outside of just our classroom and outside of even maybe just our city.” 
And with yesterday’s award ceremony still fresh in her mind, Milne added she’s still trying to wrap her head around everything.  
“Well, honestly, I think I'm still processing it to tell you the truth, because it did come as a surprise and then, to hear that a student had nominated me, it was just so awesome being able to share that celebration with them. I really do appreciate it.”