A graduate of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) primary school teaching program at Ontario has taken out the ‘New teacher of the Year’ award in the 2010 Premier’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Ms Michelle Jerzyk teaches Grade 4/5 at Sam Sherratt Public School in Milton and graduated in 2007 from the Bachelor of Primary Education Studies (BPES). “Teaching is an extremely rewarding vocation. Each day, the kids in my class inspire me. It is truly amazing to see them want to come to class every day to learn, and to grow together,” Ms Jerzyk said. The Head of the Ontario School of Education, Dr Will Letts said, “The staff and alumni at Charles Sturt University are tremendously proud of Michelle’s achievement. As they say in Australia ‘good on her’! Michelle’s passion to meet the needs of each and every student, and her commitment to continuous learning and innovation in education, is a wonderful reflection of the values and objectives of our BPES program.” Ms Jerzyk said her training at CSU helped her become a better teacher. “Charles Sturt University’s approach is different than other universities. First, they want to meet you and actually interview you and, throughout the program, they place a lot of emphasis on practicum in the classroom and learning best practices and the latest education research. I think that helped to prepare me for the very demanding job of teaching and set me up for success,” she said.