‘I just felt really proud;’ Ralston teacher receives British Empire Medal

Stanton’s award was officially announced on New Year’s Eve in the London Gazette. When the news became public, she says the response was overwhelming.

“I had probably in excess of 300 messages come through to say ‘your name is in the paper,’ and that was really nice,” she said. “People I haven’t spoken to in a long time were contacting me and giving me congratulations. It’s nice to see I’m not forgotten.”

Stanton has been at Ralston School for 11 years, working as both a kindergarten teacher, and as the British liaison for the school, due to its proximity to British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS). An employee with England’s Ministry of Defence in the Service Children’s Education department, Stanton helps children and families make the transition from the British to the Canadian education system.

“When they know that they’re going to be transferred out here, they contact me to find out what the school is going to be like, what classes their child is going to be in, what the education system looks like, and I give them advice and pointers on what they can do,” she said, noting curriculum is the biggest challenge for many children.

“The cutoff date for transfer into new classes is actually the 31st of August in the U.K., whereas here it’s the 28th of February. So that means some of our children that would be in a year two class in england, might go into a grade 1 class here, and then there’s a bit of difference in curriculum there. So I help families know what that difference in curriculum looks like and help them know what they can do about that.”

Among the students she has helped is Millie Hancock, a Grade 6 student who came to Ralston last year.

“She showed me around with Mrs. McHugh (another teacher at the school),” she said. “She welcomed me.”

“(She) helped me with some of my problems, helped me find some friends.”

Another person Stanton has assisted is William White, who arrived four years ago as a kindergarten student. His mother Nicola, who works as an educational assistant at the school, says Stanton helped make her son’s transition to school a smooth one.

“Sonia was great with him,” Nicola said. “She took him by the hand and pretty much supported him, and always gave me the information that I needed, so we had a real good communication system back and forth from both of us. William was just made to feel really welcome and at home here.”

Stanton says she is not sure who nominated her for the award, but considers it an honour that her work was recognized.

“I just felt really proud really that someone has noticed the work I do,” she said. “I mean, I don’t do the work I do just to be noticed, but, it’s nice when someone see’s that you do good things.”

She adds she has always felt welcome in Ralston, at BATUS and in the Prairie Rose School Division.

“To me, I think we all deserve it,” she said. “It’s nice to have my name on it, but we all work together to help the families, and there’s a whole team of people that do that, so I’m keen that they get recognized as well.”

Stanton says her medal is currently being engraved, and she should have it in her possession in April. Once she receives the medal, she will be recognized by Prairie Rose, before travelling to the garden party in the summer. The date hasn’t been finalized.

by Charles Lefebvre

‘I just felt really proud;’ Ralston teacher receives British Empire Medal

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