COMMITMENT and compassion have been the Covid-era watchwords of local teachers who will be honoured as 'beacons of hope' at the annual Blackboard Awards on Friday 4 March.
Over almost two years now, teaching staff have toiled tirelessly on the educational frontlines to ensure no child is left behind as a result of the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Now, through the Blackboard Awards, the public will have a chance to recognise the teaching stalwarts who embody the very best of Belfast.
The first nominee to be shortlisted for this year's award ceremony is Francis Hagan (66), an English teacher of 21 years at Hazelwood Integrated College in North Belfast.
“I am delighted to be nominated. It is an absolute privilege,” said the NASUWT representative at Hazelwood.
“Those of us who have been nominated are simply token recipients, accepting nominations on behalf of all working teachers.
“By running the gauntlet of COVID day after day and meeting the extraordinary demands placed on them at this time, thousands of teachers throughout Belfast and Northern Ireland have clearly demonstrated the triumph of hope over despair."
Francis says this pressure on teachers today due to the pandemic is unprecedented.
"I have never seen staff under such pressure nor a staff who have risen so wonderfully to the challenges they have faced," he explains.
“As a practising psychotherapist, I have been privy during this time to many stories of personal triumphs of hope in the face of this pandemic. And as a practising novelist, I find myself attending day and daily to the climate of the times in which hope everywhere trumps despair.”
In 2021, the Blackboard Awards were forced to adopt an online-only model in response to the Covid restrictions but this year the in-person event will return — while observing protocols – when the Europa Hotel Belfast hosts the cream of our teaching heroes on Friday 4 March.
You can nominate your Teaching Beacon of Hope at the Tenth Annual Blackboard Awards here.
The Blackboard Awards welcome nominations for teaching assistants, teachers, principals and support staff at our schools. In this uncertain time, all deserve our praise.
