The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Each year, the Association awards a gold medal to the student at each of the four faculties of education who attains the highest general proficiency in the final two years of a bachelor of education program. The specific awards are known as the Marie-Louise Brugeyroux Gold Medal (Faculté Saint-Jean), the Milton Ezra LaZerte Gold Medal (University of Alberta), the Clarence Sansom Gold Medal (University of Calgary) and the William Aberhart Gold Medal (University of Lethbridge). These awards are administered by the student awards office affiliated with each institution and are generally awarded at convocation ceremonies in the spring.

Marie-Louise Brugeyroux

Miss Brugeyroux's contribution to education in Alberta began in 1936 in a rural, one-room classroom. As a supervisor of French as a second language for the Edmonton Separate system, Miss Brugeyroux developed the nine-year Le Français par Objectifs program. She was editor of a series of 14 French readers published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston under the title La joie de lire. Marie-Louise was also instrumental in the ACCESS production (1980) of a kit containing materials pertinent to the teaching of reading in French.

Milton Ezra LaZerte

In addition to being a teacher in Ontario and Alberta, Dr LaZerte was a member of the University of Alberta staff beginning in 1925. He later became principal of the College of Education in 1929 and dean of the faculty of education in 1943.

Dr LaZerte served as president of the Alberta Teachers' Association in 1938–39. The following year he became president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation. In 1950 he served as president of the Canadian Education Association. In 1951, he served on the Canada and United States Committee on Education and on the Canadian Education Committee on Research. His publications include Number Highways, Mathematics for Today and Development of Problem Solving Ability.

Clarence Sansom

Dr Sansom's involvement in education began in the Maritimes in 1907. In 1911, he was appointed inspector of schools in the High River and Macleod Inspectorates. He subsequently became a staff member at Calgary Normal School. In 1946, he assumed duties as the director of the University of Alberta, Calgary branch faculty of education.

Clarence's other contributions to education in Alberta stem from his membership in the Association and his subsequent appointment as vice-president (1940) and president (1943–1945) of the Association.

William Aberhart

Mr Aberhart's political involvement and interest in social credit theories led to his election to the Alberta Legislature where he served as premier and minister of education. He was responsible for the establishment of large units of school administration and sponsored The Teaching Profession Act and The Teachers' Retirement Fund Act.