Burlington high school teacher awarded Canada’s highest honour in history education

A Burlington teacher is among six recipients of the 2025 Governor General’s History Awards — the country’s highest honour in the field of history.

Heather Howell, Special Education Resource Teacher at M. M. Robinson High School is one of six 2025 laureates.

In a release, Canada’s History Society says the awards recognize excellence in a variety of history-related endeavours:  teaching, museums, scholarly research, community programs, and popular media.

The “2025 Laureates of The Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching” honours educators who have helped to foster a deeper understanding of the past by actively engaging students in meaningful historical projects.

Heather Howell’s students used traditional methods to grow vegetables and herbs like the ones that would have been cultivated in the area in the 19th century.

The Heritage Garden Initiative saw students with intellectual exceptionalities in the school’s horticulture therapy program collaborating with the Museums of Burlington.

While tending their gardens on the grounds of Ireland House Museum, students learned more than just practical skills.

They also explored ideas of continuity and change in food production, preservation, and community life by examining primary sources and artifacts. They donated their harvest to the Burlington Food Bank.

The inclusive, hands-on Heritage Garden Initiative demonstrated that all learners are capable of examining and helping to preserve their community’s history.

“Working with teenagers with developmental disabilities in our hands-on gardening project has been a privilege,” Howell said in the release. “Their learning thrives outdoors as they help plants grow while discovering local history on the former Ireland family farm. With support from Museums of Burlington, my students explore food preservation and our community’s roots, and they proudly share their harvest with the Burlington Food Bank. They help honour the horticultural legacy of the ‘Garden of Canada,’ now known as Burlington, and our school’s namesake, Melville ‘Bobby’ Marks Robinson.”

Other winners include:

• François Desmarais and Véronique Picard, École secondaire De Mortagne, Boucherville,
Quebec;
• Ian Duncan, Garth Webb Secondary School, Oakville, Ontario;
• Kathryn Laframboise and Jonathan McPhail, Exchange Met School, Winnipeg, Manitoba;
• Manouchka Otis, École Manikanetish, Uashat mak Mani-Utenam, Quebec;
• Erin Quinn, Parkdale School, Wetaskiwin, Alberta.

The 2025 laureates will receive their awards from Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, at an upcoming ceremony in Ottawa.

Each award is accompanied by a $2,500 prize and $1,000 for the teacher’s school.

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