Toronto, January 31, 2023 – Former Near North DSB (NNDSB) Trustee and Chair Jay Aspin and former Rainy River DSB (RRDSB) Trustee and Chair Raymond Roy were honoured with the Ontario Public School Boards' Association’s (OPSBA) Bernardine Yackman Memorial Award on January 27 in Toronto.
The Bernardine Yackman Memorial Award is awarded to an Active or Retired Trustee of an OPSBA Member Board for dedication, commitment and an outstanding contribution to education with special recognition for Northern Ontario service. The late Bernardine Yackman was a trustee on the Sudbury Board of Education and, for many years, an active Director of the Northern Ontario School Trustees’ Association. This award was first presented in 1985.
“On behalf of all of our members, I thank Jay and Raymond for their outstanding service to public education in Northern Ontario,” said Cathy Abraham, OPSBA President. “Their constant commitment to their boards, especially throughout the last two-and-a-half years of the pandemic was notable and appreciated both provincially and at their local boards.”
A former manager of plant operations and maintenance at the RRDSB, Raymond Roy served as the trustee for Fort Frances and Unorganized Areas East of Fort Frances from 2014 to 2022. He worked to advocate for funding for a K-12 school in Atikokan and Anishinaabemodaa, the Ojibwe Language Strategy. As Chair, he was instrumental in advocating the government for funding for a new K-12 school in Rainy River, and over the past two years, helped to lead the board through the challenges of the pandemic.
Jay Aspin represented Zone 1 North Bay on the NNDSB from 2003 to 2011, and again from 2018 to 2022. Prior to this, he served four terms on the former Nipissing Board of Education. A former Member of Parliament, Jay’s strong leadership as Chair from 2018 to 2022 helped the NNDSB make significant strides to secure key leadership positions, strong governance practices, and an approved Multi-Year Strategic Plan.
For more information, visit https://www.opsba.org/what-we-do/bernardine-yackman-memorial-award/.
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