Thomas Weber - Award

Congratulations to Mr. Weber for receiving the 2023-24 Physical and Health Educators of Manitoba Western Regional Recognition Award. Mr. Weber was nominated and recognized for his outstanding contributions to Physical Education in Manitoba. He was presented with his award on Thursday, October 19th at a ceremony in Winnipeg. 

Mr. Weber is a tremendous educator who is highly dedicated to providing top quality instruction and extra-curricular opportunities to all students in our small community. Mr. Weber ensures the physical spaces of the gym and equipment room are organized, well maintained, and constantly updated with exciting new resources. He accesses unique equipment through divisional loans to give students opportunities to try new forms of movement and activity. Mr. Weber has clear and consistent expectations for behaviour and routines in the gym, which students respond to well. He makes an effort to build personal connections with all of the students and it is evident that he is highly respected and often looked up to as a positive role model. Mr. Weber has built an excellent physical education program at Alexander School that focuses on skill development over time and fostering an understanding and enjoyment of being physically active and making healthy lifestyle choices. He provides a detailed yearly plan that clearly reflects the curriculum and differentiates on a daily basis to ensure all students are able to progress successfully at their own level. Mr. Weber is very thorough in his assessments and always identifies student strengths, areas requiring additional practice, and next steps to support continued growth. Mr. Weber goes above and beyond to plan and facilitate special days for our students, such as a school-wide Rink Days, where all students get to skate and curl, Ski Trips, Wellness Days, and Early Years and Middle Years Track and Field Days. He is willing and motivated to take initiative and put in extra time for the best interest of our students. In addition, Mr. Weber has taken on many classroom roles during his time at Alexander School, including various classes of Math, Social Studies and Science. He is very flexible and willing to teach new courses and interact with students in the classroom setting. Mr. Weber is a tremendous asset to our school community and is always willing to help out with school-wide events or take the lead to ensure students have the chance to engage in everything students at a larger school might get.

Mr. Weber also dedicates a tremendous amount of time to promoting physical activity outside of the regular school day. He helps get all extra-curricular sports teams running and often coaches practices at lunch so all students can participate. Mr. Weber works closely with his PE colleagues to plan after school games for our students and is always encouraging our students to join in various events such as the Golf Jamboree, Soccer Jamboree, and Cross Country Running events. He has started hosting a summer sports camp for our local community that spans two weeks in August. This full day camp provides an awesome opportunity for students to get active, further develop their skills, and socialize with peers through sport over the summer break. Mr. Weber always offers some “scholarship” opportunities so there are no financial barriers to any students wanting to participate. Mr. Weber also contributes a lot of his personal time to being a referee for various sports, particularly high school basketball, and doing his part to help ensure physical activity and sports opportunities are available to our community youth. He’s been known to host “open gym” nights at the school for the local community adults for various sports such as volleyball and pickleball. He’s always on hand to help with set up, has the equipment ready to go, joins in on the games, and makes sure everything gets cleaned up afterwards.  

Thomas is a highly valuable member of our school community and we are thrilled for him to be recognized and celebrated for all of the amazing work he does!