Congratulations to Elizabeth Dutton, Music Teacher, and Arthur Morrison, Caretaker, recipients of the 2020-2021 OCDSB Director's Citation Award! This award recognizes outstanding and significant staff contributions to the District and its students, over an extended period of time, showing a level of imagination, enthusiasm, and professionalism that constitutes a worthy model for others.
Always a creative thinker, Elizabeth is the heart and soul of Merivale High School’s music program. She has nurtured the school band single-handedly, encouraged students to compete in Capital MusicFest, inspired community engagement, and more. Elizabeth regularly challenges her students to take on Broadway’s most challenging and exciting orchestrations, and her commitment to school musicals has fostered the integration of drama, audio, and visual arts so students can collaborate and learn from one another. Elizabeth even took the band program fully virtual during the pandemic: as students recorded their individual parts from home, she mastered a complex music mixing software to re-assemble them into one. Thanks to Elizabeth, students are incredibly dedicated to the music program, regularly contributing to music selection and rehearsing diligently. Elizabeth has ensured the student experience is rich and rewarding regardless of the restrictions of a global pandemic!
Arthur is a steady, hard working presence whose dependability has seen Merivale High School through many challenges and changes. He is endlessly patient and positive, and the safety and wellbeing of all students and staff is always his top priority. Nothing phases Arthur, whether it’s a squirrel in the building or an overflowing water fountain. If you were to ask a Merivale student who they think of first in connection with their school, they would answer, “Arthur!”. His influence is such that most students know him by name, and truly enjoy his company. Older students will coach younger ones to clean up after themselves out of respect for Arthur, and he once received a standing ovation when he spoke at an assembly about caring for the school space. Arthur demonstrates incredible compassion, visiting grieving families outside of school, sitting in the front row each year at graduation, and making a lasting impression on students. He is a fixture of the Merivale school community!
Thank you Elizabeth and Arthur for the contributions you have made to our school community!
To learn more about the awards and see the full list of recipients, visit the
OCDSB website.