From April 21-23, the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario held their annual conference in Toronto and celebrated the 2015 Principal of the Year Awards. Patty Mardero, Principal of St. Charles College was one of the five chosen in the province to be honoured this year.
Principal of S.C.C. for the past 11 years, Mardero began her teaching career 28 years earlier in Renfrew County. The next several years saw her teaching, as a vice principal, and as a principal at several Sudbury Catholic elementary schools including St. Francis, Sacred Heart, St. Theresa, St. Charles Elementary and Marymount Academy. In 2004 she became the first female principal of the former all-boys’ secondary school – St. Charles College. According to the CPCO release. “Patty believes in the power of service and strives to promote this with her students. In her first year at St. Charles College, the school collected 25,000 cans for the Sudbury Food Bank. Now it collects more than 100,000 cans – the largest, single donation to the Sudbury Food Bank. The school also raises over $10,000 yearly for missions, and sponsors 8 children from third world countries.”
According to Mardero, she is “very humbled to be recognized by Catholic Principals’ Ontario for this award. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with so many dedicated principals and vice principals committed to making a difference in the lives of the students we serve. I thank the Sudbury Catholic District School Board for allowing me the opportunity to teach, lead and grow. I appreciate their support and faith in me over the past 26 years.”
“On behalf of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, I would like to say how proud we are of Patty Mardero,” Jody Cameron, Chair of the Board for the SCDSB stated. “She truly exemplifies a strong Catholic leader and we are so fortunate to have her in our schools supporting and mentoring our staff, as well as nurturing our students to be future leaders.”