St. Benedict Teacher Honoured with Rotary Club of Sudbury Community Leadership Vocational Award

Libby Marinilli, a teacher librarian from St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School was honoured on Monday, October 25 by the Rotary Club of Sudbury with a Communnity Leadership and Vocational Award. Libby exemplifies professionalism in the area of education as well as self-development and reflects her expectations of her students which is having them reach their full potential. Over the years Libby has continued to stay current in her profession by taking numerous additional Ministry of Education courses in Guidance, Mathematics, English, Special Education Specialist, Computer Specialist, Principal Qualifications & most recently Library Science just to name a few.
Her dedication to her students & profession included expanding their horizons in this global village by forming an Educational Travel Club. Over the past 20 years, thanks to Libby’s efforts, students have been exposed to the global classroom with trips to Egypt, Russia, Japan & Western Europe. Here, in our own country, she has organized Youth Exchange with students from Saskatchewan, Newfoundland & Labrador. Libby has given of her personal time over the years by providing athletic training of sports teams after school, organizing the annual winter carnival & working with student council as well as the Literacy Across the Curriculum Committee as the staff representative. In attempting to incorporate relevant experiences as a way of enhancing student learning, Libby’s Gifted Grade 10 English class had their full-sized newspaper published by the Sudbury Star. Her passion for literature & the understanding of the importance of literacy in our world has brought her to her latest position as teacher-librarian. In this position, she has introduced e-books (electronic) to the library & students. She has organized authors from the Writer’s Union to speak to students about the writing process which in turn could motivate them to become future authors.

By organizing Chapters book fairs, she not only brings the community into the school, but as a result, this action has lead to the formation of a school Book Club. Libby has also been involved in ESP- Empowering Student Participation in various anti-bullying activities & campaigns.
In addition, Libby has found time to contribute to her community by volunteering as an executive member for the Joe MacDonald Football League for the past 16 years. The league encourages young boys & girls from ages 8-15 to learn skills, develop self-confidence & move on to high school prepared with the skills of the game.