Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Stavros Naxakis and Penny McLeod, two teachers from the riding of Thornhill who have been awarded the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence.
Dr. Stavros Naxakis is a chemistry and physics teacher at Vaughan Secondary School. Under his guidance Vaughan students consistently score in the top five percentage in an international chemistry contest, the University of Waterloo's Chem 13 News Contest.
Penny McLeod is a chemistry teacher at Thornhill Secondary School. She has spent 25 years developing new ideas for teaching her students. She recently has brought an integrated curriculum and new technologies to her teaching. Ms. McLeod has helped her gifted students excel and is also commended by her colleagues for her determination in seeing weaker students succeed.
On behalf of the students, the parents and all my constituents of Thornhill, I would like to congratulate these two outstanding teachers and thank them for their commitment to excellence.