Nadia Pasquini

Year: 2017 – Province: Ontario

Certificate of Achievement Recipient

Nadia Pasquini

Chaminade College School
490 Queens Drive
Toronto, Ontario  M6L 1M8

Principal: Tony Augello
School telephone: 416-393-5509
School email: N/A
School website: www.tcdsb.org/schools/chaminadecollege

Subjects and grades taught: GPP 30, Leadership and peer support, Librarian

Nadia Pasquini does not call her students, "students" – to her they are family. With a passion for community, she consistently demonstrates the value of youth-led initiatives and the lasting impact they can have on others.

Teaching approach

Nicknamed Mama Pasquini by over 900 male students, Pasquini has students learning from each other, collaborating and developing leadership skills through hands-on activities that make what students are learning relevant to their lives.

Outstanding achievements

  • Pasquini partnered with the Working Against Violence Everyday (WAVE) charity and encouraged students to form a first ever WAVE Youth Action Team. The team organized and ran workshops for elementary schools on the negative effects of screen addiction.
  • Pasquini established a Peer Mentorship Program that created relationships between her leadership students and grade nine students who struggle academically.
  • Pasquini and her students have raised over $24,000 for the Free the Children campaign, built a school in Sierra Leone, a water well and supported a breakfast program in Kenya.

Rave reviews

"[Pasquini] has been the most influential person in my life and has mentored me to be the best possible person that I could be. She has helped me prove that youth with my upbringing and personal, economic and social situation do not have to succumb to the stereotypes that define my pathway in life."

Nominator and student

"Ms. Pasquini has encouraged students to step outside their comfort zone and she has been a role model for them to contribute not only to their school, but to their community at large."

Principal