A beloved Toronto principal who took his own life last year has been honoured for his commitment to free expression and academic excellence.
In memory of the departed educator Richard Bilkszto, a ceremony was held in Toronto to celebrate educators embodying the values he embraced in his life and career.
Bilkszto was a prominent Toronto school principal for multiple decades. He took his own life last July.
During a series of “equity sessions” led by the KOJO Institute’s Kike Ojo-Thompson, Bilkszto was singled out and harassed for daring to suggest that Canada might be a less racist country than the United States. Blitzko claimed the incident caused him severe mental distress before his death.
An organization called Friends of Richard Bilkszto organized an award ceremony and scholarship program to help celebrate current and future educators who embody many of the values that Bilkszto stood for in his life.
The crowd of roughly 60 people heard speeches from prominent speakers and award winners about the importance of academic freedom and merit-based education while acknowledging the legacy Bilkszto left behind.
Former Toronto mayoral candidate Anthony Furey spoke about the time he had spent with Bilkszto while on the campaign trail. Furey recalled a time when he and Bilkszto had been walking down the street in the middle of the mayoral campaign when they were approached by two women, extremely appreciative of what Bilkszto had helped them to achieve.
“I was just floored to know that there were regular folks walking down the streets of Toronto who felt so inspired by what Richard stood for,” said Furey. “And what he stood for was academic excellence for all, he stood for a belief that all students regardless of their walk of life, their background that they mattered and can achieve great things.”
Toronto District School Board trustee Weidong Pei described Bilkszto as his “best friend,” as he was the person who encouraged Pei to run for trustee in the first place.
Pei talked about the values Bilkszto had embodied – practice, persistence, and perseverance – and all the students who had grown to adopt those principles to their own lives.
Waterloo school trustee Mike Ramsay recalled the time when he had been kicked off of the Waterloo school board and Bilkszto reached out to him through email to offer his support.
Among those who were recognized with awards were Carolyn Burjoski, a retired school teacher who was labelled “transphobic” for attempting to address concerns she had with inappropriate books in school libraries with the Waterloo school board.
Burjoski had her delegation to the board cut short by the meeting chair, and when attempting to defend Burjoski’s right to express her concerns, trustee Ramsey was kicked off of the board by his fellow trustees in a six to three vote.
“I think that we’re living in a time where the outrage is just so stirred up in our culture that I think when the chair heard that he thought ‘anyone who questions the narrative about transitioning children need to be shut down immediately,’” Burjoski told to True North.
Burjoski said that Bilkszto reached out to her a few days after she had been shut down at the Waterloo school board meeting, emailing and calling her to offer his support.
She says that Bilkszto had gone through a similar experience of being cancelled and defamed as she had and that he helped her improve her public speaking skills as they got to know each other.
“What I know about him is he did that with lots of people. He’d saddle up beside somebody who had had a hard time, we heard that story a couple of times. He’d connect with people, he’d encourage them,” said Burjoski.
Elizabeth Haas-Barota was the other winner of the Richard Bilkszto Award, recognized for her focus on merit-based education and student achievement in a difficult environment,
Haas-Barota teaches at Tomken Road Middle School in Mississauga — a school notorious for gross student misbehaviours and being a risky place for teachers to work.
She says there is a complete lack of respect for research-based teaching methods, and that students are struggling as a result.
While Haas-Barota did not meet Bilkszto before his passing, she said hearing his story and his unifying vision for education was “inspiring, though horribly tragic.”
A $1000 scholarship was given to Thomas Corken, an incoming student at Western University seeking a bachelor of education.
