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Herb Sutton, the director of education of the Light of Christ Catholic School Board is retiring at the end of this school year, and he was named this year's staff Lumen Christi award winner at the division's annual service recognition awards ceremony Friday at the Tropical Inn in North Battleford.

Friends and alumni Lumen Christi award recipient was Andrew Albers, a graduate and sometimes substitute teacher at John Paul II Collegiate who is currently playing professional baseball in 麻豆传媒AV Korea.

In his remarks, board chair Glen Gantefoer said, "At the heart of all Herb's service to the division and to Catholic education has been servant leadership."

He said Sutton could be best described as a shepherd, constantly guiding and leading - sometimes at the front and sometimes from a short distance behind, allowing others to take on leadership and guiding roles.

Sutton has spent the last 23 years of his 33-year career with the Light of Christ Catholic School Division. Originally from Lashburn, Sutton's first teaching position was a decade-long stay at Pierceland, where he became vice-principal then principal. He met and married his wife Cindy there and started a family. They relocated to North Battleford where he served as principal of John Paul II Collegiate for five years, creating the school's successful Key Club, before moving to the division office as the superintendent of instruction. He held that position for 11 years and in 2007 became the division's director of education, replacing Ken Loehndorf who was retiring after 15 years.

Gantefoer said Sutton has been an unashamed supporter of Catholic education at all levels, local and provincial.

"His work at the provincial level this past year as the chair of the Directors of Education Group, and the resulting enhancement of our school division at the provincial level has helped to shine a spotlight on the excellent work that is being done by catholic educators across the province and, in particular, our school division." said Gantefoer.

He called Sutton a leader who instills the belief in people that with a positive attitude, a strong moral purpose and the guidance of their faith they will succeed in their goals.

"As a result," he said, " Light of Christ Catholic schools are being recognized provincially for the excellent in student learning - particularly in the areas of math, reading, writing and First Nations education."

Sutton says he has been fortunate to have worked with many excellent people. He has always tried to surround himself with good people and then let them do their jobs. As Gantefoer indicated, says Sutton, he sometimes leads in front, sometimes stands beside, and sometimes "gets in behind and lets them go."

Teaching has changed a lot over the 33 years of his career, says Sutton. When he first started teaching, kids who dropped out were still able to find jobs and do reasonably well.

That's not the case anymore, he says. It's become even more important to keep kids in school.

In addition, teachers are under pressure to produce evidence of the results of their efforts, he says. It's about transparency. Things have changed from a time when no one was asking the questions being asked today.

One of the roles of administrators, such as him, is to support the teachers so they can meet the increasing challenges they face, he says.

Providing professional development is one of the ways the division office offers support, although, he pointed out, too much can leave teachers feeling saturated. He says they've learned they also need to give teachers some breathing space and time to get to know and connect with their students.

Sutton himself will be taking some breathing space at the end of the school term, as he heads into retirement.

Like many retirees, however, he plans to find something more to do. Hanging around the house or playing golf all day holds no attraction for him. Besides, he laughs, "I'm not handy."

He does hope to spend more time curling, a sport he used to be more active in before he became so busy with work.

Sutton and his wife Cindy, who works at the credit union, have three children.

Cabri is a registered nurse, married and living in Cold Lake, Alta.

Their son Colby is presently travelling throughout 麻豆传媒AV America, recently helping to build a shelter for a leper colony in Peru, before returning in November to take up work in his field as a mechanical engineer.

Carsey is a teacher at Holy Family School. Sutton says he's honoured she chose to stay in the Light of Christ Catholic School Division because he knows the quality of the people and of the system.

Andrew Albers, who has become a favourite son of the Battlefords for his determination to become a major league baseball player, was the friend and alumni Lumen Christi recipient, although he was not in the country for the awards ceremony.

Albers graduated from John Paul II Collegiate 10 years ago, but has maintained a close relationship with the school division since then, even having served as a substitute teacher.

He was named as a Lumen Christi recipient for his demonstrated commitment to the Light of Christ Catholic School Division and his strong commitment to his faith.

This past fall, once his season with the Minnesota Twins was over, Albers came back to John Paul II Collegiate and continued his work as a substitute teacher in the school. He was also instrumental in leading a fundraising banquet. He also donated his time and some baseball jerseys for St. Joseph Parish, helping to raise more than $10,000 for both events.

In announcing Albers choice as Lumen Christi recipient, board member Stephanie Merkowsky said, he's a young man who never shies away from the importance of his faith and education, and at every opportunity gives thanks to God, his family and his school.

"Andrew's life to this point is a true testament to the power of his Catholic faith - through his good works, as well as what he speaks of," said Merkowsky. "In spite of his young age, he has heightened the importance of our Catholic faith, and certainly highlighted this school division and community."