Downie honoured for teaching

Barbara Black

Congratulations to Peter Downie, who has won the first Michael Monty Memorial Award, named in memory of a teacher at Seneca College and given by the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation (RTNDF).

Downie, a well-known CBC broadcaster and independent filmmaker, has been teaching in the Department of Journalism since 1999 and currently serves as the department's Broadcast Coordinator and Diploma Program Director.

He was nominated by several of his students, one of whom wrote, “What makes him exceptional, in my view, is that when he teaches, or when he is dealing with a student, he is absorbed by the person and the subject at hand.

“At that moment, one gets the feeling there is nothing more important to him than that you should perceive what's important and succeed. He creates an intimate, conspiratorial mood in which you feel empowered, privileged and wholly supported.”