SASKATOON, Sask. — Amanda Jobb says she is most comfortable in front of her Grade 2 class, helping students with language arts and math or reading the Bible to them every morning. The national award-winning teacher isn’t used to the spotlight and felt uneasy at first speaking into a microphone for an interview, but when she warmed up, she shared stories showing the impact she has had on her students.
“I’m doing this for the kids. I enjoy my job. I love my work. And with my students, it is fulfilling. I really enjoy my work. Some jobs you drag your feet. Me, I dance into my classroom. I love my job. I enjoy it,” said Jobb, one of four Saskatchewan educators recognized through the 2026 Prime Minister’s Awards, the country’s top honour in education.
“Teaching isn't just about lessons and curriculum. It's also about lifestyle and making a welcoming place for your students. I really enjoy it. And, coming from a small community, it just shows that someone like me can get awards like this. So, I'm just honoured. It's, like, when kids are saying, ‘I did it, Mom.’ When they yell that out.”
Jobb hails from Southerland and Ranger Lake in northern Saskatchewan and is a TH Woodland Cree under the Nîhithaw or Sakāwithiniwak Indigenous group. “I’m also a wife, a mother of three and a child of a King, our Lord Jesus,” she added.
Jobb, who earned the award for Teaching Excellence, has taught for seven years with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and is one of the educators at awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik St. Francis School, one of Saskatoon's two Cree bilingual schools. She was joined by Carlyle’s Marylee Morrison-Lees of White Bear Education Complex and Tessier’s Natasha Cochran of Willow Park Colony School.
Mayranush “Mana” Harutyunyan of Maggie's Early Learning Centre in Saskatoon earned the Excellence in Early Childhood Education honour.
GSCS superintendent of learning Kelley Cardinal said it is always worth celebrating anyone who gets recognition for what they do, not only within their school community or locally, but nationally, under the country’s leader.
“We’re incredibly proud of the success of teachers and staff. Amanda pours herself—her knowledge, her passion, and her identity as a Cree woman—into her classroom and students, and we’re so happy that her work and commitment are being recognized,” said Cardinal.
Impact on students
Jobb said she doesn't expect anything in return as a teacher and finds meaning in seeing the impact she has made on her current and former students, including the values she has shown them.
“I hope to have some impact on my students. Like my current students, I asked them to name one thing they would remember me for. Do you remember what we did in the classroom? And they answered: ‘You were reading the Bible. We remember the story of Noah.’ Because I always read the Bible to the kids every morning,” added Jobb.
Jobb also shared three stories about her students, including one about a girl who had already moved to another community in Saskatchewan, that showed the lasting impact she had on their lives.
She recalled installing an old orange phone outside her classroom and telling her students, especially the tattletales, to use it whenever they felt like talking to reduce issues between students. She recalled one student who was shy and quiet and whose mom had died. He told her that he talked to his mom on the phone.
“That phone is not connected, and what he did was just pretend to talk to his mom. He said he told his mom about me, how fun it is to learn new things in class, what he's learned so far, and the different activities we do in the classroom,” said Jobb.
She added that the boy’s gesture clearly showed how much he missed his mother and that he used the phone to pour out what he had been feeling all along.
“I want them to feel the comfort, the resilience. I want them to see that they can do what they want to do. I want to inspire them. I want them to just be inspired. I want them to be trailblazers. I want them to see what a teacher can do, and they can do it, too,” Jobb said.
She shared the story of another shy student who hardly participated in classroom activities, whom she helped overcome her shyness and become more active in class.
“I have mics in my class, and we do karaoke. If I see someone who isn't participating or is shy, I will hand them the mic so they can sing along with the other kids. By the end of the year, she was singing and dancing in front. Now, they shock me. I want to show them that they can do and overcome anything,” said Jobb.
She shared another story of a former student who had left Saskatoon at the end of the school year. Jobb didn't know the student wouldn't return, as she would be living with her grandmother in another community in the province. She said the girl was crying as she said goodbye.
“She was bawling her eyes out, saying, ‘I'm going to miss you, Miss Jobb.’ I told her that I would see her again in the fall, the start of a new school year. I said that I’d be here. But she never came back, and I always think about her. Sometimes you have your teacher’s pet in a class. She is like that for me, and she always clung to me,” said Jobb.
“A few years later, before the school moved, I was at the park with my students, and there is this girl who had been looking at me and moving toward me. I looked at her too, looked into her eyes, and remembered. I said her name. She responded, and she hugged me. She told me: ‘I always talk about you, teacher. I told my grandma I needed to see you. She brought me here to see you.’ She gave me her cell number, and now I stay in touch with her.”
Jobb added that she would cherish those moments and wanted her students to remember her not only for the subjects she taught but, more importantly, for the love she shared with them.
Learning that her students remembered those lessons is reward enough for her. “It means that I am doing something right as a teacher. I’m not only a teacher, but I'm also a comforter.”
Emotional surprise
Jobb said she knew she was nominated for the award after the school administration informed her in 2025. She went through the year not expecting anything. Then, one morning in the current school year, she opened her email, as she regularly does so she won’t miss a message.
“And there it was, an email from the Prime Minister’s Office. I read it and said, ‘Oh my God! I won! I actually won.’ I was sitting in front of my computer crying. It was a very emotional moment for me. I was so grateful. I praised the Lord. I thanked the Lord because all the glory and honour belong to our Lord Jesus. I'm the kind of person who cries for no reason. I sit, and I'll cry. It just shows that my teaching is being recognized for what I do in my classroom,” added Jobb.
She credits her mom for being a teacher today, as she followed in her footsteps and became an educator. However, teaching was not part of her plan after seeing how much work her mom had poured into the profession for 30 years.
She added that as a child, she had always dreamt of becoming a fighter pilot. “But my eyes said no,” Jobb said, laughing. “Then I became a stay-at-home mom while my husband worked. I was blessed to stay with my children, take them to school and all that. And then I slowly realized my mom is doing those special things.”
“One time I asked her, ‘Mom, why do you make yourself work?’ She answered, ‘For the kids.’ That inspired me, and I started thinking about becoming a teacher. She really inspired me to become a teacher for the kids. That is why I am here today, for the kids,” added Jobb, who took the Indian Teacher Education Program at the University of Saskatchewan.
She said that she still talks to her mom and consults her on teaching methods. “She’s my go-to person because of her experience. She’s old school, but she and my entire family have always been supportive of my career, and they help me develop things.”
“For instance, my dad was a trapper, so I bring his fur to school to show the kids. Like, when we teach land-based lessons. I need the students to actually see, because in the city you don't see the animals, right? So, bringing in fur helps a lot.”
