Helen McGuinness & Amanda Van Alebeek-Beninati

Helen McGuinness & Amanda Van Alebeek-Beninati
Posted on 06/17/2022
Every week we celebrate SMCDSB staff members who have been recognized by a parent, student or colleague.

This week we are celebrating Helen McGuinness, Guidance/ Healthy Active Living Teacher at Holy Trinity Catholic High School. Helen was nominated by a student, who said:


“Mrs McGuinness has always made me feel safe and supported. She is anhelen mcguinness amazing teacher as well as a guidance counsellor. Her office door is always open if you need to talk and that makes me feel safe at school as a student. She can always make you smile or laugh when it seems impossible. She is always there for her students and  genuinely cares about each and every student. I want her to know that she is making an extremely positive impact on each and every one of her students. I would not be where I am today if it was not for Mrs McGuinness.”

This week we are also celebrating Amanda Van Alebeek-Beninati,  Teacher at St. Angela Merici Catholic School. Amanda was nominated by a parent, who said:


“Mrs. Beninati is simply AMAZING to say the least. She has taught both of our children (past and present) and has such a great rapport with her students. This pandemic has created so much uncertainty, anxiety and insecurity for our children. She recognizes this and is a superstar with how she interacts with her students. Mrs. Beninati is incredibly understanding, fair and empathetic. We amanda vanappreciate her ability to recognize when students may need a little extra support and encouragement. However, do not mistake her kindness as a weakness! She is firm and handles situations accordingly. Mrs. Beninati truly is a teacher to look up to. A natural mentor for future teachers. She allows her students to have a voice. Gives them the opportunity to be heard. This is so important for children. Mrs. Beninati will guide her students where they need her guidance as well as have them take accountability. At the same time, she will encourage a student to meet their full potential. We regret that we did not  complete this years ago when our daughter was with Mrs. Beninati but we simply could not let this year pass without her being recognized as she deserves too. She has such a good reputation within the community. Whenever we say who our child’s teacher is, it’s nothing but positivity we hear. Mrs. Beninati is truly amazing and all future teachers will succeed if they are as humble, kind and amazing as she is. We are blessed to have had Mrs. Beninati teach our children.”


We would like to thank Helen and Amanda for their commitment to Catholic education at our board.