College Members Receive the TVOntario Teachers’ Awards
Four Ontario teachers received the
TVOntario Teachers’ Awards at a ceremony held June 20 at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
in Toronto. The awards recognize excellence in education through innovative and creative
methods.
"The nominations submitted this
year were very impressive and demonstrate once again the quality of Ontario’s
teachers," said College Registrar Margaret Wilson, who was part of the selection
committee and presented an award to science teacher Rob Cassibo.
"This year’s winners make us
proud of our profession and are real life examples of the College’s Standards of
Practice for the Teaching Profession. The winners are dedicated and enthusiastic, they
share a passion for teaching and learning, and they are role models in their schools and
their communities."
Manitoulin Secondary School teacher Rob
Cassibo led his school team to a number of provincial, national and international awards
in science competitions and instilled a love of science in students.
Cassibo is a resourceful teacher –
he receives used material from a number of companies he has contacted and uses it in the
classroom and for his students’ science projects. When he needed $25,000 – more
than any bake sale could ever generate – to take his students to a competition in the
U.S., the whole community responded and contributed $28,000 in a few weeks. A local doctor
provided $1,000, believing that Cassibo and the team’s enthusiasm and success may one
day provide relief for the doctor shortage in the North.
The school now boasts record-high
enrolments in OAC physics and OAC chemistry and a number of former students are pursuing
studies in engineering, pharmacy and pre-medicine.
Hamilton teacher Linda Simeoni created
Les p’tits Géants, a theatre group that creates, produces and performs plays in
theatre festivals across the province and motivates students’ community involvement
while promoting French culture.
Every year, Simeoni draws on the
specific creative talents of her students – writing, performing, playing an
instrument – and engages them in producing top-notch shows, often staying long hours
after school and coming in on weekends.
Chatham teachers Larry Kearns and Jeff
Young, with the help of their students and the community, have created a Peace Garden and
Land Lab on the grounds of St. Agnes School where students go to learn, relax or just hang
out. The school uses the garden for projects ranging from science to life skills and each
year, the students grow vegetables that they donate to a local women’s shelter.
TVO Teachers’ Awards recognizing
public school teachers are now in their ninth year. Award recipients receive $1,000 cash
award, $1,000 for educational material and an official certificate of excellence. This
year, TVOntario created a parallel award – the TVOntario Awards for Excellence for
Private and Indepen-dent Schools.
|
| This year’s winners
of the TVOntario Teachers’ Awards. From left to right: Rob Cassibo, Jeff
Young, Linda Simeoni and Larry Kearns. |
Ontario
College of Nurses Increases Membership Fee
The College of Nurses of Ontario has
increased its membership fee to $125 for the year 2001. Nurses and teachers were tied with
the lowest fee, $90, of all professional colleges in Ontario before the increase.
The College of Nurses cited a decrease
in membership, spending pressures due to legislated requirements for health regulatory
colleges and the rapidly changing health care environment as causes for the increase.
Professional college fees in Ontario
range from $90 for teachers to $1,000 for midwives. The College of Teachers announced the
creation of a reserve for fee stabilization earlier this year to maintain the
College’s $90 fee for as long as possible.
Eureka! Fellowship Winners
Two Toronto-area teachers have been
awarded "the gift of time" as winners of the Eureka! Fellowships from the
University of Toronto Schools (UTS).
Nancy Clarke, an assistant head of
science at Newmarket High School in York Region, and John Fautley, a music teacher and
assistant principal at UTS, are this year’s Eureka! Fellows.
Clarke will spend the next two years
teaching half-time in the UTS science department and half-time developing a series of
audio and video support materials for secondary science teachers.
Fautley will continue to work at UTS,
but will be released half-time to develop a computer system to help music students
practice on wind instruments.
Successful projects must have an impact
on the practice of other teachers, at both UTS and in schools throughout the Ontario
educational system.
A second group of Eureka! Fellows will
be selected later in 2000. Fellowship recipients teach half-time at UTS in downtown
Toronto and spend the other half of their time on a project of their own design.
Fellows will be selected in early
February and will begin their fellowship in September 2001.
The application form is available on
the UTS web site at www.uts.oise.utoronto.ca
For further information, contact Carole
Zamroutian via e-mail cz@uts.oise.utoronto.ca,
telephone
416-978-3209 or fax 416-978-6775.
Canadian Students to
Hit Bottom – of Antarctica!
An expedition to Antarctica is looking
for 100 Canadian high-school students to take part in an historic educational adventure to
one of the Earth’s last frontiers.
The students will visit Antarctica
aboard an ice-class expedition ship, the Marine Discovery, from December 27 to January 8.
During this period, the planet’s southernmost region becomes home to millions of
penguins, seals, seabirds and whales.
The experience will include an
educational program with preparatory study and research, and the trip will be enhanced by
seminars and lectures given by experts on the history, geography, flora and fauna of the
region.
During the expedition, regular reports
from the students, expedition updates and digital photos will be uploaded daily to the
Students on Ice web site. The climax of the expedition will be a student forum which will
produce a Youth Charter for Antarctica to be presented at the 2001 Antarctica Treaty
meetings.
For more information, contact Geoff
Green, director and expedition leader at 613-392-2207, or visit the Students on Ice web
site at www.studentsonice.com
Taking a Look at History
 |
Council
member and Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario representative Doug Carter and
College Deputy Registrar Joe Atkinson take a look at the minutes of the Ottawa
Teachers’ Association 1878-1882, which were donated to the College by ETFO. The book
will be on display with other significant historical documents in a special showcase in
the College lobby. |
Teachers Sought
for Focus Group on Autism
A working group that will be taking
part in a forum on autism to be held in Toronto in November is looking for teachers of
children with autism to be part of a focus group that will help them develop a research
agenda on early
intervention in autism.
Those interested should be early
education teachers of children four to six years of age. Participants in the focus group
will take part in a workshop to help determine the direction of future research in early
intervention and education for children with autism spectrum disorders.
The working group is seeking
experienced teachers from both inclusive and special education settings, from a variety of
geographic locations.
Participants will be chosen through an
anonymous review process and those living outside the Toronto area will be provided with
hotel accommodation and reimbursed for travel costs. Interest in taking part is expected
to be high and it is not likely all educators applying will be accepted.
For information call Dr. Peter Szatmari
of Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals at 905-521-2100, ext. 77364, or e-mail: szatmar@fhs.mcmaster.ca.
Assessment
Techniques for Ontario Teachers
Teachers looking for practical
strategies that will help them develop assessment techniques that can be useful in working
with the new Ontario curriculum will be interested in the OSSTF Quality Assessment
conference in Toronto November 3-4, 2000.
Quality Assessment: Fitting the Pieces
Together will feature Alfie Kohn, a U.S. author and lecturer, who argues militantly
against traditional assessment methods and offers strategies for teachers to minimize the
negative effects of the traditional grading system.
The conference objective is to provide
teachers with inexpensive access to workshops on practical assessment strategies and
techniques. The fee for the conference, which will be held at the Colony Hotel in Toronto,
is $175.
For a conference brochure or more
information about registration, contact Thérèse Matteau at OSSTF at 416-751-8300 or call
toll-free in Ontario at 1-800-267-7867.
