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Your Federation: A Roundup of Federation News
- QUEBEC is a Canadian leader and Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams wants to follow in that province’s path. Lowering child poverty can be accomplished, according to Pedro Barrato, communications and outreach coordinator for the Atkinson Foundation. “Every industrialized nation can lower child poverty if it wants to,” says Barrato, who was the keynote speaker at Leadership 2007. He pointed out that Quebec had set targets and a timetable and put in place a number of measures to support poor families. As a result Quebec’s child poverty rate in 2005 dropped to less than 10 percent from 22 percent in 1996. The conference is an annual event that brings together local leaders for two days of intensive learning designed to help them be more effective in their roles as local executive members and committee chairs.
- ELEMENTARY students in Ontario receive $711 less than secondary students. ETFO is determined to Close the Gap in the next round of bargaining. Collective agreements expire next August, and ETFO is focusing on making sure negotiators understand every aspect of their agreements and the bargain- ing process. Training sessions for negotiators were held in October in conjunction with the October Representative Council. President David Clegg presented ETFO’s bargaining goals and underscored the organization’s commitment to achieving its goals. For more information go to closethegap.ca. Participants also heard about the impact of declining enrolments and received detailed information about how education is funded in Ontario.
- AS A SPOUSE, parent, and teacher Viletia Richards has experienced the impact of the war in Afghanistan. Richards, shown with her husband, Bill, and their two children, is a member of the Renfrew County Teacher Local. She spoke to participants at the October Representative Council meeting about the challenges faced by children whose parents are in the military and are deployed overseas. For more see “Teaching in an Emotional War Zone” in the October issue of Voice, or read the article online at etfo.ca/epublications/EVoice.
- ETFO’S conference Teachers Volunteering Abroad drew a capacity crowd of members interested in learning about working overseas. Participants got tips from experienced colleagues and were able to connect with a variety of agencies that facilitate overseas placements. A list of these organizations can be found on our website at etfo.ca/ELinks.
- ETFO’S UNION SCHOOL is an intensive training program for 51 local leaders. Keynote speakers, in-depth work- shops, and case studies provide participants with practical, hands-on training that will make them more effective in their work with members. The program is delivered in three face- to-face meetings and includes online learning and network- ing. The first session in early November featured Dr. Elaine Bernard of the Labor and Worklife Program and the Trade Union Program, at the Harvard Law School. This is the second year the program is being offered.
- DANNY and his mother have no money. They have moved frequently and Danny’s academic learning has suffered. Just how a child like Danny faces the challenges of his circumstances is the subject of Danny, King of the Basement, a play written by David S. Craig and mounted b y the Rose neath Theatre Company. Participants at the Leadership 2007 conference saw an excerpt of the play and schools around the province are seeing it as part of ETFO’s Poverty Project.Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education, the project provides educators with professional development that raises their awareness of the impact of poverty on their students and provides them with resources and concrete strategies to help their students succeed. Look for a feature story on this unique ETFO initative in a future edition of Voice. More information about the project is available from ETFO executive assistant Jim Giles (jgiles@etfo.org).
- DANIELLE HONOUR, a teacher with the Toronto District School Board, won the 2007 OTIP Teaching Award for an elementary teacher. She is shown with ETFO General Secretary Gene Lewis and Martin Long, president of the Elementary Teachers of Toronto Local.
- THROUGHOUT the fall and early winter, occasional teacher locals throughout the province in partnership with ETFO offered professional learning that focused on classroom management. These members from the Upper Grand Occasional Teacher Local attended a session in Fergus. The program is one of several made pos- sible by professional learning funds provided by the Ministry of Education. For more information contact ETFO executive assistant Jason Johnston at provincial office: jjohnston@etfo.org.
- ETFO in partnership with its locals across the province is training mentors who are part of the New Teacher Induction Program. Fourteen ETFO members are conducting the sessions. They are (back row) Charmain Brown, Laura DiMatteo, Lucia Rosatone, Heather Jessop, Alexandra (Charlie) Craig, Michelle Maker, Shannon Creedon, Trish Tapp, Sonia Ellis, Theresa Varney; (front row) Sherrie Guthrie, Roz Geridis, Jodi Cleveland, Michelle Hudon.