2007 Winning Teachers

October 03, 2007

Ontario’s top teachers will receive high honours today as part of an early celebration of World Teachers’ Day. The province’s best classroom educators will be lauded by their peers at the annual OTIP Teaching Awards ceremony in Toronto.

The Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) sponsors the awards, which are administered by the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF).

The following educators received the OTIP Teaching Award:

2007 Winning Teachers

October 03, 2007

Ontario’s top teachers will receive high honours today as part of an early celebration of World Teachers’ Day. The province’s best classroom educators will be lauded by their peers at the annual OTIP Teaching Awards ceremony in Toronto.

The Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) sponsors the awards, which are administered by the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF).

The following educators received the OTIP Teaching Award:

Beginning Teacher Category

Danielle Corsini

St. Mary Catholic Secondary School, Hamilton-Wentworth

Danielle Corsini is a Mathematics teacher for Grades 9, 10 and 11 at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton-Wentworth.

Danielle says she always knew she wanted to be a teacher because she had “awesome” math teachers herself. And now she is one.

Her colleagues describe her as hard working, enthusiastic and passionate. She incorporates demonstrations, visuals, games, crossword puzzles and hands-on activities into her lessons. She makes newsletters to improve literacy. One involved aliens invading earth by flying on parallel lines. She fosters confidences through team board work and rounds of applause. And she makes math relevant by using part-time jobs as the subject for hourly rate calculations or funny motion stories to demonstrate slopes.

As a new teacher starting a first career, there is plenty to adjust to. Danielle hasn’t let that slow her pace. In just her second year of teaching, she has been the field hockey coach and teacher advisor for the Athletic Council. She participated in the DREAMS project, traveling with students to the Dominican Republic to build homes. She has worked on the school success team, helped organize a pilgrimage walk for the poor and is working with the Board’s Mathematical Literacy teacher to create workshops for elementary and secondary teachers to develop best practices.

While her own teachers led Danielle Corsini to the profession, today it’s the students who are showing her the way. As she says to us in this video, “They inspire me all the time.”

This video shows how her students inspire Danielle Corsini.

Elementary Teacher Category

Danielle Honour

Norseman Junior Middle School, Toronto

A parent nominated Danielle Honour for “her remarkable ability to inspire and motivate children to learn.”

The Grade 2 teacher at Norseman Junior Middle School in Toronto’s west end is described by a colleague this way: “Danielle has never needed a title to serve, and has never sought recognition for her service. She quietly finds jobs that need to be done, helps when help is needed and does what she does out of a genuine commitment to, and love for, those she serves.”

Ms Honour started a glasses club when she noticed a child uncomfortable with her new eyewear (any glasses will do). She created a Harry-Potter-esque house program named for the Norse gods Ravens, Serpents, Wolves and Eagles. The multi-age groupings co-operate in sports, fundraising and other spirit activities. Danielle took a lead role in raising funds to build a school house in Kenya and helped with a production of The Wizard of Oz.

But the initiative most often mentioned in her nomination papers was Danielle Honour’s Friends Across the City project. Working with a former colleague, she connects her class with another Toronto school with a different ethnic and socio-economic make up. The children write to each other and meet for special events such as Diwali and during shared field trips.

And it all connects to the curriculum and follows a theme. A Science study of animals links to social studies on Africa which links to the school house in Kenya which links to a trip to the zoo with the Friends Across the City.

All that, while completing an MA in education.

It’s hard to imagine doing more but Ms Honour laments, “I have the kids for such a short time. Ten months pass so quickly….there are so many things I want to do with them.”

Watch her in action in this video.

Secondary Teacher Category

Martin Aller-Stead

Monarch Park Collegiate, Toronto

We could introduce Martin Aller-Stead as a Senior Level/Co-operative Education teacher at Monarch Park Collegiate in Toronto. But that wouldn’t begin to describe the man.

Martin Aller-Stead has had several careers. As a teacher, his career has taken him to Oakville; Montreal; Leduc, Alberta; Terrace, BC and Nigeria.

At Monarch Park, he finds innovative and “right fit” co-op placements for all of his students and uses his life experience to illustrate, enhance and punctuate lessons. The Co-operative Education Pre-Employment Sessions can sometimes be an analytical examination of provincial legislation. Not when Martin brings in his banjo to play old union songs. The students discover why unions continue to be relevant today.

A colleague says, “He makes all students–regardless of economic, social or physical ability or disability–successful if they choose to be. He is a constant support and provider of hope for many who never thought they would get a chance.”

That’s inside the classroom. Outside, he has been a teacher-sponsor of Leaders Today; a trainer in international, intercultural exchange dynamics; a staff advisor for student council; a coach for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards Program, rugby teams, and rowing teams. He has been staff advisor for the Fitness and Nutrition Club, the Glee Club and the Gay-Straight Alliance. He set up “A very Halal Christmas Dinner”. The annual event sees students host and serve 250 seniors and veterans for a family dinner. He organized the Monarch Institute, a series of university-style lectures on a particular theme for staff and students.

Watch this video and see if you can keep up.