Ontario College of Teachers Election

The Ontario College of Teachers is electing a new College Council this year. Online electronic voting will begin on March 5^th, and closes on April 10^th. Results will be announced April 12^th. To vote, simply log into the Members Area of the College of Teachers website and you'll be presented with a ballot.

There is one position you'll be able to vote for where you have the chance to elect someone to College Council who will understand and represent the issues of occasional teachers. That is the “Southcentral Region Part-time/Full-time” position. Each region has two positions: full-time only, and the part-time/full-time position (part-time in this context includes occasional teachers). The part-time/full-time regional positions are the only positions which allow occasional teachers to have direct representation on College Council.

Niagara occasional teacher Mark Carter is a candidate for the Southcentral Region Part-time/Full-time position, and we encourage you to vote for him. Mark can bring to the College of Teachers a genuine understanding of the realities of being an occasional teacher. He has served on your Local Executive in many capacities for the past seven years, and we're confident that he will quite capably represent your interests at the College of Teachers. His election web site is at http://octelection.markcarter.info.

For more information on the College Council election, visit http://election.oct.ca

ETFO on the Drummond Commission

ETFO's President, Sam Hammond, addresses the issue of the Drummond Commission and its focus on cuts to the public sector.  You can e-mail Sam at shammond@etfo.org

Scrabble for Literacy Tournament

Niagara Regional Literacy Council's seventh annual Scrabble for Literacy Fundraising Tournament is being held on Friday, April 27th, 2012. We're trying to wrangle up a team (or two) of occasional teachers for this year's tournament. You can register as an individual or as part of a six member team. $30 entry fee, includes a meal!

If we can get enough interested people, the Local will sponsor the entry fee for a team again this year.  This will be our third year sending a team of occasional teachers to the event.  There's good food and it's always a ton of fun.

When: Friday April 27th, 2012. Doors open at 5:00pm, dinner at 6pm, games begin 7:30pm.
Where: Holiday Inn Parkway Convention Centre, 327 Ontario Street, St. Catharines
Cost: Free to you if you join our team!  Otherwise $30 per person, $180 for a team of 6. Price includes a full hot and cold buffet dinner, door prizes, and three team Scrabble games. Silent auction and penny sale also at event.

More information: 905-687-8299 or visit www.literacyniagara.org

If you'd like to be part of a Niagara OT team, e-mail Mark@niagaraot.org.