CELEBRATING TEACHERS ON WORLD TEACHERS' DAY

TORONTO, Sept. 29 /CNW/ - UNESCO inaugurated October 5 as World Teachers' Day in 1994. As part of its recognition of this special day, the Ontario Teachers' Federation will present the seventh annual OTIP Teaching Awards on September 30, 2010 at Enoch Turner Schoolhouse in Toronto.

The Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan sponsors the awards which are administered by the Ontario Teachers' Federation.

Once again this year, three teachers will be celebrated for their demonstrated passion and professionalism to education and to teaching.

"OTIP is involved with teachers every day, but sponsoring these awards gives us an opportunity to see teachers active in their profession, working with their students and showing leadership with their colleagues," said Randy McGlynn, Chief Executive Officer of OTIP. "We are proud to sponsor a program that acknowledges the work of all of the teachers of Ontario by highlighting the work of these three teachers."

OTF President Rian McLaughlin said, "World Teachers' Day is an appropriate time to celebrate the dedicated women and men who are teachers in our communities, in our province and around the world. While today we are focusing on three incredible teachers, I know that there are tens of thousands of great teachers in Ontario who make a difference for students every day."

This year, the OTIP Awards will recognize an elementary teacher who makes learning fun, a secondary teacher who connects her students to their natural environment and a beginning teacher who brings history to life every day in his classroom.

    
    Elementary Teacher
    Alice Désormeaux
    St. Anne Separate School
    Hanmer

    Secondary Teacher
    Colleen Drew-Baehre
    North Hastings High School
    Bancroft

    Beginning Teacher
    Matthew Biggley
    Vincent Massey Secondary School
    Windsor
    

For the second year, the ceremony will also honour the recipients of the Toronto Star Teacher Award and the Prix d'enseignement TFO.

For more information on the OTIP Teaching Awards, visit www.teachingawards.ca.

OTIP is a non-profit organization serving education employees and their families with reliable, affordable insurance and financial solutions.

The Ontario Teachers' Federation is the advocate for the teaching profession in Ontario and for its 160,000 teachers. OTF members are full-time, part-time and occasional teachers in all the publicly funded schools in the province-elementary, secondary, public, Catholic and francophone.

For further information: Kathleen Devlin, Director, Policy & Public Affairs, 416.966.3424