Toronto teacher receives award for excellence

TORONTO, Sept. 24, 2014 /CNW/ - Nancy Rawlinson, a Grade 2 teacher at Davisville Elementary School in Toronto, was honoured with the OTIP Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Elementary Teacher Category at a ceremony in Toronto yesterday.

A parent volunteer states this about Nancy's classroom: "If you walk into Ms R's class, you realize immediately you have entered a special place. You feel drawn into it. You want to stay and explore. You want to learn. She has created a world in her room that will inspire a child to dream and reach their true potential. There is something for everyone in her class—so every child will feel that they have a place there." Nancy layers the student's learning—reading a book leads to another project such as creating puppets, writing, and sewing and to another project such as teacher interviews or writing messages of support for a funding project.  Nancy is actively engaged in the OISE web project, The Balanced Literary Diet. Students in her class make personal chalkboard clipboards, teeny tiny books, and flip book group projects; create simple characters out of foil; and have lots of hands-on learning such as cooking, sewing, and making wool. Nancy capitalizes on the cultural diversity of Davisville by bringing parents and community figures into the classroom. Students come to understand and celebrate each others' differences.

The Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) and the Ontario Teachers' Federation co-sponsor the OTIP Teaching Awards for excellence in teaching in the publicly funded school system. Three awards are presented: secondary school teacher, elementary school teacher and beginning teacher. Anyone can nominate a teacher in Ontario's publicly funded schools, including public, Catholic, and francophone school boards.

More information and a video honouring Nancy are posted on the Teaching Awards website: teachingawards.ca.

About OTIP: Creating Insured Members for Life. At OTIP (www.otip.com), we not only understand the education system, we believe in it. OTIP has been committed to providing quality insurance benefits and advice for the best value since 1977. Across all lines of insurance, OTIP provides coverage to over 160,000 education employees in the province. Owned by Ontario's four education affiliates (AEFO, ETFO, OECTA and OSSTF) and directed by a Board of Trustees, OTIP was built on the belief that educators would be better served by a not-for-profit insurance advocate that was part of the education community. This remains our philosophy today. 

The Ontario Teachers' Federation (www.otffeo.on.ca) 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 publicly funded schools in the province – elementary, secondary, public, Catholic and francophone.

SOURCE: Ontario Teachers' Federation

Patricia Wilkinson-Bizjak, Director, Corporate Affairs and Communications, OTIP, 519.574.4997, 1.800.267.6847 ext. 2615, [email protected]; Rhonda Kimberley-Young, Secretary-Treasurer, OTF, 416.966.3424, 1.800.268.7061, [email protected]