News 2006
Our June Social
Over 50 Kappans and guests capped our momentous 50th year with an outstanding social and rewards evening at Rocco's Plum Tomato on Islington, on Thursday June 15.
Guests included Dr. Jane Gaskell, Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Award winners included Maria Castelhano (Queens) for the Jackman award and Kari Peters (OISE/UT) Prospective Educator's award- both the local and international awards). The News Section has links to the winning essays.
We had awards for long service for members from 20-45 years. These included one for Alec McCuaig, a founder.
The food was delicious; the company delightful, official proceedings were short, and the atmosphere optimistic as we move towards next year. Congratulations to all who made this a success!
And lest I forget, we had a surprise, especially to our Program Chair Stephanie Fetterolf. She found out that she will be going to China on a PDK Gerald Read travel scholarship.
Special congratulations, Stephanie!
Doctoral Dissertation Award Winner
The PDK U of T Chapter¹s 2006 Doctoral Dissertation Award winner is Dr. Sheryl Freeman, whose thesis is entitled:
The Intersection of Policy and Practice in One Stand Alone Vocational School: The ABC Story
Read the introduction.
 |
The PDK Doctoral Dissertation Award carries both money and high prestige, in that excerpts will be published in The Kappan.
The committee, co-ordinated by Mary and Robert Hookey, was chaired by Clay Lafleur, and included Shak Ahad and Susan Seidman.
The committee was impressed not only with the quality of the submissions, but also by the clarity of the criteria established by PDK.
"The Treasure That Is Public Education" Series
As we get closer to a provincial election, the issue of public funding for private schools will again surface. Its suppoerters will offer teh following reasons for this:
- the public system has failed
- monopolies are by defninition bad and we need competition to shape up public schools just like business or in sports
- parents should be given chioce; it's only fair
- religion and identity are important parts of a person's life and if the public school can't support these, then we need independent schools to do so
To these statements John Myers offers several key points against school "choice" - download the PDF to read the full argument.
Session 1 - 2 November 2006
The first in "The Treasure That Is Public Education" Series brought together Kappans and Guests Annie Kidder (People for Education), Dominic Giroux (Assistand Deputy Minister of Education) and Jasmeet Sidhu (current university student and former student trustee, Peel DSB).
The discussion was engaging and important. Among our challenges are teh changing demographics as the population ages and our students become more diverse. We noted the particular challenges for aboriginal students.
Read more and see pictures from this session - download the PDF report.
Session 3 - 18 January 2007
The third session was double-barreled. We began with on-the-ground work by the staff at Firgrove P.S., with Principal Vicky Branco and Lead Teacher Harpreet Ghuman illustrating the many facets of school leadership for promoting a schoo community working to improve teaching and student learning.
Read more and view photos from this session - download the PDF report.
Session 4 - 22 February 2007
The final session in our series packed a lot into it. Diana Kordic from Willow Park gave a a poster presentation. Willo Park is teh third Inner City Model Project Schools supported by the Toronto District School Board to enhance the educational opportunities of our neediest communities. Mike Hawes, vice-principal of Eastdale Collegiate, gave a presentation of their work in challenging circumstances from the high school perspective.
Read more and view photos from this session - download the PDF report.
back to topA Call for Presentations
In the fall, we are doing a program series on the theme of Public Education. We are partnering with OISE/UT's Centre for Urban Schooling. They have a call out for presenters for The National Inner City Conference being held in Toronto next April.
Submissions can be sent to -
Jeff Kugler
Executive Director, Centre for Urban Schooling
Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
OISE, U of T
252 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 1V6
Office: Room 10-112
Tel: 416-923-6641 ext. 7859
Fax: 416 926-4744
[email protected]
PDK Social
15 June 2006
back to top
"THE DAY OF THE ARROW"
6 May 2006
The epic Avro Arrow was a shining moment in Canada's history, as it was breakthrough technology. The scuttling of the Avro is mythic. We heard the Avro legend from Lou Wise who lived the story, recorded the story, and shared the story, including archival film.
During the Cold War, a new plane was developed that could fly past the North Pole and confront any invading Russian planes. This plane would protect both Canada and the United States. The Mach 2+ Avro Arrow's first flight was on March 25, 1958. Suddenly on Feb. 20, 1959, the project was cancelled by then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. The shock reverberates to the present day.
 ; |
A copy of Lou's film is available:
Avro Arrow DVD - Lou Wise, [email protected]
The DVD is $20, with shipping and handling $3.00 (if the shipping address is local).
Annual General Meeting
19 April 2006
Research Series, Winter 2006
Our program series on the theme of Research and Assessment was well attended. Newsletter editor Pauline Shou videotaped it. To view, contact Pauline or Susan Seidman.
back to top