April 28, 2009
Kevin Kobus Presented with B.E. Nelligan Award
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OCSOA Annual Banquet and Awards
l-r: John Stunt, OCSTA Exec. Director, Paula Peroni, OCSTA President
and B.E. Nelligan Award Recipient, Kevin Kobus.
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OCSTA
Sr. Policy Advisor for Finance, Kevin Kobus, was honoured recently by
the Ontario Catholic Supervisory Officers' Association (OCSOA) with one
of their most highly regarded awards - the B.E. Nelligan Award of
Merit. The award was presented to Kevin at OCSOA's recent Annual
Banquet in Ottawa.
OCSOA
presents this award each year to the person who has made an outstanding
and tangible contribution to Catholic education in Ontario.
Prior
to joining OCSTA in 2008, Kevin was the Director of Education at the
largest Catholic school board in Canada, the Toronto Catholic District
School Board. He also previously served as Director of Education at
the Simcoe-Muskoka CDSB.
The
B. E. Nelligan Award acknowledges Kevin's remarkable career which spans
more than three decades and includes two important government
appointments. Kevin was first appointed by the government to the
Education Improvement Commission in 1997 and then in 2004 he was
appointed Assistant Deputy Minister, Business and Finance Division of
the Ministry of Education.
Presenting
the Nelligan Award on behalf of OCSOA was Director of Education for the
Wellington CDSB, Don Drone. Don had this to say about Kevin's
achievements:
The
Association recently sent to boards an update on Standards Development
under the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act).
For your reference that memo can be accessed on the members' area of the OCSTA website by clicking here
to log in to the secure section of this website. You will need your
personal login information. Once in that area click on the "OCSTA
Communications" link to find recent board communications on this topic
(April 16 memo to boards re: AODA).
Since that communication there have been further updates regarding these standards as noted below:
Proposed Standards on Employment Accessibility: On
March 24, OCSTA Director of Legislative and Political Affairs, Carol
Devine, participated in a stakeholder meeting on the Proposed Standards
on Employment Accessibility. The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of
Community and Social Services and was attended by many public and
private sector employer groups as well as persons with disabilities.
If
approved in its present form, the proposed Standard will transform how
employers deal with employees and potential employees in all phases of
the employment cycle and would require considerable changes in the
human resources practices of many employers, including school boards.
The
Standard sets out specific requirements for recruitment, assessment,
selection, hiring, retention, and separation and termination from
employment. It reaches beyond the Human Rights Code's
duty to accommodate individuals with disabilities, and will have a
broad impact on how organizatioins interact with and accommodate
persons with disabilities.
Some key points raised during the consultation were as follows:
Elections
All boards are reminded that the OCSTA Annual General Meeting &
Conference will take place May 7-9, 2009 at the Doubletree by Hilton
Hotel – Toronto Airport (655 Dixon Rd).
Elections for Regional Directors will be held as part of the AGM.
The
following nominations, duly Moved and Seconded, for OCSTA Regional
Director, were received by the deadline of 10:00 a.m. on Friday, April
17, 2009. NOTE: Nominations are now closed.
Region 1
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John Caputo, Huron Superior CDSB
Colleen Landers, Northeastern CDSB
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Region 2
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Paul Landry, Kenora CDSB
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Region 3 (at large)
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John Borst
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Region 4
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Marino Gazzola, Wellington CDSB
Joe McPherson, Brant Haldimand Norfolk CDSB
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Region 5
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Linda Ward, St. Clair CDSB
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Region 9
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Suzanne Youngs, Parry Sound RCSSB
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Region 10
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Andrew Bray, Renfrew County CDSB
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Region 11
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Kathy Burtnik, Niagara CDSB
Pauline Houlahan, Halton CDSB
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For more information: Jane Ponte, jponte@ocsta.on/ca - (416) 932-9460, ext. 223.
Conference Program Highlights:
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Keynote Address: The Good News of Catholic Schools
Fr. Ron Nuzzi
Sr. Director, Alliance for Catholic Education Leadership Program
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Father
Ron Nuzzi is a priest of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio. Ordained in
1984, Fr. Nuzzi has a long record of service to Catholic education at
every level, including teaching in U.S. parish schools, high school
administration, university teaching at the undergraduate, graduate, and
doctoral levels, and university administration.
For
10 years Fr. Nuzzi served as editor of the research journal, Catholic
Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, the only scholarly
publication in the world dedicated exclusively to Catholic education.
In
August 2002, the National Catholic Education Association published an
extensive summary of research on Catholic education 1990-2000,
entitled, Catholic Schools Still Make a Difference, for which he served as editor and contributed a chapter on Catholic identity.
In
January 2004, Fr. Ron was among a select group of educational leaders
invited to the White House for a special celebration of Catholic
education with the President Bush. In 2004, he opened a session of
Congress saying the opening prayer in the U.S. House of Representatives
before meeting with a variety of House and Senate committees on
educational policy.
Fr. Ron’s most recent publication, Research, Action, and Change: Leadership Re-Shaping Catholic Schools,
is a collection of school-based research projects aimed at improving
Catholic schools. He is currently leading a team of researchers
studying the involvement of priests with Catholic schools and is part
of an international task force examining the under-representation of
Latino and Latina populations in Catholic schools.
A
regular presenter at national conventions in the U.S. and Canada, Fr.
Nuzzi is in demand as a speaker, educational researcher, teacher and
retreat director.
The
ACE Leadership Program began in 2002 as an extension of the University
of Notre Dame’s nationally recognized Alliance for Catholic Education
(ACE) Program. Led by the Rev. Ronald J. Nuzzi, Ph.D. the program
provides an intensive 26-month experience, encompassing the
dispositions of becoming a professional administrator, fostering school
community, and promoting spiritual formation.
Friday, May 8, 2009
- Regional Meetings:
A new addition to the AGM & Conference program this year is a
special session of Regional Meetings. Trustees and Directors of
Education will have an opportunity to meet and discuss local issues and
priorities with peers from their respective regions - Northeast,
Northwest, East, West and Central Regions - during concurrent breakout
sessions on Friday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
- “Catholic
Education – A Global Perspective” presented by Sister Marie Celine,
Institute of the Blessed Virgin (IBVM). Sister Marie Celine is a
Director of the Loreto Education Trust which is responsible for the
exercise of trusteeship of all Loreto Schools in Ireland. Sister Marie
Celine will be in Toronto to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of IBVM.
- His Grace, Archbishop Thomas Collins (Archdiocese of Toronto) will celebrate Mass at 4:45 p.m. Mass will be held at the Hotel.
- OCSTA Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony (7:00 p.m.)
Saturday, May 9, 2009
- Opening Praise with The Jubilee Singers (Dufferin Peel CDSB)
- “Building Community Support for Catholic Education,” presented by Bishop Gerard Bergie, Diocese of Hamilton
- Concurrent Workshops
- “The Strategic Review - A Very Public Consultation for a School Board” (Case Study)--Dufferin-Peel CDSB
- “Best Practices in Aboriginal Education at Catholic Schools”--Kenora CDSB
- “How
Greening Education Facilities can Improve Learning Environments, Reduce
Operating Costs and Make a Difference to the Environment”--ZAS Architects
- “How Social Media Can Help to Build Community Knowledge and Awareness about Issues in Catholic Education”--Leona Hobbs, Director of Communications, Social Media Group - Social Media Group is one of the world's largest independent agencies helping organizations navigate the new socially engaged Web.
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- Minister of Education, The Hon. Kathleen Wynne