May 15, 2009

Kathy Ablett, Ottawa CSB, Receives

2009 Trustee Award of Merit

(l.-r.) OCSTA President, Paula Peroni with 2009 Trustee Award of Merit winner, Kathy Ablett, Ottawa Catholic School Board.

From May 7-9, over 220 delegates gathered in Toronto to participate in the Annual General Meeting, plenaries and workshops that are part of this annual event.

One of the highlights of this 3-day Conference is the OCSTA Awards Dinner which took place on Friday, May 8. Over 300 guests gathered in the Plaza Ballroom at the Doubletree By Hilton hotel to celebrate the high level of commitment, service and vision demonstrated by the 2009 OCSTA Award winners.

Ottawa Catholic School Board Trustee, Kathly Ablett (featured in picture above) was awarded the Trustee Award of Merit.  This special recognition is annually given to a trustee who exceeds expectations in his/her contribution to the Catholic education community and who also demonstrates strong Catholic leadership qualities.

Kathy has served for almost 20 years as a trustee with the Ottawa Catholic School board.  Under her leadership she helped to increase the sense of community and servant leadership at the board.

Four years ago, Kathy was presented with a Success by Six Award by the United Way in recognition of her efforts to provide educational opportunities for the very young.

Currently Kathy is Chair of the new Ottawa Student Transportation Authority, a transportation consortium with the coterminous public school board.

The Association was also pleased to present its 2009 Special Award to former Premier of Ontario, The Hon. William G. Davis.  Mr. Davis was selected for this award because of the significant impact he has had on Catholic education as a result of an historic decision he made in 1984.

On June 12, 1984, Mr. Davis (then Premier of Ontario) announced in the legislature that Catholic school boards were to be permitted to establish a full range of elementary and secondary education programs as part of the province's "publicly funded system."

Mr. Davis' decision helped to shape the history of Catholic education in this province and extended opportunity to thousands of students and families.

The Hon. William G. Davis (l.) with Conference Chair and Dufferin-Peel CDSB Trustee, Tony da Silva.

President's Award

This year the Association introduced a new award - the President's Award - which recognizes an individual who, through the generous gift of his/her time and talents to a specific education-related initiative or cause, has made an outstanding contribution to OCSTA and its member boards.

Paula Peroni presented the 2009 OCSTA President's Award to London District Catholic School Board Trustee and former OCSTA President, Paul C. Whitehead in recognition for his involvement over some 20 years in copyright negotiations on behalf of all Ontario school boards and in fact all boards across Canada.

Ontario is the only province where school boards themselves have had to negotiate and sign copyright contracts, and the provincial trustee associations have been called upon to take the lead and represent school boards in these matters. Paul has worked tirelessly and with great skill to ensure that the tariff paid by school boards to Access Copyright has been a fair one.  The dollar savings realized by school boards across Canada are certainly in the multi-million dollar range.

Former OCSTA President and current London DCSB Trustee, Paul C. Whitehead receives the 2009 President's Award from OCSTA President, Paula Peroni.

Special Guests

OCSTA was also pleased to welcome Her Worship, The Mayor of Mississauga, Hazel McCallion. The Mayor was only able to attend the Association's reception but we were pleased she was able to bring greetings to Catholic school boards on behalf of her city.

(l.-r.) OCSOA Executive Director, Teresa Harris and OCSTA Vice President, Nancy Kirby with Mayor of Mississagua, Her Worship, Hazel McCallion.

Other AGM & Conference Highlights

Setting the tone for the 2009 Conference was a liturgical presentation coordinated and delivered by he students and staff of the Dufferin-Peel CDSB.  The opening liturgy delivered on Thursday evening reflected on the theme "Good News for All - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow."  Over the course of the 3-day conference, three liturgies were held to celebrate the three aspects of our Scriptural tradition -  The Old Testament; The Gospels; and Acts and Letters -  and the three persons of God - The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.

St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School Choir, Dufferin-Peel CDSB.	At left - Choir Director, Nancy Bodsworth.

The Association would like to thank Dufferin-Peel CDSB teacher Nancy Bodsworth who wrote the song for this year's Catholic Education Week theme - Good News for All,"  the students from the St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School who participated in the liturgies.  We would also like to thank and acknowledge our presiders Fr. Jim Roth, Fr. Patrick Fitzpatrick and His Grace Archbishop Thomas Collins. 

To listen to the theme "Good News for All" please visit our Catholic Education Week page to locate the Mp3 file.

The liturgical program was a beautiful celebration of our faith and the talent and spirit in our schools.  OCSTA is pleased to acknowledge the following staff and trustees from the Dufferin-Peel Board who volunteered to serve on the board's conference planning committee.

Anna Abbruscato, Joyce Anderson, Bruce Campbell, Frank Di Cosola, Luz del Rosario, Michael Harrison, Sharon Hobin, Liz Kazimowicz, Esther O'Toole, Mario Pascucci, Shelagh Peterson, George Prajza, Thomas Thomas, and Linda Zanella.

Speakers

The keynote speaker for the 2009 Conference was Fr. Ron Nuzzi, Executive Director of the Alliance for Catholic Education Leadership Program at the University of Notre Dame.  The University of Notre Dame is the largest provider of Catholic teachers and principals in the United States and Fr. Nuzzi speaks internationally on the topic of Catholic education and school leadership.

During his talk, Fr. Nuzzi referred to the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education and a 1997 document they released that described  Catholic Schools as being at the "heart of the church." His talk illuminated the central role of Catholic schools in our faith tradition and the important work that school board leaders do in the promotion and protection of our schools.

Fr. Nuzzi made a number of points of relevance to the work and role of Catholic school trustees and he emphasized that: 

• The unique contribution of Catholic schools should not be overlooked
• Catholic schools must be animated by Jesus Christ
  
• We can find strength in identifying our shared purposes with other Catholic organizations
• A Catholic church without Catholic schools is a church without a heart or a sense of the future
  

Fr. Ron Nuzzi, Alliance for Catholic Education, University of Notre Dame.

Reinforcing this message with a more local context, was His Excellency, Gerard Bergie, Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton.

Bishop Bergie discussed community engagement for our times.  He acknowledged that the future of humanity lies in the hands of those who can give the coming generations reason for hope.  The Good News we celebrate  - the Gospel of Jesus Christ - is our greatest sense of hope and mission of our Catholic schools. 

In building a support for Catholic education in Ontario Bishop Bergie stressed the reinforcement of our Gospel foundation.  He explained that in promoting Jesus, we garner the Catholic community's support.

Bishop Bergie went on to discuss the growing secularization of our society and the decreasing value that is being placed on faith and consequently on faith-based institutions. He warned that Catholic organizations must be careful not to compromise their Catholicity in order to gain greater acceptance in the community.

It is after all our distinctiveness, he added, that allows us to make great contributions to the secular world around us.  The Association has often made the point that from social justice initiatives to academic achievement, Ontario's publicly funded Catholic schools are making a difference locally and around the world.

"The greatest gift of Catholic Education is that it provides a faith environment where students can come to know Jesus through all aspects of the curriculum and the liturgical life of the school...Faith is something personal but not private.  We believe that our faith in Jesus Christ must be proclaimed and put into action.  That's an important distinction...We need Catholic schools to be a light...to dispel darkness and to be a symbol of hope...our world needs that hope." Bishop Gerard Bergie, OCSTA AGM and Conference, 2009.

Minister of Education, The Hon. Kathleen Wynne

It is a tradition of the Association to welcome the Minister of Education to the AGM and this year was no different.  The Minister recognized the success of Catholic schools and shared with delegates her experience of that day visiting Blessed John XXIII, an elementary school in the Toronto CDSB.

She applauded the schools efforts at providing a nurturing and supportive environment not only for the diverse and multicultural population of students at the school but also for the parents.  This example served to reinforce for the Minister the importance of remaining committed to the government's 3-pronged Education Strategy:

• Increasing student achievement
• Closing the gap between students who are achieving and those who are not
• Building public confidence in Ontario's publicly funded schools.

The Minister took time to speak to the particular role of school board trustees.  She emphasized the fact that Catholic Trustees are the face of the Catholic school system and have a vital role to play in ensuring the strength of Catholic education.

The Minister also commented on the recent school board governance review and proposed legislation noting that one of the most important outcomes from that provincial initiative was the repositioning of student achievement to the front and centre of school board governance.

(l.-r.) OCSTA Executive Director, John Stunt, Minister of Education, The. Hon. Kathleen Wynne, OCSTA President, Paula Peroni.

The Association offered a full and varied line-up of speakers at this year's conference. In addition to the key note speakers mentioned above, OCSTA was pleased to welcome CBC broadcaster, Rex Murphy.  Audio and video presentation featuring Mr. Murphy, our other plenary speakers and our workshop speakers will be made available in the "members' section" of this website in a few days.  For more information, please contact Sharon McMillan at smcmillan@ocsta.on.ca / (416) 932-9460, ext. 232.

Pictures from the 2009 OCSTA AGM and Conference

(l.-r.) Paula Peroni, former Premier of Ontario, The Hon. William G. Davis, Her Worship, the Mayor of Mississauga, Hazel McCallion and Mrs. Davis.	OCSTA Director and Dufferin-Peel CDSB Trustee, Esther O'Toole (l.) with Sr. Marie Celine Clegg, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
(l.-r.) Loren DeMelo (London DCSB), Suzanne Youngs, OCSTA Director (Parry Sound RCSSB) and Betty Ann Kealey, OCSTA Director (Ottawa CSB).	Trustees at one of the Regional Meeting sessions (at left, Simcoe Muskoka CDSB Trustee, Diana Riffert.
(l.-r.) Eleanor Ashe, Trustee, Thunder Bay CDSB;  Jocelynne Sheriff, Staff, Thunder Bay CDSB; Kathy O'Brien, Trustee, Thunder Bay CDSB and; Harold Huntley, Trustee, Northwest CDSB.	Rex Murphy, host of the CBC program "Cross Country Check Up."

2009 OCSTA AGM -  Elections Announcement

 

Ontario’s Catholic School Trustees Elect New Directors to Provincial Board

At Association’s 79^th Annual General Meeting

Over 200 members of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA) gathered last week in Toronto to elect Regional Directors to the Association’s Board during the 79^th Annual General Meeting of the OCSTA membership.

 

The following trustees were elected to the 2009-10 OCSTA Board of Directors:

 

Region 1:	Colleen Landers, Northeastern CDSB
Region 2:	Paul Landry, Kenora CDSB
Region 3 (at large):	John Borst, Northwest CDSB
Region 4:	Marino Gazzola, Wellington CDSB
Region 5:	Linda Ward, St. Clair CDSB
Region 9:	Suzanne Youngs, Parry Sound RCSSB
Region 10:	Andrew Bray, Renfrew County CDSB
Region 11:	Kathy Burtnik, Niagara CDSB
	Pauline Houlahan, Halton CDSB

The other members of the OCSTA Board of Directors include:

 

President:	Paula Peroni, Sudbury CDSB
Vice President:	Nancy Kirby, CDSB of Eastern Ontario
Past President:	Bernard Murray, Huron-Perth CDSB
Region 7:	Anthony da Silva & Esther O'Toole, Dufferin-Peel CDSB
Region 8:	Dino Giuliani, York CDSB
Region 12:	Betty Ann Kealey, Ottawa CSB
Region 6:	Angela Kennedy & Barbara Poplawski, Toronto CDSB
Bishop Fred Colli,	OCCB Liaison to OCSTA
Fr. Patrick Fitzpatrick	Chaplain
John Stunt	Executive Director

 

“I continue to be inspired by the commitment and vision of the individuals who succeed at being elected to our Board. The OCSTA Board of Directors brings together at one table the perspectives of publicly funded Catholic education from across the province.  That comprehensive perspective enhances the Association’s efforts to advance the priorities of Catholic education in Ontario and to contribute to the success of this province’s education system as a whole,” explains Paula Peroni, OCSTA president.

 

The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association is the provincial voice for publicly funded Catholic education.  Founded in 1930, OCSTA represents the interests of Catholic school boards that collectively educate approximately 600,000 students in Ontario, from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12.