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• Habitat for Humanity – Volunteers Needed

• Resource for Gay-Straight Alliances in Schools 

• TBU Strikes New Ad Hoc Committees

• TBU Executive for 2010-2011

• 95/20 Rule Changes for Retired Teacher

• Changes in Certification 2010-2011

Habitat for Humanity Northumberland is building in Cobourg this summer and they would like to invite all teachers to join them!  The build runs from June 21^st to July 30^th, and people can register for a day or a week, or how ever much time they would like to commit.  Habitat Builds offer a great way to build teams, learn new skills, meet new friends, have fun, and most of all make a difference in the local community!

No experience is required, we will have experienced carpenters on-site to lead crews, and we can provide builders with hard hats and safety boots!  Members who might be interested in participating in this community venture should contact Shannon Morris, Public Relations and Volunteer Coordinator for the Northumberland chapter of Habitat for Humanity:

Habitat for Humanity Northumberland

45 Ewart St., Northam Industrial Park

P.O. Box 222

Cobourg ON  K9A 4K5

P: 905-373-4663 ext.21   F: 905-373-1459

www.habitatnorthumberland.ca

The International Day Against Homophobia, May 17, 2010, celebrated the launch of a new resource for staff and students created by Egale Canada (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere). Helen Kennedy, Executive Director of Egale officially launched the new website myGSA.ca / monAGH.ca .

This website provides a wealth of information for youth and educators who are committed to the establishment and continued existence of Gay-Straight Alliances in Canada. Recent Egale research to be released fall 2010 has shown that schools, which have established GSA groups, have “a much higher rate of acceptance and a lower rate of homophobic incidents”.

There is still much work to be done to eliminate homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in Ontario schools. Egale offers information on the 10 basic steps staff needs to consider when starting a Gay-Straight Alliance in any school. The information found in this website will provide our members with solid, research based strategies to assist in the creation of a GSA.

D14 is now seeking several member volunteers!

This week at TBU council there were two ad hoc committees struck as a result of the Annual General Meeting. Victoria Waterfield tabled a motion that would require an Ad Hoc committee be struck to propose amendments to the TBU Constitution by creating policy and protocols for the elections for Executive positions. The suggestion was enthusiastically accepted by Council and the resolution passed unanimously. Now we will need three members at large to take part in this committee. We will try to hold our first meeting before the end of the school year.

The second Ad Hoc committee was tabled by Kevin McFadden who was part of the steering committee for the Annual General Meeting. As a result of the debate and the confusion over the proposed amendment to increase “Expenses” paid to the release officers, Kevin suggested that an ad hoc committee study the issue thoroughly and report back to council. This committee will be completely filled with non-release officers. The motion was passed, and we are now looking for another group of volunteer members to take part in this committee.

If you are interested in either of these committees please contact the office and ask for Dave Warda.

The District 14 Teacher Bargaining Unit (TBU) Executive elections were held at the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, May 11.  This Executive will commence their duties as of July 1, 2010.  Until that time, the current 2009-2010 Executive will continue in their current roles.  As a result of the elections, the TBU Executive for 2010-2011 will be:

• President - Janie Kelly (Adam Scott)
• First Vice-President - Dave Warda (Kenner)
• Second Vice-President - Stephen Helleiner (Clarke)

• Third Vice-President - Daniel McLean (Lakefield)

• Secretary - John Hargraft (Clarington Central)
• Treasurer - James Matheson (Cobourg East)
• Provincial Councilor - Dave Nickle (Thomas A. Stewart)
• District Officer / Chief Negotiator - Gary Fenn (Thomas A. Stewart) 
  

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) has introduced new rules concerning the number of days that a teacher who has retired to a pension may work as an occasional teacher in the future.  The new rules, that will be fully in effect as of September 2012, are outlined in the latest issue of Communiqué from the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF).

The new rules will limit the number of days that retired teachers can work as teachers to 50 days per school year irrespective of your number of years of retirement.  These changes are to be phased in until they take full effect in September 2012. 

Members can access past editions of Communiqué publications by clicking on the link on the side of our District 14 website under "Other Important Links"

There will be some changes to some of the rules concerning Certification of teachers in OSSTF that will take effect on September 1, 2010.  These changes are outlined in a number of publications, including the most recent edition of Update and on the OSSTF Provincial Website in the Certification Section .

Please remember that Certification Regulation 5 states:
5.2 It is the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MEMBER to be cognizant of the latest changes in Certification Regulations and to submit, using the current application form, to the Certification Department for a re-examination of their academic record based on announced changes.

Some of the upcoming changes include, but are not limited to:

• Master’s degrees awarded on a Pass basis from a number of overseas jurisdictions will be recognized for Group placement. Previously these graduate degrees were not seen as equivalent to Ontario Master’s degrees.

• Members with a 4 year undergraduate degrees at the Pass level will only require completion of any combination of two Additional Qualifications courses taken from an Ontario Faculty of Education or University courses (second class average) in order to move from Group 2 to Group 3.

Members are encouraged to contact the Certification Department at OSSTF by calling 1-800-267-7867, or check out the Certification page on the Provincial website if they have questions.

The Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF) is now offering funding to members to support their own Professional Learning opportunities in the Arts.  The funding is related to supporting the release of the revised curriculum documents for Arts - Grade 1 to 8, and Arts Grade 9 - 12. 

OTF will be accepting applications to help fund opportunities in the areas of:

• Additional Qualifications (AQ) Courses in Dance, Drama, Visual Arts and Music
• CODE, OMEA and OSEA annual conferences
• Other Arts-related conferences and workshops
• Board-based Arts Professional Development

People who are interested in applying for this funding will need to review the "OTF Professional Learning Through the Arts" pamphlet for more details about the funding that is available, funding criteria and the application process.  A copy of the pamphlet is available on our website under the Documents tab in the Education Resources section.

The deadline for application is June 30, 2010.  Subsidies are limited!