Teachers of English as a Second Language (TESL) Association of Ontario Award Winners
 Two York Region District School Board staff who teach English as a Second Language (ESL) are the recipients of TESL Ontario awards.
Susan Richarz, who teaches at Uplands Community Centre, has been awarded TESL Ontario’s Sparks of Excellence Recognition Award for “providing outstanding educational experiences to students and/or demonstrating exceptional leadership/mentoring expertise towards colleagues and student teachers in a manner that goes above and beyond the day to day duties of the job.”
Susan began her love of ESL teaching as a volunteer 20 years ago. She helps her students integrate into Canadian society by arranging theatre and museum excursions, as well as inviting visiting speakers to her class. Collaboration with colleagues and supporting new teachers are important to Susan’s teaching practice.
ESL supply teacher Svetlana Lupasco, is a runner-up winner in TESL Ontario’s ESL Creativity Contest for her blog Teach2LearnESL. Svetlana started her blog as a way to connect with other colleagues who were looking to improve their teaching practices. As a language instructor passionate about teaching adult ESL learners with literacy needs, Svetlana blogs about the importance of building confidence, blended learning, learning with technology, language skills and grammar.
Both Susan and Svetlana were honoured at TESL Ontario’s 42nd annual conference in Toronto. TESL Ontario is a non-profit organization that represents more than 4,600 language training professionals working in immigrant serving agencies, school boards, publicly funded sites across Ontario, colleges/universities, elementary/secondary and private language training schools. |