THE EXECUTIVE BOARD

The Executive Board of TESL Toronto is made up of members in good standing of TESL Toronto who volunteer their time and energy.

The Executive Board meets throughout the year to organize TESL Toronto's conferences and other initiatives. Applications for the Executive Board are accepted from September to March, and new members are voted in at our Spring Annual General Meeting. If you are interested in volunteering on the board, please contact our president for more information.

CURRENT EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERSHIP (2010 - 2011)

Karen Thomson (Past President & Affiliate Representative)

Karen signed up for a TESL course at CCLCS in 1994 as a way to escape Toronto and a failed love affair. Strangely, the escape from Toronto never occurred since she has been teaching in the city ever since. In various incarnations and for various organizations, she has taught international students and immigrants over the years, and even tried her hand at administration for awhile. She is currently an Instructor at University of Toronto's English Language Program, and indulges her passion for professional development by teaching a TESL course at CCLCS, volunteering on the TESL Toronto executive board, and presenting at conferences around the province. She has recently completed her Master of Teaching degree at OISE/UT. While not teaching and presenting, Karen escapes the city to explore exotic vacation adventures such as visiting her parents' farm in Nova Scotia, riding a camel in Egypt, or studying Spanish in Nicaragua. Although she hasn't settled on a date yet, she plans to visit the only continent left on her list, Antarctica. While in the city, Karen spends her time balancing out all the greenhouse gases she burns on airplanes by working in her vegetable garden and nagging her husband to turn off the lights.  

Akua Joseph (President)

Akua holds an MA in English Language Teaching from the University of Reading in England.  She also has a TESOL certificate from the University of Toronto.  She has over 7 years of teaching and administrative experience in Canada and abroad.  Her main interest is in the cultural issues involved in English language learning and how these issues are dealt with in classroom programs and materials. Akua currently works at the University of Toronto, the International Foundation Program, as an instructor.  In her free time Akua enjoys painting, sketching, and working on her budding clothing and accessory company she runs with her sister.

Anne McGregor-O'Neill (Treasurer)

Anne has been teaching ESL for the past 18 years with the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB).  She also teaches ESL for Pregnant Women at Access Alliance Multicultural Community Health Centre.   She has co-authored a book on Toronto Field Trips and has presented at the TESL Toronto and the TESL Ontario conferences.   She has been on the TESL Toronto executive since 2004 and has held the positions of member–at-large, co-conference chair, and most recently treasurer.   She has also sat on the bursary, conference, planning and newsletter committees. Along with a small group of dedicated volunteers Anne has been involved with setting up and running a small lending library for adult ESL learners.  Anne is well known for her extensive picture collection and she would probably have a picture for any unit and topic that an ESL teacher would need…ever. 

Joanne Hincks (Membership Secretary)

Joanne has been working in education for many years and has taught a range of students, from preschoolers to adults in both southern Ontario and southern Africa. She currently works as a Program Consultant for the Adult Education Program of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Joanne has been  a member of the TESL Toronto Board since 2004 and has held the offices of Member at Large, Recording Secretary and Affiliate Director. She has also sat on the TESL Ontario Board and currently chairs its Membership Committee.

Patricia Glogowski (Website Officer)

Patricia holds an MA in Applied Linguistics and a TESOL Certificate from UofT. She is an ESL Instructor at York University English Language Institute. She is a blogger, researcher, teacher trainer, conference presenter, volunteer, traveler, photographer, and most recently Twitteress.  She is interested in creating dynamic, full of fun learning environments that help students become motivated and life-long language learners. She is also interested in meaningful uses of technology in language learning.

Ken Lackman (Recording Secretary)

Ken completed his B. Ed. degree at the University of Toronto in 1995 and went to the Czech Republic to teach EFL. Shortly after arriving at the Caledonian School in Prague, his concerns about the lack of teaching resources led to him being offered part-time employment developing teaching materials. Over the next seven years he developed hundreds of games and activities for teachers and played a major role in building one of the largest private language school libraries in Europe. In 1997 he became a senior teacher and two years later he also took on the position of social director. Ken obtained the DELTA Certificate in Poland in 2002 and returned to Canada to become the director of studies at EF Toronto. Ken presently works as a freelance teacher trainer and coursebook writer. He offers workshops at English Central every two weeks on topics relevant to all ESL teachers.

Marju Toomsalu (Member at Large)

Marju holds a B.A. in English language and literature and an M.A. in Second Language Learning and Teaching.  She has also pursued graduate studies in Sociology of Language. She has extensively taught a wide range of ESL, EFL and EAP and related courses in Europe, the USA and Canada. Marju is in charge of ESL/EAL programs at Ryerson University. Her areas of expertise and interests include language testing, second language teaching, and learning and sociology of language.

Derrick Hempel (Communications Officer)

Derrick teaches ESL at Humber and Seneca Colleges. He worked in the corporate world for twenty years as a senior sales professional, travelling across North America in the fields of telecommunications, information technology and management consulting before changing careers and getting his TESL Certificate from Humber College. Derrick has a B.A. in English and Sociology from the University of Toronto. A past member of the Canadian Professional Sales Association and the Project Management Institute, Derrick is teaching in the Occupation Specific Language Training, Technology (OSLT), pilot project at Seneca College. Derrick lives in Bloor West Village with his wife Andrea, two children, two cats and a dog. He enjoys coaching hockey and soccer, as well as renovating his house for what seems like an eternity.

Aga Palalas (Member at Large)

Ellen Servinis (Member at Large)

Ellen has taught ESL and EAP in various cegeps, colleges and universities in Quebec and Ontario. She has an M.A. in English specializing in Canadian Lit, and studied TESL at CCLCS, where she occasionally returns to deliver workshops for newly certified teachers. She loves a good story and enjoys helping students to share theirs and to learn new ones. She is interested in finding new ways to adapt engaging, authentic materials for various levels.

Karen Campbell (Member at Large)

Karen works at The Learning Enrichment Foundation as a Coordinator and Instructor for a Pilot Program – LINC IN THE WORKPLACE – where she is passionate about giving employees a chance to improve their English skills and thereby empowering them to live their dreams in Canada.  After a multi-faceted career working for many high-profile companies, Karen undertook a career change. Recently, she has taught and coordinated English programs overseas and confirmed for herself how we are all, indeed, one large global family.  Karen’s pastimes are gardening, reading, socializing with both old and new friends and volunteering at a local animal shelter.  Karen lives with her family and four cats in Mississauga.

Tyson Seburn (Member at Large)

For 15 years, Tyson has tried his hand (often successfully) at a wide variety of roles within the ESL/EFL industry both in Canada and Korea.  He taught at various private language schools for over 10 years before becoming Director of Programs at Cornerstone Academic College in Toronto.  Combining his love of books and classroom materials, he later joined the amazing English Central team.  Most recently, he divides his time between teaching at Seneca College Continuing Education and training teachers through Coursetree.  His current areas of interest are purposeful integration of technology in lessons and social media as a resource for teachers and students.

Steve Allen (Member at Large)

A 15 year career in TEFL has lead Stephen to Canada via Poland, China and the UK. He has worked for EF Education for over 11 years. He has worked in a variety of roles including Regional Academic Support, School Director and Materials Developer as well as his current role as Academic Director at EF Toronto. MA TESOL and Trinity TESOL Post Graduate Diploma qualified, his main interests these days are academic quality management and teacher observation and feedback, especially how the feedback sessions result in practical applications in the classroom.  Recent research includes investigating the causes of learners maintaining or losing motivation over a longer course of study and investigating questions in the classroom - who asks them and why. Stephen is also an active member of IATEFL and also presents at conferences both here in Toronto and round the world. In his free time Stephen likes to read, play bass in his band, snowboard, cycle and cook.  Not all at the same time.

Tania Pattison (Member at Large)

Tania has an M.Ed. in English Language Teaching from the University of Manchester, UK and an M.A. in Linguistic Anthropology from the University of Toronto. She has been teaching EAP and general ESL for nearly 20 years, and currently works as Curriculum Coordinator and Instructor in the EAP program at Trent University.  Tania is also the Editor of IATEFL’s annual Conference Selections publication; she has written for the TESL Toronto Newsletter and TESL Ontario’s Contact; and she is a regular conference presenter. As a new board member, Tania is looking forward to being involved with the operations of TESL Toronto.

Cheryl Fretz (Member at Large)

Dianne Roberti (Member at Large)

Dianne Roberti caught the ESL bug while teaching English for two years in Japan as part of the Jet Programme in the early 90s. Upon returning to Canada, she completed her M.Ed at the Modern Language Centre, OISE, her TESL Certificate at Woodsworth College, U of T, and had a baby.  After teaching ESL part-time for the Durham Board of Education and Seneca College, she began a career in IT training and development for various corporations in the private sector. Missing ESL, she took advantage of a layoff at the beginning of this year to return to the classroom and is now a proud instructor at George Brown College in its Intensive English Program.  When not teaching, Dianne loves caring for and spending time with her two children and her husband, playing tennis, running, cooking vegetarian meals, learning French, playing piano, decorating her home, knitting and planning a wedding anniversary trip to Paris for 2011.

MEETING DATES (2009 - 2010)