President's Message
This year, ATESL is co-hosting the TESL Canada 2009 Conference in Banff, October 1-3, and at that time we will also be celebrating our 30th anniversary. I hope many of you have taken advantage of the early bird registration at Weaving Pathways: Interculturalism and Language. We are looking forward with anticipation to the two plenary speakers, Bonny Norton and Lionel Laroche who are sure to provide us with valuable information and perspectives. Through my involvement in planning this momentous conference, I am reminded about what a privilege it has been to act as president of this fine organization. Being a member of the executive on one of the more active boards I have known, is at once a challenge, an education, and a delight. I encourage any and all of you to consider the benefits of stepping in to the ring and having a voice in the continued anchoring and development of our profession.
ATESL values its close and productive relationships with government, both at the provincial and federal levels. The kind of dialogue that ensues between this professional body and government is rare and precious. As a result, in this year alone, we have been able to negotiate contractual agreements to support the TESL Canada conference, the ATESL 30th anniversary celebrations, a revision of the ATESL Best Practices Guidelines document, another initiative that will revealed at the conference (wait for the surprise) and two more proposals that are currently in negotiation. This work actively supports ATESL’s mandate to support professional development which can promote that highest level of teaching and English Language program provision, and we are indebted to our government partners for their continued support.
Last year we began in an initiative to support professional discourse through special interest groups (SIGS) posted on the ATESL website. These SIGS have met with varying levels of response and I encourage you to check out and contribute to your own areas of interest.
As we move into the summer months of somewhat relaxed activity, I wish to commend and thank the locals for their superb commitment to providing professional development and networking opportunities for their colleagues. Truly a job well done! Sincerely,
Judy Sillito ATESL President