OZ S.
Oz Salam is a teacher with the Peel District School Board. He graduated from York University in 2014 with a Bachelor Degree with Honours in History. He then went to York University for Teachers College and graduated from the Urban Diversity Program in 2015 with his Bachelor’s of Education. He joined the PDSB in 2017 and in the 5 years since has supplied in every grade from K-8, as well as completed 7 separate LTO (Long Term Occasional) contracts in Grades 6, 7, and 8 with the longest being a full year. He has continued to improve his skills by taking Additional Qualifications courses, taking his Primary AQ in 2018 and is looking to take more. He is currently working towards a permanent position with the board and has tutored previously prior to the pandemic. His interests outside of teaching include reading, keeping healthy, as well as watching and playing sports.
CARMELINA L.
Carmelina has been working as a New York City public school teacher for 17 years. Carmelina graduated from Lehman College with an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a Master’s Degree in Childhood Education (1-6) from Fordham University. As she began her career as an elementary school teacher, she realized that her passion was helping children to master literacy skills. After obtaining a second master’s degree as a literacy specialist from Lehman College, she continued to support students outside of the classroom as a Response to Intervention teacher. Throughout her tenure, she has taught in a second grade general education classroom as well as a second grade integrated co-teaching class. Currently, Carmelina teaches third grade in an Integrated Co-Teaching classroom.
DANIEL M.
Daniel is a certified member of the Ontario College of Teachers, with qualifications for Primary, Junior and Intermediate levels. After completing his Bachelor of Health in Psychology at York University, he proceeded to get his Masters of Science in Education from Medaille College. He then went on to receive a Human Resources Management Certificate from Seneca and an AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) Elementary 6-12 Diploma from the Montessori Training Centre of British Columbia.
Daniel has been teaching for over ten years and has experience with a wide variety of age groups in both public and private schools throughout Toronto and the GTA. He has also taught SAT, SSAT and ACT prep courses. He strives to inject his love of science and the written word into every lesson he teaches. He believes that being able to build a rapport with students, and create a safe and positive learning environment, facilitates success for all students on their way to becoming life-long learners. Daniel is an avid reader, a lover of all animals and an amateur photographer.
David C.
David is an Ontario Certified Teacher with over 8 years tutoring and teaching experience in both private and public schools. He has been a fulltime elementary teacher in both Canada and England, having started his career as a teaching assistant specialising in nurturing students with additional support needs. During his career, he has been responsible for delivering all curriculum subjects to children from kindergarten to grade 6. His students consistently record upward trends in their internal testing averages, and he has helped children to secure places at some of the leading high schools across London, England. David loves working with students who struggle with learning and those who want to extend themselves beyond their current grade level. His teaching utilizes a wide variety of technology, with regular integration of hands-on activities, fun manipulatives and learning projects to inspire and motivate the students. In his spare time, David enjoys swimming and writing children’s literature – his first picture book is due to be published next year.
TIAWNI C.
Tiawni has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Alberta and will be working on her Master’s in Special Education from Queen’s University. She has been teaching since 2003 and has worked with students in diverse settings, with a focus on primary literacy. Tiawni enjoys working one-on-one with students to support their individual style of learning and seeing them progress, especially in their own confidence and ability to see their potential being discovered. She believes that student engagement is key for an effective learning environment.
Tiawni enjoys spending time outdoors – especially hiking in the mountains and seeing waterfalls. One or more of her four dogs often accompany her on these adventures!
ZIRWAH M.
Zirwah is an Ontario certified teacher at primary/ junior level. She graduated with Honours from University of Guelph in Bachelor of Applied Science and received her Bachelor of Education degree from Queens University. She is currently completing her Master’s of Education in Teaching and Learning from University of Ottawa. Zirwah is an occasional teacher with Peel District School Board, where she teaches classes from kindergarten to grade 6. Through her course, volunteer, and teaching experiences, Zirwah had the opportunity to gain deeper understanding of diverse learning styles, needs and cultures of children. She believes in providing students with differentiated instructions based on their learning needs. She tailors the activities according to the students need and is a passionate teacher who loves working with students. She believes that every student has a right to enriching education and a nurturing environment which will help them excel. Zirwah engages students with curriculum material in a meaningful way by ensuring her lesson plans are geared towards students’ personal interests. In her free time, she enjoys baking, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.
KELLY B.
Kelly is an Ontario Certified Teacher. After graduating from Don Mills CI, she attended York University, where she completed an Honor Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in Communication Studies and Sociology. She then attended and graduated from York University’s Faculty of Education in 2010. Shortly after graduating from teacher’s college, she was hired by the York Region District School Board, where she is currently a primary teacher.
Kelly is most passionate about teaching our earliest learners. This passion is evident as she has, and continues, to take a number of courses and attend workshops around the development and learning of children in the early years. In 2018 she began to work towards her Kindergarten Specialist, which she completed in May 2019. Her area of particular interest is supporting our youngest learners in the development of literacy behaviors and skills (oral, reading, and writing). Through her in-class experience, she has had the pleasure of working with many students whose needs and abilities range, this includes supporting and working with learners with language barriers and exceptionalities, such as Autism and Learning Disabilities. Kelly genuinely believes that with care, encouragement, patience, and one-to-one support, all students are capable of being both happy and successful when learning. In addition, she finds great joy in communicating and working with families as a partnership to support a child’s learning.
When taking a break from teaching, Kelly spends her free time with family and friends. She enjoys spending lots of time outdoors in the summer, traveling, dancing, and working out.
BIANCA I.
Bianca is an Ontario Certified Teacher since 2017. She grew up in Mississauga, moving to Hamilton, Ontario to complete an Undergraduate Degree at McMaster University and receiving a B.A in Humanities and a minor in religion. As well, she completed a Post Graduate Diploma, a Master of Science in Education in Buffalo, New York. Bianca grew up with a deep love of travel and took the opportunity to explore the world following the completion of her degrees. Since she was a young girl, Bianca discovered her passion for teaching and working with children. During the summer months, Bianca normally tutors student for the upcoming school year and continues to work with them throughout the year. In her spare time Bianca works one-on-one with children ranging from 6 years through middle school. She has taught almost all grades kindergarten through to grade 8 and while teaching, still supports students through tutoring. She has supported the improvement of their reading, writing, vocabulary and math skills. Additionally. Bianca has over 10 AQs (additional qualifications) and believes that all are life-long learners and is constantly building and adding to her career as an educator. Bianca believes that by building a strong relationship with her students she is better able to meet their needs and grow their learning.
Emily B.
Emily has been a full time French Immersion teacher with the York Region District School Board for the last 7.5 years. Emily was born in Montreal and grew up speaking French with her Francophone father and later decided to pursue a career in French teaching. She also attended French Immersion school growing up. Emily has both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education degree from Glendon College of York University. She has experience in a variety of grades, ranging from 1 to 6 but has most recently taught grades 2 and 3 French Immersion. Over the course of her career she has taken Additional Qualifications in French As a Second Language as well as Health and Physical Education. Emily takes into account the diverse needs of her learners to ensure an optimal learning experience for her students. She believes in small group work to better engage learners. In her free time she loves to read, ski, cook, travel and spend time with her dog, Charlie.
PETE H.
Peter is entering his 21st in teaching. He has earned a B.Sc., B.Ed., and an M.A. (teaching). Peter won the Clarence Samson gold medal in education, graduating first in his class (2002) from the University of Calgary. In 2018, Peter’s class of grade 6 learners achieved the highest PAT results in Rocky View School Division. He has taught multiple grades but has primary focused on grades 3-6. Peter was also a senior lecturer at Roehampton University in the teacher training college (mathematics department). While teaching in London, England for nearly 14 years, he had the opportunity to lead several schools, as an assistant principal, vice principal, principal and executive principal. But he says that his first love is teaching. He particularly enjoys helping students learn to read and read better. He loves writing across all genres and of course, he loves doing and teaching mathematics. His hope is to help the students he teaches get well prepared for their next stage of learning, where they can make a positive contribution and thrive, as confident learners.