Written by Diane Mensch, Vice Chair, TESL Ontario Board
Do you enjoy contributing to our English-teaching profession? Are you passionate about the advancement of those who teach and learn English throughout Ontario? Are you an experienced TESL professional? If your answer to these questions is “yes”, serving on the TESL Ontario Board may be a meaningful next step in your professional journey.
I recently started my second term on the TESL Ontario Board. I can honestly say that serving on the Board has been a rewarding experience. It has given me the chance to work with talented Board colleagues, keep abreast of TESL Ontario’s wealth of activities and actions, and contribute to t conversations that support the organization and its members.
Before joining the Board, I had not fully appreciated the scope of what TESL Ontario does. Through this role, I have gained much deeper understanding of the organization and the work behind it, including a more expansive awareness of our organization’s member services, financial responsibilities, partnerships with TESL organizations across the country, and outreach to government agencies and provincial counterparts. My own professional development as a Board member has been rich, with the Board’s ongoing scheduling of collective study and discussion of pertinent and timely resources.
While Board service requires a steady commitment of time and energy, the workload is manageable (averaging about 10 hours per month). That commitment has given me the opportunity to offer my own skills and TESL experience to the Board’s decision-making on behalf of all of our members, and there is great personal satisfaction in doing so.
In these uncertain times for TESL programs and funding, our thousands of TESL Ontario members can and do count on our organization to continue its dedication to our mission of providing “support and direction to professionals, government bodies, and industry stakeholders involved in English language education”. I heartily encourage those interested in this mission to throw their hat in the ring for this year’s election of new Board members.
Learn more about the TESL Ontario Board and the application process at https://teslontario.org/board-recruitment/.
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