The Kingston Association of Teachers of English as a Second Language celebrated its 25th anniversary on May 4, 2004. TESL Kingston was formed in 1979 as a support group and source of professional development for the volunteer and professional instructors who answered the call to provide English language training and community settlement assistance to Southeast Asian refugees who were brought to this area by the federal government in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

     

         Now over 70 strong and still developing professionally within a protocol of high standards of training and certification, TESL Kingston, which includes Brockville, Belleville and Trenton, (with a few members as far away as Thunder Bay, China and Kenya), is affiliated with TESL Ontario, TESL Canada and TESOL-USA. It serves students of all ages and levels in public and private schools, colleges and universities, and of course in the community programs designed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada for immigrants and refugees.

   
     
 
   
     Administrators and instructors from TESL Kingston were involved in the English-language schools set up jointly by TESL Ontario and Citizenship and Immigration Canada for the Kosovar refugees in the summer of 1999 on the armed serviced bases in Trenton and Kingston.

     Our affiliate is interested and involved in issues of:

• ESL Literacy
• Refugee Concerns
• Immigration and Settlement
• Academic Preparation
• Job Training and Accreditation
• LINC Programs
• ESL in the Public School System
• English Language Teaching Overseas
   

     Our Executive Board is elected by members for two years. It consists of Director, Past-President, President, Secretary, Membership Chair, Programme Convenor, Webmaster & Public Relations Chair, and Members-at-Large. The Executive meets five times each year to establish policy, carry out business, which includes organizing professional development events, and advocate for ESL rights.

     When you join TESL Kingston, you get three memberships for the price of one. You automatically become a member of TESL Ontario and TESL Canada as well. Through membership, you have the opportunity to participate in the direction of your profession, add your voice to important ESL issues, expand your skills and gain professional recognition.

Contact us to learn more at info@teslkingston.org
or apply on-line at TESL Ontario
Be sure to list Kingston as your home affiliate.

For important information with regard to TESL certification in Ontario, please visit TESL Ontario

   


TESL Kingston’s 25th Anniversary

     The celebration of TESL Kingston’s 25th anniversary in 2004 was a lively evening with a gathering of many of the founding members. One of these, Eleanor Rogers, a long-time director of the Queen's School of English, addressed the meeting from her own extensive experience in the field at national, provincial and local levels.


     Entertainment was provided by representatives from two of Kingston's cultural groups: Ian Bender, a championship Irish step-dancer, and children and teenagers from the India-Canada Association of Kingston, an organization which, by the way, is also celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The whole evening was a fitting and joyful example of the mutual support and friendship that exists in a multicultural community such as ours. <


 
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