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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 80 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. 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 Mission Statement

TESL Kingston serves the needs of ESL teachers, instructors and students primarily in Eastern Ontario, but also in such places as Thunder Bay, other provinces, and overseas, by providing support to professionals working with ESL learners of all ages and levels in public, private and community schools, colleges and universities, as well as in community programs designed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada for immigrants and refugees. Our affiliate is also interested and involved in issues relating to:

• ESL literacy
• refugee concerns
• immigration and settlement
• English for academic purposes
• job training and accreditation
• LINC programs
• ESL in the public school system
• English language teaching overseas

Our Goals :

to organize and publicize at least three professional development opportunities a year which are consistent with currently understood principles of second language learning and teaching
to provide a forum through the website for our members to share their best ideas, strategies and practices
to keep our members informed of important issues and news through regular newsletters
to advocate for ESL rights and needs as the Board deems appropriate, so our voices are added to important ESL issues
to liaise with local settlement agencies and refugee organizations and with the Canadian Coalition for Immigrant Children and Youth (CCICY), in order to keep ourselves informed about the issues and challenges facing our students and to provide such assistance as the Board deems appropriate to support them
to provide information through the website about all the ESL services and programs in our area as well as information about local immigrant settlement agencies such as Immigrant Services Kingston and Area (ISKA) and Quinte United Immigrant Services (QUIS)
to provide informative articles on the website about new programs and resources available to our members and to immigrants and refugees
to provide a forum through the website to encourage our students to share their talents, feelings and opinions with others
to organize, support and publicize events intended to build bridges between our students and the general public
to publicize, through the website and in local media, the various events we and our members sponsor
to liaise with and, where possible, participate in TESL activities at provincial (TESL Ontario), national (TESL Canada), and international (TESOL) levels

Our Executive Board is elected by members for two years. It consists of Affiliate Director, President, Past President, President-Elect, Recording Secretary, Membership Secretary,Treasurer, 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.

Our 2009-10 Board

President-------------------------Barbara Dick
Past President------------------Sherry Archer
President-Elect-----------------Michele Dean
Affiliate Representative-------Johanne Myles
Treasurer-------------------------Sharon Cathcart
Membership Secretary--------Margaret Meyer
Recording Secretary-----------Cheryl Robinson

Webmaster-------------------------Susan Bain
Program Convenor---------------Michele Dean
Roving Reporter-------------------Peggy Deaton
Publicity Chair----------------------Jade Garrison
Member-at-Large-----------------Hang Nhan
Member-at-Large-----------------Gaitree Oogarah
Member-at-Large-----------------Xuemei Li

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. <

Updated August 22, 2009


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