2009 Celebration of Writing Contest

 When notified that she was one of the 2009 winning poets, teacher Anita Gormley shared her thoughts with us:

Thank you so much for the wonderful news!!  My vice principal was absolutely ecstatic and announced it to the school. I am especially pleased for my daughter, whom I wrote the poem for when she was only an infant.  It is really a story about her and she will be thrilled to hear Judy and David reading the poem.  You can never have enough strong female characters in literature for young girls to read!  

A heartfelt thank-you, I am thrilled that you enjoyed my work. 

 I really enjoyed meeting the wonderful people who attended the conference. Inspiring stories were shared.  We were provided with relevant and useful links to websites.

- Michael Intini, Grade 2 teacher TDSB

 The conference was very interesting. I particularly liked the workshops. The assistive technology workshop was very informative for me. It allowed me to view various software available.

 I also appreciated the book displays; as I was able to view many books in one location. The raffle at the end was great!  Many prizes!!!

 - Fern Berenz, MART/ESL TDSB 

This is an extremely well run conference.  I especially appreciated the one-on-one time with teachers both in workshops and out - there's plenty of time given to look at displays and talk with each other.  I also loved the commitment of the organizers to promoting the authors' work, which involves not only having our books on hand, but allowing us some time to talk about ourselves and our work to the participants, and thereby creating a stronger connection for when we do our workshops.

A great event.

best,
Paula Wing

It was great meeting and speaking to many new teachers. As an author and former teacher, I learn so much when I go into schools and speak to teachers at conferences.

- Frieda Wishinsky

The fall conference In, Out and About Text was invigorating. Some of the highlights were: hearing the authors talk passionately about their work; attending workshops with practical applications for the classroom; talking to fellow teachers; and browsing through the books. I came home with books from each of the authors and began reading right away!

- Judy Caulfield