Barb Dobrowolski was elected president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers\u2019 Association (OECTA) at the 2021 annual general meeting. She is due to begin her two-year appointment on July 1, after holding other roles at the association such as vice-president on the provincial executive and president of the Eastern Ontario local unit. <\/p>\n
Dobrowolski began her career in 1992 at Mother Teresa Elementary School in Russell. Her time working at that school, as well as St Patrick Catholic School in Rockland, inspired her to advocate for colleagues. <\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoyed the community, and I loved my colleagues,\u201d she said. \u201cI looked around me and saw incredibly dedicated, hard-working teachers who often didn\u2019t think of their own needs and put everyone else needs first. I felt that they needed good advocacy.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dobrowolski acknowledged her term as president would be challenging, as COVID-19 continued to affect students, teachers and parents. She said her priorities included ensuring teachers and students were protected and listened to, both during and after the pandemic. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a lot of students who are struggling, because they\u2019ve missed a lot of school,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen they get back, they\u2019re going to be way behind, they\u2019re going to be uncomfortable, and we\u2019re going to have to support them. When things do get back to normal, we\u2019re going to have to focus on everyone\u2019s mental health, and ensure school is a place where students feel safe.\u201d <\/p>\n
The welfare of teachers during the pandemic remained a concern. Dobrowolski said teachers had been asked to do \u201cthe impossible\u201d by simultaneously educating students in-person and remotely. She said the association would push for educators to be prioritized in the vaccine rollout. <\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers are at a breaking point,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I talk to some of my colleagues, they talk about teachers regularly breaking down, coming in and confiding that they\u2019re really at rope\u2019s end right now.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dobrowolski asked the wider community for support over the next two years, and said she hoped to effectively advocate for a strong public education system. \u201cIt\u2019s world class now, and we want to keep it that way,\u201d she said. \u201cI also know I have my work cut out for me over the next couple of years.\u201d <\/p>\n
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The new president of the union representing Ontario\u2019s English Catholic teachers was inspired to help advocate for her colleagues while working at elementary schools in Russell and Rockland. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"acf":[],"featured_media_global":[],"yoast_head":"\n