François Bazinet, chair of the Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO), will be inducted into the Order of the Pleiades for the year 2019.

He will be receiving the Order of the Pleiades of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie. He’s one of six recipients of the order within the Ontario Chapter of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF), the medal recognizing dedication and outstanding contribution to the vitality of Ontario’s Francophonie.

“Contributing to the promotion of the French language across Ontario and (CSDCEO) schools is for me a cause that is enormously rewarding,” said Mr. Bazinet in a news release issued by the CSDCEO. “You could also say that it is a life mission.”

Bazinet has worked in Francophone education for over 40 years. He is a retired teacher who, after a long career at L’École secondaire catholique La Citadelle, became chair of the CSDCEO two years ago. He serves as the trustee for North Stormont, North Dundas and Russell.

Read more: CSDCEO Chair Receives Honour

Four school principals from the Conseil scolaire catholique de Nouvel-Ontario (CSCNO) were recently recognized by the Association des directions et des directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO). All four received awards at the ADFO’s annual conference on October 18^th in Toronto.

Yves Laliberté, Principal at École secondaire catholique Champlain (Chelmsford), and Paul Henry, Principal at École secondaire du Sacré-Cœur (Sudbury) and Carrefour Options+, both received the first-ever ADFO Leadership Award. The award recognizes principals for their exceptional leadership contributions to their communities.

Under Mr. Laliberté, ÉSC Champlain received the 2018 Premier’s Award for Safe and Accepting Schools and was also designated a Microsoft Showcase School. In December 2017, his extraordinary leadership also earned him a Canada 150 pin for his contributions to youth leadership.

Read more: Four CSCNO School Principals Receive Provincial Honours

In late 2016, Marshall Jarvis, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) General Secretary, approached CCSTA Executive Director Julian Hanlon about forming a partnership between the two organizations. OECTA is the only union in Canada that represents only Catholic teachers.

“We got together with them in Toronto for a meeting, and we talked about cooperating in areas where we could,” said Mr. Hanlon. “And OECTA has a lot of professional development resources available for teachers.”

CCSTA President Marino Gazzola said that these resources could be very valuable to Catholic educators across the country.

“A lot of our provincial associations, especially the ones that are not funded, don’t have access to those types of resources without buying them,” said Mr. Gazzola. “OECTA’s proposal was that they would share what they have free of charge.”

“We know that our partners across the country certainly appreciate having access to it,” said Mr. Hanlon. “The associations have all expressed interest in using them.”

Read more: OECTA Shares Educational Resources