WE’RE  NOT  SUPPLIES ANYMORE!

The mantra for all “supply teachers” today is that “supplies” are pencils and paper and we’re OTs …OCCASIONAL TEACHERS!
           
Hopefully, now that we sport a different moniker we are thought of in a different way also. We should no longer be simply fill-ins, babysitters or less-than-professional teachers. All Occasional Teachers with the Ottawa Catholic School Board are certified by the Ontario College of Teachers and are ready and able to perform the daily work of the regular but absent classroom teacher.
           
The career of an Occasional Teacher can be checkered. It can be a series of one-day assignments announced very early in the morning by the robotic voice of the SEMs system or it could be a year-long position where the ringing phone is replaced by repetitious report cards.  Most of our Occasional Teachers are anxiously scanning the education scene hoping to secure a permanent posting with its accompanying benefits (an elusive quantity for all Occasional Teachers!) .But there is a segment of the Occasional Teacher ranks that bring years of experience to OT ranks. These are our retired teachers.  We salute these teachers who continue to give their best to the students of this Board and with our newly-graduated and career Occasional Teachers are at the beck and call of their classroom peers.
           
How much more prominent and professional Occasional Teachers are today than they were perceived ten years ago!  We really aren’t “supplies” anymore, are we?  We’re a necessary part of the world of education in Ottawa.