Estonian School teachers from the US participated in the North American Estonian School Teachers Conference (Põhja-Ameerika Eesti Koolide õpetajate õppepäevad). Foto: K. Kiilaspea
Tiiu Kütt
The First North American Estonian School Teachers Conference in Toronto, April 11-12, was hosted by the Toronto Estonian Supplementary Schools and was partly sponsored by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Estonia as well as the Estonian Institute. Piret Kärtner, Head of the Language Policy Department of the Ministry of Education and Research, was the facilitator and lecturer for the weekend. Silvi Verder, the principal at the Toronto Estonian Supplementary Schools, who along with her energetic colleagues at the school, planned and brilliantly carried out the program, wrote “I have thought about arranging this conference for a long, long time. Finally it became a reality.”
The Estonian School Fund in the USA (Arvo ja Edith Reiman Memorial Fund) sponsored the trip to Toronto for the United States Estonian School teachers. 25 Estonian School teachers from the US traveled to Toronto and, along with teachers from the Toronto Estonian Schools, converged at the Toronto Estonian House and later at Tartu College. The lecturer, Piret Kärtner, and most of the teachers from the US stayed at comfortable dorm rooms at Tartu College. For some who were actually born in Tartu, staying at the dorms was like being back home. (Pikemalt Eesti Elu 1. mai paberlehes)