OHFA - AFPO

Carol White - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Throughout her career as an educator, Carol worked on curriulum committees and writing teams at both the local  and provincial levels.  She has been the recipient of several national teaching awards in both 2000 and 2002, she won an A&E Television Teacher Grant for incorporation of television into classroom units.  In 2001, she and her class took first place in the National GrassRoots' Canadian Communities contest.  In 2002, she was awarded the Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History.  Carol has been involved in the Fairs since 1995 as a committee member, Regional Fair Coordinator, Head of Delegation, Co-Chair of the National Fair in 1997, and Coordinator of all of the Ontario Provincial Fairs.  Carol served as one of three Provincial Coordinators for Historica Fairs in Ontario from 2003 to 2007.

Wayne Hugli - SECRETARY / TREASURER

 Marthe Poirier - FRENCH COORDINATOR

 Liz Kerr - OHFA VICE PRESIDENT

 Liz is a longtime library association leader and champion of school libraries, in Ontario and across Canada. Retired from a career in K-12 education, Liz is currently the Education Director of the Ontario Library Association. Prior to her retirement as Information Literacy and Media Curator at the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, Liz managed the Central Learning Resources Centre and was consultant for the 95 school libraries in the district. She was the Coordinator of the Kawartha Lakeshore Regional Heritage Fair and an avid supporter of school-level Fairs.  Liz has been an exemplary association leader, having been President of the Ontario School Library Association and the Ontario Library Association. She is also active in the Canadian Association for School Libraries, a division of the Canadian Library Association. She has been awarded the Outstanding Educator of the Year Award by the Elementary Teachers Federation of her own Board, and the OLA’s Distinguished Service Award.

 Debbie Debassige

Debbie is member of the M'Chigeeng First Nation and the Director of School Services for the Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute on Manitoulin Island. “The First Nation Student Success Program (FNSSP) is a proposal-driven program designed to support First Nation educators on reserve (Kindergarten to Grade 12) in their ongoing efforts to meet their students' needs and improve student and school results. In particular, the program will help First Nation educators to plan and make improvements in the three priority areas of literacy, numeracy and student retention”. The First Nation Student Success Program (FNSSP) team members continue to work towards improving the Literacy, Numeracy and overall school success initiatives in participating community schools.

 Rose Fine-Meyer

Rose is a University of Toronto instructor, author, doctoral student and recipient of the Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History in 2007. She is currently completing her dissertation in history education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto. In 2005, Rose developed a senior level secondary school interdisciplinary course entitled Archives and Local History that links students to communities and organizations engaged in maintaining and preserving local history.  The course is currently taught in schools throughout Ontario. She has published a number of supplementary materials for secondary school history courses and has contributed to articles, workshops and panels on Canadian local history, women's history and archives.  Rose has contributed to articles, workshops and panels on local history, women's history and archives and recently developed a Toronto talk series HerstoriesCafe Toronto which provides a forum for those interested in women’s history.

 Rosemary Sadlier

Rosemary is passionate about Black history as a means of extending inclusion and justice.  She is the president of the Ontario Black History Society, the first such organization in Canada.  The OBHS is responsible for initiating the local, provincial and national observances of February as Black History Month and the local and Provincial celebration of August 1^st as Emancipation Day.  You may be familiar with Rosemary from her participation in films such as

Seeking Salvation: A History of the Black Church in Canada, or A Scattering of Seeds: the Mary Ann Shadd story. 

On behalf of the OBHS, she has given Black history presentations across Ontario. She is the author of 4 books on African-Canadian history and consultant/co-author of a fifth. Rosemary has received many awards including the William Peyton Hubbard Race Relations Award, a Woman for PACE Award, the Black Links Award, the Planet Africa Marcus Garvey Award, and  is the recipient of numerous awards including the Order of Ontario.

Zandra recently retired from her position with the Ontario Ministry of Education but she has maintained her interest in the Ontario Fairs’ Program for many years. As an educator, Zandra held leaderships positions as vice-principal, principal, Superintendent of Education and Director of Education with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and has served as the Ministry of Education’s Field Team Leader for Northeastern Ontario. She has also worked as an Education Consultant to several Northern Ontario First Nation Boards. Zandra is married with three adult children. She enjoys music and plays the piano, guitar, tambura, tin whistle and accordion. In her spare time she volunteers with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Sudbury Senior’s Centre and in local schools.

 Sarah Brydges - South and West Zone

Sarah is an occasional teacher with the District School Board of Niagara, and is currently teaching Grade 5/6. She was a history student at Brock University when she first became involved with the Heritage Fairs program, acting as a judge at a school-level fair. In 2009, Sarah worked as the Education Consultant with Brock University’s Special Collections Librarian and several of Niagara’s local museums on the 1812history.com project. She was responsible for using the digitized photos of artefacts that were collected for the project and using them to create a series of Critical Challenges for Intermediate Elementary students. She is the Chair of the District School Board of Niagara’s Regional Heritage Fair Committee and enjoys learning about unique local historical events and sites that are showcased at the Regional Fair each year.

Wendy Schieman - East Zone

Lona Dabous - North and Near North Zone

Lona has been an educator for more than 30 years. She was an instructional leader in Rainbow District School Board for more than 10 years and served as the President of the Rainbow District Principals' Council, representing elementary and secondary principals in Rainbow Schools. Over the years, Lona has made an immense contribution to public education. She has chaired numerous system-wide committees and worked on the development of curriculum resources in partnership with the Aboriginal community. Lona was a member of the Ontario Principals' Council since its inception and served as District Councillor from 2001 until her election as Vice-President. She has also delivered workshops across Ontario. Lona has been a key member of the Sudbury Regional Heritage Fair committee since its formation in1995.

Kelley Swift-Jones - Central Zone

Kelley is the Curator for the Simcoe County Museum in Minesing, Ontario.  Since 1992, she has worked at the Simcoe County Museum in a variety of roles, including Historical Interpreter, Curatorial Assistant and Education Director.  With experience teaching history in a museum setting, Kelley believes in the importance of providing students with opportunities to discover history that is meaningful to them, and in the value of having students share these stories with the community.  A graduate of McMaster University in Hamilton, Kelley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and is a graduate of the Ontario Museum Association’s Certificate in Museum Studies program.