Frances Por
Year: 2010-2011 – Province: Ontario
Certificate of Achievement Recipient
St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School
278 Wellington Street East
Aurora, ON L4G 1J5
Principal: Domenic Scuglia
School Tel.: 905-727-5652
School Fax: 905-727-1884
School Email: domenic.scuglia@ycdsb.ca
Subjects and grades taught: English for grades 9-11
Teaching approach
“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” It’ s not Halloween, but students in Frances Por’s classroom are deeply immersed in Shakespeare’s Macbeth or any other book they read. From the global AIDS crisis, the Holocaust and social injustice, Ms. Por’s students learn about the world and issues that society faces through every book they read.Outstanding Achievements
- When Ms. Por led her class in a study of Macbeth, one of the major components consisted of a dramatization of the banquet scene in Act 3. A “play within a play” for the entire school, both students and audience donned costumes, dined on homemade foods of the period and listened to their peers performing live medieval music.
- Endlessly generous with her time, Ms. Por led weekly morning study sessions for her grade twelve students’ Advanced Placement exams. She would arrive at 6:30 a.m., bearing homemade treats and coffee, ready to engage students with ideas about literature, discuss past test questions and just support their learning.
Rave Reviews
"I have very fond memories of my high school English class, and I am grateful to Ms. Por for nurturing my love of literature and challenging me to approach what I read with a critical eye."
Student
"To put it simply, Frances Por is an exceptional teacher. She is a positive role model for her students and her colleagues. She conducts herself with the utmost professionalism, and demonstrates integrity and compassion in all of her interactions."
Colleague