New Council Member

Jacqueline Karsemeyer, OCT

The Council welcomes new Council member Jacqueline Karsemeyer, OCT, who was appointed as of July 1, 2016, to fill a vacancy in the Central Region Part-time/Full-time position for the balance of the term ending in June 2018. Karsemeyer is a Special Education consultant with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), supporting 29 schools from kindergarten to Grade 12. Born in Guyana and educated in Québec, Karsemeyer began as a French Immersion teacher with the North York Board of Education in 1995, having previously worked as a children’s therapist.

Karsemeyer was a resource teacher for English and French Immersion students at Regal Road Public School and a teacher within the Kindergarten Early Language Intervention Program, a joint project with the Speech-Language Pathology Department. She has been significantly involved in the TDSB’s Human Rights Committee, Professional Development Steering Committee and the Inner City Advisory Committee.

The Council member has also served as a union steward and was seconded to the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario as executive assistant in the equity and women’s services department. From 2009 to 2010, she was a program officer with the College’s Standards of Practice and Education unit.

Her research in Ontario schools and experiences living in India and studying dance in West Africa have informed her teaching practice as well as her doctoral work focusing on holistic education. Karsemeyer is dedicated to public education, and to equity and social justice issues such as responding to the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Final Report.

She holds a BA from York University in Toronto, an MA from Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia, and a B.Ed. and PhD from the University of Toronto.