A lifelong legacy of giving back: Retired women teachers’ organization celebrates 70 years
Retired Women Teachers of Ontario celebrated its 70th jubilee at Devonshire Mall (MIKE FLANAGAN/University of Windsor)
By Kate Hargreaves
Teaching has been part of Gina Marcon’s (BA ’87, BEd ’88) life since she was six years old.
“I knew then that I was going to be a teacher,” she says. “Every time my cousins would come over, we’d play school, and I was always the teacher.”
Now retired after a 32-year career in elementary education, Marcon is president of the Windsor branch of the Retired Women Teachers of Ontario/Organisation des enseignantes retraitées de l’Ontario (RWTO/OERO), which recently celebrated its 70th anniversary.
Founded in April 1956, RWTO/OERO was started in support of retired women teachers who did not receive equitable treatment compared to their male peers.
“The women had been fighting for their own protection and came up with an organization that could go to members of provincial parliament and different organizations and say that we needed support,” Marcon explains.
With 12 branches, including Windsor’s, at its founding, the organization has expanded over the decades, now encompassing 45 branches across the province.
Celebrations were held by all branches April 9, with Windsor’s jubilee held at Devonshire Mall with greetings and congratulations brought by local dignitaries including the mayors of Windsor, LaSalle and Tecumseh as well as MPPs.
“It was wonderful to bring everyone together,” says Marcon, who has been president of the Windsor branch since 2024 after first getting involved in 2022 following her 2020 retirement.
She explains that one of her major goals after retirement was to work with chartities and give back to her community, all while staying active and creative, which inspired her to join RWTO/OERO.
“I had this mantra that I’d spend the first two thirds of my life taking care of children, my children and other people’s children as a teacher,” she says, “and then spend the last third helping out seniors.”
Her work with the RWTO/OERO, as well as volunteering with May Court Club of Canada and the Windsor chapter of the We Serve Seniors organization, has allowed her to do just that.
In addition to social outings for retired women teachers in the community, including group meals, shopping tours, walking groups, painting classes and attending the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) together, RWTO/OERO is dedicated to giving back to the wider community.
“It’s very much what we did in our careers,” Marcon says. “Supporting families and students.
“For those of us who taught in low-income communities and brought clothes, food and volunteered extra time when we were working, it was a natural progression into retirement that we would keep supporting the community.”
RWTO/OERO supports 14 charities throughout the year, all dedicated to children, youth and women, collecting non-perishable food items, toiletries, and cash donations from its members.
“We often bring three carloads of food and toiletries to their locations,” Marcon says. “We have a great relationship with these organizations,” some of which came out to the 70th jubilee to celebrate.
“We were so tickled that we left that impact on them and that they would make the trip and come out,” Marcon says.
The charitable and social impact of RWTO/OERO is a natural extension of the work these teachers did in their careers.
Even while still teaching, many were already giving back, including Marcon, who was an associate teacher mentoring teacher candidates for 25 of her 32 years in the profession.
As a teacher of kindergarten, grade one and grade two, she shared her passion for play-based learning with students and teacher candidates.
“I could teach the skills, cover the curriculum and always do it with creativity, art, music, drama and play,” she says. “I really pride myself on the relationship I have with my students.”
Marcon describes the role of an associate teacher as one of the most important ones a teacher can have.
“We are showing the new teachers what the reality is of teaching,” she says. “The amount of hours, what it looks like to write a report card.”
“The mentorship role we take on with the Faculty of Education students, when they’re practice teaching, you get a chance to take them out of the textbooks, out of the academia, and let them know what the real job entails. What the life of a teacher in Ontario in the 21st century looks like.”
With Teachers’ Week approaching at the beginning of May, Marcon says that while it’s a great opportunity to showcase what is happening in Ontario schools, every day should be for teacher appreciation, at least the ten months of the school year.
“Everyone should have the opportunity to say thank you, whether it’s a child saying thank you to their teachers, or saying thank you to administration for keeping everything in check, teachers thanking each other or community coming out to support,” says Marcon.
“Anything that offers the opportunity to showcase the teachers fighting for student rights, best practices, better budgets, better support and to highlight to parents and the community how much work the people do that see your children for seven hours of the day.”
Having taught in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Marcon says the job is definitely different today.
“However, love and respect for your students has never changed,” she says. “That will continue no matter what.”
By:- Kathy Gallagher
Email:- inniaudi@gmail.com