Dorothy Noronha, B.A., B. Ed., M. Ed. – has been a secondary school educator with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board for the last 14 years, currently at Cobourg Collegiate Institute as Business Teacher, Student Council Advisor, but also as Co-ordinator for CAS in the International Baccalaureate Programme.
Teaching is the most recent stop on the career journey – after graduating from the University of Toronto in 1988, Dorothy spent 10 years as an Employee Benefits and Pension Manager, then as a Wealth and Estate Planning Counsellor. Both of these financial services companies were taken over by larger companies that decided that the product was more important than relationships, which has always been Dorothy’s top priority. Over this time, came moves from Mississauga to Scarborough, and starting a family with her husband Ken. Flipping through an attractive magazine drew them to Northumberland County, where the Noronha family settled 18 years ago.
Strangely enough, it was the exceedingly long commute that brought about Dorothy’s enrollment in the University of Toronto’s teacher’s college at OISE, and a brand-new career in her 40s…and an amazing opportunity to establish relationships and solve problems. After spending 3 years working in alternative education, Dorothy went back to OISE/UT (travelling to Toronto every Thursday evening for 3 years) and completed her Master’s in Education in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education. Although qualified to apply for administrative positions, Dorothy finds the most satisfaction in imparting her years of experience in business, teaching students about Financial Literacy, Accounting, Entrepreneurship, and, especially, Leadership. She has regularly taken students on conferences and camps to meet and learn with student from high schools across the province, and for the last two years, has travelled with CCI teams to Barcelona, Sydney, and to Yale University for international academic competitions.
Although helping students reach their potential is her biggest motivation professionally, her passion is social justice…and her family. Just like her name sake in the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy truly believes “there is no place like home”, and that home is when you are with the ones you love.
