Public Education - Halton Women's Place

Learn to Love Public Education Program

About Our Program

Learn to Love is a public education program developed and delivered by Halton Women’s Place. We serve schools within the 5 communities (Acton, Georgetown, Milton, Burlington, & Oakville) and 2 school boards (HDSB & HCDSB) in Halton. Teachers book us to deliver lessons to classes on topics related to dating, intimate partner violence, healthy relationships and healthy masculinity.

Teachers, please note that our presentations are interactive and often use small groups, and for that reason are best delivered one classroom at a time, not auditorium style. We are more than happy to spend the morning or the day at your school if you would like more than one classroom to receive the information. There is less disruption for us and the students when we can come directly to their class and interact with students with a smaller presenter-student ratio!

Our educators are Ontario Certified Teachers, trained in best practices through PREVnet (a national network led through Queens University and York University) and the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & Children (CREVAW – Western University). In addition to our own classroom presentations we are trained to deliver content from the Fourth R, and are certified Prevention Educators with the Canadian Red Cross.

All our educators receive certification from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection on both their Commit to Kids and Kids in the Know programs. We also provide training for businesses and community organizations on Neighbours, Friends and Families, Make it Our Business (Domestic Violence in the Workplace), and It’s Not Right! (Elder Abuse).

Learn to Love ia a public education program developed and delivered by Halton Women’s Place. We serve schools within the 5 communities (Acton, Georgetown, Milton, Burlington, & Oakville) and 2 school boards (HDSB & HCDSB) in Halton. Teachers book us to deliver lessons to classes on topics related to dating, intimate partner violence, healthy relationships and healthy masculinity.

Teachers, please note that our presentations are interactive and often use small groups, and for that reason are best delivered one classroom at a time, not auditorium style. We are more than happy to spend the morning or the day at your school if you would like more than one classroom to receive the information. There is less disruption for us and the students when we can come directly to their class and interact with students with a smaller presenter-student ratio!

Our educators are Ontario Certified Teachers, trained in best practices through PREVnet (a national network led through Queens University and York University) and the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & Children (CREVAW – Western University). In addition to our own classroom presentations we are trained to deliver content from the Fourth R, and are certified Prevention Educators with the Canadian Red Cross.

All our educators receive certification from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection on both their Commit to Kids and Kids in the Know programs. We also provide training for businesses and community organizations on Neighbours, Friends and Families, Make it Our Business (Domestic Violence in the Workplace), and It’s Not Right! (Elder Abuse).

Meet Our Educators

Jerusha Mack

Manager, Community Engagement and Education

Jerusha graduated from York University, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts Honors specializing in Political Science and Sociology, and her Bachelor of Education.

Since graduating, she has taught in England, and with the Halton and Peel District School Boards. She has also spearheaded several youth-based community initiatives and fundraisers.

Andrea Beebe

Andrea is a graduate at the University of Toronto, where she completed a double major in Women Studies and Geography. Her dedication to the anti- violence against women movement helped pave the way for her to complete her Master’s at the University of Leeds in Global Development.

As the previous Public Education Coordinator with SAVIS of Halton, Andrea has been able to raise awareness on the prevention of gender-based violence to thousands of participants within the Halton Region. Additionally, as the past Community Development Advisor for Youth with the Town of Milton, Andrea is passionate about creating accessible and equitable spaces for young people in Halton.

Everyone should have the right to access healthy relationship education. Together, we can make this a reality and ensure no child is left behind!

Thom Stoneman

Thom Stoneman is a member of The Ontario College of Teachers and a graduate of OISE at the University of Toronto. Thom has been teaching in some capacity for many years and passion lies where advocacy meets the arts.

Previously, Thom has taught in South Korea, was the youth educational coordinator at Shakespeare in the Ruff, program coordinator at Lakeshore Arts, and a middle school teacher at Mildenhall Montessori.

Thom has a passion for social justice and where that intersects with all subjects. He is committed to men stepping up to end gender-based violence and to educating against bigotry.

Support Our Learn to Love Program

We truly believe we can’t end violence against women without educating our children and youth. We want this program to grow and thrive so we can make real change and since this is a fully fundraised program, we need YOU!

We hope you can join us in growing this program by making a gift to Halton Women’s Place Public Education Sustainability Fund. We are half way to our $5 million dollar goal!

Give Your Gift Today

“Thank you for supporting the Life Matters event in Georgetown. It was a phenomenal day and you were an integral part of the success that was enjoyed. We would like to extend our deepest appreciation for your contribution in making our community a safer place to live, work and play, and for inspiring and engaging our youth.”

-Constable Maureen Andrew, Halton Regional Police Service

Halton Women’s Place has a series of presentations about building healthy relationships that should not be missed! They are engaging, pertinent, and tie in beautifully with the Health Curriculum. All of the presentations are delivered by experienced OCT’s who connect with the students and establish a safe, inclusive environment for positive learning. Highly recommend!

-Kim Krug, Grade 7 & 8 Phys. Ed. Teacher, Aldershot School

Thanks again Brent for all of your support!

Staff are really looking forward to the presentations, they tie in perfectly with our School Improvement Plan and will definitely support student need!

-Louise Cronin-Nowitsky, Principal, St. Michael’s

I just wanted to give you a huge THANK YOU for providing us such wonderful workshops for the past several Thursdays. Kirsten Boyle has come to my virtual grade 2 classroom for the past 6 weeks. Each week she does amazing, relevant, and interesting presentations for my class. Her lessons have been so valuable in teaching them how to build healthy relationships with each other. Even though my kiddos can be slightly off topic, and LOVE to overshare, Kirsten responded so positively and made every single kid feel like a valued member. This year has been so tricky trying to create community without actually being together, and I honestly believe these weekly sessions have been huge in helping us to achieve that. My class was so sad to say goodbye to Kirsten today. I highly recommend her! We are going to miss her here in class 2-6!

-Sarah Maurice, Elementary Teacher

You made a difference, and we are so thankful you took time out of your busy schedules to spend the afternoon with our students. Thank you so much for helping make our event a success and we definitely looking forward to collaborating with you again in the future!

-Christa Talarowski, Teacher, Garth Webb Secondary School

Our grade 6 students were thoroughly engaged with the presentation put on by Halton Women’s Place. They found the topics very relevant (i.e., styles of communication, stereotypes, relationships with friends) and enjoyed Brent’s presentation because it was interactive and related directly to their ideas and interests. Thank you for such an amazing series of presentations, we will continue to have these programs at our school!

-Melanie Francis, Grade 6 Teacher, Abbey Lane P.S.

Our grade 6 students were thoroughly engaged with the presentation put on by Halton Women’s Place. They found the topics very relevant (i.e., styles of communication, stereotypes, relationships with friends) and enjoyed Brent’s presentation because it was interactive and related directly to their ideas and interests. Thank you for such an amazing series of presentations, we will continue to have these programs at our school!

-Melanie Francis, Grade 6 Teacher, Abbey Lane P.S.