Public Education - haltonwomensplace.com

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 Events

Jerusha graduated from York University, where she completed her Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Arts Honours, specializing in Political Science and Sociology. Jerusha is an OCT certified teacher.

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.

Jerusha strongly believes that education is a powerful tool that can create positive social change. She is passionate about the potential of relationship health education in fostering healthier communities and creating futures free from violence.

Andrea Beebe

Supervisor, Community Engagement & Education

Andrea holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Wilfred Laurier University and has extensive clinical experience supporting individuals with trauma, PTSD, and complex relational challenges. She also has a Master’s in Community Development and brings experience in community organizing and group facilitation.

As the former Public Education Coordinator with SAVIS of Halton, Andrea raised awareness on the prevention of gender-based violence for thousands of participants within the Halton Region. In addition, as the past Community Development Advisor for Youth with the Town of Milton, she has been dedicated to creating accessible and equitable spaces for young people in Halton.

Andrea believes that everyone has the right to access healthy relationship education. Together, we can make this a reality and ensure no child is left behind!

Chris Woods

Public Educator

Chris is a graduate of the Community and Justice Services program at Sheridan College. Since graduating, he has worked in the non-profit field with Habitat For Humanity Halton working in the community, as well as working in local schools and as a youth sports coach for the Town Of Milton. Chris has always aimed to do meaningful work and to have a positive impact on young minds. He believes that males have a very important role in the mission to end gender based violence, and hopes to help young men understand this through the Halton Women’s Place Public Education program.

Erinn Roberts

Public Educator

Erinn is currently an OCT candidate attending Brock University. She has always had an innate appreciation for children and youth, recognizing them as being our future. Motivated to uncover the different ways we can support and advocate for their equitable development, Erinn has investigated social and emotional learning, and its place in education to empower and inform our learners.

Through her work, she aims to promote autonomy, diversity, acceptance, and emotional intelligence in her students. To ensure our learners become the mindful and prosocial beings our world needs to reduce the stigma surrounding hard conversations about gender and gender-based violence. Motivating upcoming generations to understand the foundations of healthy relationships, so that our communities may grow to become more accepting, aware, and supportive of others regardless of difference. Helping to put a stop to domestic violence, so that the world may one day be free of the adversity and violence women and children face!

Romal Banga

Public Educator

Romal, an educator and entrepreneur, holds a Master’s in Biotechnology and a Bachelor of Education. She has taught various grade levels and subject areas in India, USA and now Canada, for over a decade. She is passionate about teaching children to be confident and critical thinkers. She believes education is not the lighting of a fire but filling up a pail. At HWP, she aims to create awareness amongst students about fostering healthy relationships, identifying violence, and having the courage to stand up and against it.

Bryan Thevanayagam

Public Educator

Bryan holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Toronto Metropolitan University and Social Service Worker Diploma from Sheridan College. He has experience facilitating peer support groups for youth at various mental health agencies in the Halton region. He has also taught 1-on-1 music lessons to young people for over a decade.

Bryan is a strong advocate for social and economic justice, which can be seen through his work as an organizer for the Justice for Workers campaign (a campaign to raise the minimum wage). Bryan believes that changes in broader social attitudes play an essential role in ending violence against women. He hopes to be a part of creating this change through educating youth about healthy relationships and gender-based violence from a critical lens.

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.