ARCHIVED—Meet the Teachers 1994
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Newfoundland and Labrador
Gary Case was born in the Newfoundland outport town of Old Perlican and attended elementary and high school in nearby communities. In 1971, he completed a BSc in physics at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He subsequently won a fellowship, earned an MSc and worked in Memorial's department of physics while working on his BEd. He taught at Goose High School in Goose Bay for five years, focusing his attention on at-risk students. Then he became an assistant professor of physics at Memorial, where he taught first-year courses, developed computer-aided tutorials and laboratory data analysis for physics, and helped implement a digital electronics course.
In 1983, he began teaching at Prince of Wales Collegiate, a school of 700 students. Slightly more than half the students come from the city of St. John's, with the remainder coming from rural backgrounds. In 1989, he was appointed head of the school's science department.
Quebec
Diane Maillet was born in Ottawa, and completed her primary and secondary education there. In 1982, she obtained a BEd from l'Université du Québec à Hull (UQAH). After 19 years' experience teaching, she returned to UQAH for her MEd degree (awarded in 1995). She began teaching at l'École Saint-Pie-X in Gatineau, Quebec in 1983.
Louis Gagnon was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec, where he completed his primary and secondary education. In 1984, he completed a BEd and then a MEd, both from UQAH. He has been teaching at l'École Saint-Pie-X since 1983.
L'École Saint-Pie-X has 340 primary students. The school is located in an area with a population that varies widely in socioeconomic terms, and draws students from both rural and urban backgrounds. Diane, who teaches grades 1 to 6, and Louis, who is a remedial teacher for the same grades, team teach a Grade 4 to 6 class made up of Grade 6 children in the standard program along with remedial students. The remedial students are not developmentally handicapped, but they have behavioral problems or learning difficulties (such as dyslexia) that have put them as much as three years behind the learning level for their age group.
Ontario
Richard Cornwall began his education in Kingston, Ontario, and then went to Peterborough Teachers' College until his graduation in 1963. He taught in the Toronto area from 1964 to 1968 at Donwood Park Public School, then at Highbrook Senior Public School from 1968 to 1982, when he moved to Sir Ernest MacMillan School in Scarborough, Ontario.
Sir Ernest MacMillan School is a senior elementary school, with 380 students from a wide variety of backgrounds. One third of the students study English as a Second Language (ESL), and there are 50 special-education students.
Rodger Dusky grew up in Ontario. He received a BA in 1963, a teaching certificate in 1965 and an MEng in 1978 from the University of Western Ontario.
He began teaching at Strathroy District Collegiate Institute in 1963, and two years later moved to Clarke Road Secondary School in London, Ontario. He has been teaching at The London Central Secondary School since 1987. London Central has 1 100 students and 95 percent of its graduates go on to university. It is located close to the University of Western Ontario, hospitals and research facilities.
Alberta
Karen Slevinsky is from St. Paul, Alberta. She received a BEd from the University of Alberta in 1978, and a Diploma in Secondary Education in 1981. She expects to complete both her MEd and BSc in 1996. She has taught at Mistassiny School in Desmarais, Vital Grandin School in St. Albert, Harry Ainlay High School in Edmonton, and Jasper Place High School, also in Edmonton, where she was head of the science department. In 1994, she accepted a secondment as science specialist in the Student Evaluation Branch of Alberta Education, where she is currently the Biology 30 Examination Manager.
Jasper Place High School has an enrollment of approximately 1 800 students who come from a wide variety of backgrounds.
British Columbia
Cary Chien was born in China and moved to Taiwan in 1949. He received his early education in Taiwan and, ultimately, a BSc in science teaching from the National Taiwan Normal University. After moving to Canada, he earned two advanced degrees - an MSc from Saint Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and a PhD in physics from the University of British Columbia.
For the past 20 years, Cary has been enlightening science and mathematics students at David Thompson Secondary School in Vancouver. It is an inner-city school that is currently filled to capacity, with a student population of 1 700 and 200 more on the waiting list.
Lionel Sandner grew up in Kamloops, British Columbia and started his postsecondary education at Caribou College there. He transferred to the University of Victoria, receiving a BEd in 1986, and an MEd in 1994.
He has taught at Stelly's Secondary School since the start of his professional career. When he received this award, he was head of the science department at Stelly's School. Currently, he is on secondment to the British Columbia Ministry of Education, where he has been working in the curriculum branch and is now the project leader for the Pan-Canadian Science Project.
Stelly's Secondary School is located in an area of Vancouver Island that is quickly changing from rural to suburban. The school's 950 Grade 9 to 12 students come from a wide variety of economic and ethnic backgrounds.
Cheri Smith began her early schooling in the United States and completed it in British Columbia, where she won the prestigious Frosst Medal and Banks scholarships to study pharmacy. She received her BSc in that field from the University of British Columbia in 1980.
Though successful in her profession, she decided teaching would be more rewarding. In 1983, she was awarded her teacher's certificate and started her teaching career at Clearbrook Junior Secondary School in Abbotsford. The following year, she moved to Yale Secondary School. She became head of the science department in 1986, and originated the Advanced Placement program that same year.
Yale Secondary is located in a suburban setting and has 900 students. Eight teachers teach science either full or part time.