President:

Alison Edwards (O’Donel High School)

alisonedwards@nlesd.ca
Alison Edwards is the Department Head of English at O’Donel High School in Mount Pearl. She has been there for two years. Prior to that, she was an English teacher and a teacher librarian at PWC in St. John’s. Alison is currently the President of the ELA SIC and was part of the group who proposed and advocated for the SIC to be formed. While in this role she worked on documents such as annual reports, the by-laws and constitution. Alison works a lot with aspects of the ELA curriculum, both in curriculum offerings such as choice and organization as well as assessment. She has completed several Lead Learner Projects with NLESD, including ones examining the ELA curriculum and her classroom and in STEAM in ELA. She has presented at events such as uLearn and at the UN CSW 67 conference about her work in the ELA curriculum. Her favourite unit to teach is the Novel Study where she can talk books with all her students and get ones to add to her ever growing TBR pile. She looks forward to working with the new exec, in whatever role she may be playing.

Patrick Murphy (Belanger Memorial)

patrickmurphy@nlesd.ca
Good day everyone. Allow me a moment to introduce myself and show why I would be a good choice as president or vice president for the ELA SIC for this term. I have taught ELA for twenty three years in a variety of schools, from high school classes of thirty while I was ELA Dept Head for six years at St. James Regional High to an isolated community where I taught multi-age and multi-grade ELA for seven years at St. Simon & St. Jude Academy in Francois. I am currently an assistant principal at Belanger Memorial in the Codroy Valley where I teach ELA from 7-12. I believe my years of experience in a variety of schools and class sizes would be an asset to this assembly. I have been involved in many groups with the school board over the years including marking board for six years doing both grade six and grade nine CRT as well as the ELA 3201 public exam. I have been involved in creating common exams for junior high in the Western region as well as having my teaching video taped to help new teachers while I taught at Stephenville Middle School. I am heavily involved in NLTA union affairs. This year, I am part of the NLTA curriculum committee while continuing to serve as vice president for Channel Port Aux Basques branch. I am committed to our union developing more help for new teachers in dealing with challenges like AI and changing evaluation as well as the amount of curriculum we all have to cover. With your help, I can better strive to achieve these goals and humbly ask for your support.

Vice President:

Patrick Murphy (Belanger Memorial)

patrickmurphy@nlesd.ca
Good day everyone. Allow me a moment to introduce myself and show why I would be a good choice as president or vice president for the ELA SIC for this term. I have taught ELA for twenty three years in a variety of schools, from high school classes of thirty while I was ELA Dept Head for six years at St. James Regional High to an isolated community where I taught multi-age and multi-grade ELA for seven years at St. Simon & St. Jude Academy in Francois. I am currently an assistant principal at Belanger Memorial in the Codroy Valley where I teach ELA from 7-12. I believe my years of experience in a variety of schools and class sizes would be an asset to this assembly. I have been involved in many groups with the school board over the years including marking board for six years doing both grade six and grade nine CRT as well as the ELA 3201 public exam. I have been involved in creating common exams for junior high in the Western region as well as having my teaching video taped to help new teachers while I taught at Stephenville Middle School. I am heavily involved in NLTA union affairs. This year, I am part of the NLTA curriculum committee while continuing to serve as vice president for Channel Port Aux Basques branch. I am committed to our union developing more help for new teachers in dealing with challenges like AI and changing evaluation as well as the amount of curriculum we all have to cover. With your help, I can better strive to achieve these goals and humbly ask for your support.

Matthew Sheppard (Carbonear Collegiate)

matthewsheppard1@nlesd.ca
Matthew Sheppard is a JR/SR English teacher at Carbonear Collegiate who is seeking election as the ELA SIC Vice-President. Throughout his career thus far, Matthew has taught a wide variety of courses in rural Alberta and in Newfoundland spanning from the Northern Peninsula, Gander Bay and now finally making it home on the Avalon in Carbonear; moreover, Matthew has had several different administrative positions including academic counselor in Alberta and vice principal in Gander Bay. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, a Bachelor of Education in Intermediate/Secondary Education, a Bachelor of Arts in English, and a Master of Education in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Studies with a focus in Social Justice Education. Originally, Matthew only had an English minor but he found a passion for teaching English and using it as a means to foster strong connections with students as early as his internship. Due to the hyper-credentialized fashion of teacher hiring in Newfoundland, Matthew went back to get his BA in English to be considered for full-time English teaching positions. Matthew constantly aims to merge his passions for social justice and connecting with students to select relevant and interesting texts, passages, and assessments for his students to engage with and learn from. Matthew enjoys sharing what he has learned with other English teachers while equally learning from them. Matthew is seeking election as vice president of the ELA SIC because he believes he can use his leadership experience and passion for high quality ELA instruction to help further the goals of the ELA SIC and to better connect the English teachers of our province.

Fine Arts:

Janice Kitchen (Bayview Academy)

janicekitchen@nlesd.ca
I have been a teacher for 16 years and have taught in many different schools (Grandy’s River Collegiate, Belanger Memorial, Appalachia High, Bayview Academy, Elwood High) and I was an administrator for two years at Mealy Mountain Collegiate. I have a B.FA in theatre, a LLB, a B.Ed (secondary) and my M.Ed so I have either been a student or a teacher for most of my life. I have taught mostly English and Social Studies courses during this time period and have enjoyed teaching almost every day. In this uncertain time, with so many changes going on in the world and in the classroom, I feel it is important to have a say in what is happening. I honestly believe that it is more important to be a teacher now than at any other time. Many of our students are floundering and we have to figure out a way to support them and and each other.

Sarah Penney-Flynn (Pasadena Academy)

sarahpenney-flynn@nlesd.ca
Sarah Penney-Flynn is currently serving her eighteenth year at Pasadena Academy as an English and Social Studies teacher. She has taught in both rural and urban schools, and in two countries – Canada and England (which explains her love of tea and a good book). She revels in students’ analysis of the media and artistic art forms and enjoys encouraging her students to explore a diverse range of representation. She lives with her two scoundrel dogs and prefers them to most people.