The ATEQ Board of Directors 2019/20

Executive

Pamela Bussey (NFSB) - President, 1st of a 2 yr term
Pamela is a Senior ELA Teacher at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School. She graduated from McGill’s MATL program in 2015 and worked with the ETSB, EMSB, and SWLSB before finding a home with the NFSB. She loves reading YA, memoir, and  flash fiction and has a passion for incorporating the Arts in ELA. She lives in Verdun with her husband, cat, and piles of books.

Lise Kuhn (EMSB), Vice President, 1st of a 2yr term
Lise teaches ELA and History at Elizabeth High School, a social affairs school in Montreal that is part of the English Montreal School Board’s Outreach School Network. She was drawn to ATEQ because she enjoys collaborating with other teachers on a grassroots level and working to strengthen institutions that support the work of English language educators in Quebec.

Jessica Hand (EMSB) - Past President, 1st of a 2 yr term, NCTE Representative
Jessica is the Head Teacher at Programme Mile End, which is part of the Outreach Schools Network in the EMSB. She has worked there through all of its moves and for most of her teaching career, spanning over 20 years, with the exception of her 3-year secondment to the Ministry to co-write the SELA2 program. She is known for her passion for working with disenfranchised youth, as well as dressing mostly in black, loving British television and reading. 

Abigail Anderson - Secretary, Treasurer, Registrar, 2nd of a 2yr term
Abigail began her career as a high school ELA teacher and then was the Coordinator of ELA Programmes at Quebec’s Ministry of Education for twenty seven years, during which time she directed the team that produced the QEP's ELA programmes and Progressions of Learning. She has always believed in the grassroots power of teachers working together, and of the importance of encouraging professionalism in teaching.

Board Members

Anne Beamish (EMSB) - 1st of a 2yr term, SPEAQ & PACTE Representative
Anne is an educator and advocate for promoting reading engagement through young adult literature. Anne has taught ELA and is now a SELA consultant
who gets to work with teachers and students on amazing projects. Some highlights include the creation ATEQ’s online journal ELA Today and chairing Fall Fare 2018 as well as bringing spoken word poetry to the schools with whom she works.

Tracy Blonder (NFSB), 1st of a 2yr term

Tiffany Dickie (NFSB), 1st of a 2yr term, Social Media Coordinator
Tiffany is a CEGEP teacher at both Vanier and Champlain College in the Special Care Counselling departments. After graduating from the MATL program in 2014 she went on to teach secondary English, Math, ERC, Science and WOTP as well as continuing education, vocational education, and social integration services (SIS) in the adult sector before finding her home in supporting the next generation of educators as they prepare to enter the field. In her spare time she is a competitive Irish dancer and loves spending time with her Rottweiler and husband at their home in Chateauguay. 

Mary Eva (McGill), 1st of a 2yr term, CPIQ & ECCC Representative
Mary is a student-teacher field supervisor through McGill's DISE. She continues her work as a member of the CPIQ executive and as an editor of their journal. She is a long-standing member of the ATEQ board, and former state coordinator for NCTE's REALM. Mary is passionate about reading and literature, and being an advocate for the ELA community. 

Christina Grivas (WIC), 1st of a 2yr term
Tina has been teaching ELA at the secondary level for the past 29 years in both the public and private sectors, but has found her home at West Island College for the last 16. She's interested in innovative assessment, classroom design and increasing student engagement, while at the same time, caring about their mental health. She is passionate about educational technology, encouraging a love of reading, and coaching basketball.

Mary Sauvé (NFSB), former president, 1st of a 2yr term, Webmaster & ECCC Representative
Mary has been teaching ELA at Chateauguay Valley Regional HS for over 23 years, and has been the department head for most of that time, with the exception of her five and half year stint seconded to the Ministry as a curriculum writer for both SELAs 1 and 2, and the Secondary Progression of Learning. She is passionate about traveling, learning, and teaching. She lives in the country and tries not to kill too many plants.

Board Representatives (consultative & non-voting)

Barbara Kurtzman (QAIS), Jordan Kent (WQSB), Stephen Kohner (ESSB), Louise Bourque (RSB), AnneMarie McCaffrey (NFSB), Claire Grondin (CQSB), Jody Meacher, (ETSB), Julia Wagner (EMSB), Amy Karawi (EMSB), Deirdre Potash