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Well-rounded in skills, knowledge and ability is an apt description for Peter Kalis, the newest executive staff officer of the Alberta Teachers’ Association.
Kalis joined the Teacher Welfare (TW) program area August 1, 2010, after a varied and successful 15-year career with Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools.
Teacher Welfare will undoubtedly benefit from the depth and range of experience Kalis acquired as a teacher, coach and school administrator in elementary and secondary school environments. He taught at Kateri Mission Catholic School for several years before moving into the area of school administration and the role of vice principal at St. Thomas More. He gained seven years of invaluable experience as a principal, first at St. Mary’s Catholic School and then at St. Thomas More, where he headed a team of staff and students that worked on building leadership ability, school pride and communities.
Kalis also found time to get involved with his local. He expanded his knowledge base and enhanced his leadership skills through serving on a teacher–board liaison committee, a negotiating subcommittee chair, an economic policy committee and as an elected member of the local executive. He familiarized himself with the ATA and its role by attending Association courses and conferences during his career, most recently the Advanced Bargaining Course offered at 2009 Summer Conference.
For Kalis, teaching, coaching and learning have intertwined to strengthen his beliefs in leadership, service and teamwork. However, it may be his coaching background that helps him out most as he settles into his new position. “Inevitably, a part of being a phys ed person and coach is you’re really a team builder,” said Kalis. “Those tools and having those kinds of experiences really can serve you well when it comes to sitting down face to face with people and trying to reach an agreement.”
TW staff members help teachers attain economic and working conditions that make possible the best level of professional service. They provide members with advice on such topics as collective bargaining, interpretation and application of collective agreements, grievance procedures, group benefit plans, pensions, Employment Insurance, maternity and adoption leave rights, and the applicability of legislation on labour and employee security. In addition, they also maintain an ongoing record of education statistics that they make available to local economic policy committees.
