The Alberta Teachers’ Association

DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE CANDIDATES
(three to be elected)

JOANNE BOISSONNEAULT

I am pleased to announce my candidacy for district representative(DR) for Calgary City. I have 30 years of teaching experience, including 25 in Alberta, where I have served the Alberta Teachers’ Association in various capacities and have taught K–12 in both official languages. At the present time, I am a high school teacher with both the Calgary public and the Calgary Catholic school jurisdictions. I also have administrative experience as a district consultant and a co-ordinator working in student assessment and learning needs. My BA, B.Ed. and SpecEd are from Laurentian University; my M.Ed. is from the University of Calgary.

As I have done in the past, when I was your DR, I will advocate for and advance the interests of Calgary teachers, including time constraints, classroom conditions, curriculum redesign, inclusion, professional autonomy, workload and remuneration.

As an experienced DR, I know how to build relationships and bridges with key education stakeholders — government, school boards, individual schools and members. I am sensitive to prioritizing our Association spending and to keeping future fee increases both necessary and reasonable.

I am committed to representing you with a strong voice. As your DR, I will work diligently to address your issues and concerns, within the Association and beyond. My classroom experience in public and Catholic schools, my provincial and local committee experience, and my bilingual communication skills make me the best candidate to represent you at this crucial economic and professional point in time. Thank you. Merci.

Provincial experience
•Provincial Executive Council, district representative
•WellBeing of Children and Youth, chair
•Finance
•Political Action and Engagement
•Curriculum
•Resolutions
•Special Education Council
•Le Conseil français

Local experience:
•District representative
•Diversity, Equity and Human Rights
•Political Action and Engagement
•Professional Development
•Economic Policy
•School representative

HEIDE DOPPMEIER 

I am pleased to put my name forward for re-election as Calgary City district representative. I have been working with and for teachers in Calgary for over 30 years. I have represented teachers on numerous committees during that time.

Committee work that I have been part of as district representative this year
• Local 38: Executive, Constitutional Interpretation and ARA, plus the Strategic Planning Implementation ad hoc committee
• Local 55: Executive, Professional Development and Political Action
• Provincial ATA: Provincial Executive Council, Finance, Chair of the Finance Member Services sub-committee, Teacher Education and Certification Committee, and I represent the ATA on the Outreach Education Council and the K–12 ESL Advisory Council

It is very clear to me that teachers need more supports to deal with increasing demands, especially in these days of initiative overload; plates already overflowing, with more being added on all the time, and nothing ever being taken away. District representatives are still classroom teachers. Because of this, we are able to keep our fingers on what is currently happening in each of the Calgary locals. There is still much work to be done and I am up for the challenge.

My teaching career has been varied. I taught junior high for 25 years, including 10 years in high-needs schools, teaching English language arts, social studies, German, health, and various CTS courses. I have spent the last 11 years in high school settings, teaching English language arts, ESL and ESL social studies.

I have also had the opportunity to build strong working relationships with my elementary school colleagues and am well educated in their specific needs and concerns. I am a vocal advocate for public education and believe that teachers’ working conditions are student learning conditions. Happy teachers make for happy students.

KATHY HOEHN 

In 2015, I accepted the challenge to become one of Calgary City's district representatives for the ATA.  At that time, we were fighting for stable funding for education to support teachers in the classroom. Since then we have seen a change in government and this presents different opportunities and issues. The financial pressures facing this government have meant continued advocacy for the teachers and students in Alberta schools. As a member of Provincial Executive Council, my voice has been the voice of teachers in the city of Calgary and throughout our province. 

My time serving on provincial ATA has benefited from years of experience at the local level, first as a school representative, then as a member of the executive. I represented teachers at the Annual Representative Assembly. My work with the Calgary City Teachers' Convention Association led to my election in 2015 as president of CCTCA. As district representative, I came equipped with a strong teaching background, in-depth knowledge of the ATA and excellent listening and communication skills. Using these assets, I represented teachers on the School Administrators' Issues and Concerns Committee, Resolutions Committee and the Curriculum Committee.

I continue to speak out against initiatives that increase teacher workload and question teacher efficacy, such as standardized testing and the current form of the SLAs.
As District Representative for Calgary City, I have listened to the concerns of teachers and voiced those concerns at the provincial table. If re-elected, I will continue to act in the interest of all teachers.

Two major issues I continue to hear about from colleagues are teacher workload and collaboration time.  This past year, Provincial Executive Council has been working towards concrete solutions to these concerns. The ATA is a strong organization representing Alberta teachers. I would be honoured to continue my work representing Calgary City teachers.

KENT KINSMAN

For several years, the collective agreements that have been legislated by the government have failed to meet the needs of Calgary teachers, both inside the classroom and out. We have been promised lofty changes, like those legislated to decrease teacher workload through the recommendations of C2, but meaningful change has never come to fruition. Currently we are engaged in a new, bilateral bargaining process, and the needs of Calgary’s teachers are of vital importance as we look towards completing this bargaining process and the future.

It is important that we have a strong voice at the provincial table that will ensure that the needs of Calgary City teachers will always be heard and fought for. For the past several years I have served as both the interim chair and the vice-chair of Local 38’s EPC committee, and as vice-chair of the current Negotiating Sub-Committee. I am on the front lines of both engaging with teachers and sub-groups to evaluate and discuss their needs, as well as local bargaining preparation and negotiations.

Calgary teachers need a voice that will have experience in this new process to represent them at the provincial level, someone who is passionate about bringing change to our classrooms and to the lives of all Alberta teachers. I know that I can work effectively on Provincial Executive Council, collaborating with other PEC members to innovate and instigate the change Alberta teachers are looking for. I believe that the success of all students rests on significantly improving the condition of practice for teachers. Now is the time to bring a new, fresh voice to Provincial Executive Council.

Currently I teach physical education at Panorama Hills School, serve on the Strategic Planning and Research Committee, Local 38 EPC as vice-chair and Local 38 Negotiating Sub-Committee as vice-chair.