The Alberta Teachers’ Association

DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE CANDIDATES
(one to be elected)

JERE GEIGER

I believe in public education. I am running for re-election as district representative of Central district because by striving to improve the working and professional lives of teachers, I am improving the learning conditions of students and, ultimately, society.
District representatives are teachers. Being in the classroom allows us to experience the same working conditions as the people we represent.
District representatives are also politicians. Most of the decisions affecting teachers’ professional and working lives are made outside of the classroom. Working together with Association table officers and staff, district representatives try to mitigate the negative effects of political decisions at the various levels of government while also encouraging the positive nature of these decisions.
We are at the beginning of a provincial curriculum rewrite and a new tiered model of collective bargaining. I am committed to working with Council to ensure that the new curriculum is teacher friendly, flexible and allows for teachers’ professional judgement. Our collective bargaining outcome must provide some relief to the debilitating conditions of practice teachers face and ensure continued recognition of our professional status.
The ATA is the professional voice of teachers and education in the province. Its message is research based and grounded in common sense. As your incumbent candidate for district representative in the Central district, I have both the experience and the passion to represent your best interests.
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Jere Geiger teaches a Grade 6 class in Alder Flats for the Wetaskiwin Regional School Division. He has administrative experience as both a principal and vice-principal, a stint on a fly-in reserve in northern Saskatchewan, and many years of teaching in elementary schools in rural settings.
In his years on Provincial Executive Council, Jere has served terms on various committees, including Finance, Substitute Teachers, Pension, Resolutions, Teacher Education and Certification, and representation on three convention boards.

KIM MASON

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you why I would like to be the district representative for the Central region.

Education is my life. I am one of six children, three of whom are teachers. I have over a dozen teachers in my extended family. At family gatherings you are likely to hear debates over pedagogical approaches to learning or witness collaboration at its finest. My family dynamics, coupled with over 20 years of teaching experience, has made education my passion. I love our profession and want to help our public education system continue to be one of the best in the world.

I have lived in central Alberta nearly all my life. I began my teaching career in Red Deer at a middle school then ventured out to the U.S. where I was hired as female PE department head at a private Catholic boarding school in California. When I returned home to Alberta, I taught junior high special needs in Devon. Eventually, I returned to Thorsby, my alma mater, where I have been teaching division one students for the past decade.

These are interesting times for education. With provincial finances where they are, we will need strong educational advocates now more than ever. The ATA is a vital proponent and voice for teachers and the teaching profession. We need strong, qualified spokespeople to represent teachers. I have been fortunate to work for a number of years with ATA Local No. 8, where I’ve been on the Council of School Representatives, an ARA delegate, and currently hold the secretary position on the executive. I’ve loved being a representative for my school and for teachers throughout the area, and I hope that I may have the privilege of being the Central region’s next district representative.