Board Member: Mark Duwyn
Over the past thirty years of his career in education, Mark has been a strong advocate for equity and inclusion in FSL programs. His teaching career started in London as a Core French teacher, then continued in Toronto with Late and Early French Immersion programs. After became an Instructional Leader to support FSL teachers with best practices in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), he transitioned to Vice-Principal and Principal roles to support schools with FSL programs. Throughout his career, he has learned how to support multiple language learners in English and French and how to support both new and experienced teachers.
National Council Representative for British Columbia: Rome Lavrencic
Rome Lavrencic teaches Core French and International Baccalaureate French at New Westminster Secondary School on the unceded territory of the Qayqayt First Nation, where he has been the Department Head for Languages for 11 years. He is very proud of his languages team who have worked hard to expand their language courses to include Core French, French Immersion, Japanese, Korean, Punjabi, and Spanish. He served on the BC Association of Teachers of Modern Languages’ Executive for 17 years and was one of the co-writers for the Core French redesigned curriculum and the additional languages curricula.
National Council Representative for Yukon: Shannon Donald
As a French as a second language teacher, Shannon has had the opportunity to work with students of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. From teaching secondary Core French in Cairo, Egypt, to finding her place as an elementary Intensive French teacher in Whitehorse, Yukon, she has always strived to create engaging classroom environments that promote additional language acquisition and authentic communication. She aspires to help other educators do the same in her current role as Second Language Education Consultant at Yukon Education.