History of the Lakehead Orillia Faculty of Education
by Frances Helyar
When the Orillia campus was established in the Fall of 2006 at Heritage Place, many in the Charter class were Concurrent Education students. A picture of the full class still hangs in the Heritage Place lobby. During the first year, Thunder Bay instructors taught the required Education courses by video conference to rooms 4 and 8. They used clickers as a teaching tool, but the technology was not reliable and student satisfaction was low, and the technology was dropped. In an attempt to improve the student experience, instructors came to Orillia from Thunder Bay, a different one each week. Among the instructors were Seth Agbo, Walter Epp, and Wayne Melville. Two of the courses were Introduction to the Foundations of Education, and Contemporary Educational Thought.
Don Naperiala, a contract lecturer and retired Thunder Bay school principal, was seconded to Orillia for eight months in the second year of the Concurrent Education program to become Director of Orillia Education programs. Don stayed for more than two years, living in an apartment at Heritage Place. His shared office was in the lower level of the building. Frances Helyar was hired to a tenure track position in the fall of 2008, teaching five different courses in her first semester. Her office was with other faculty members at Town Court, north of Heritage Place on West Street. Carolyn Rimkey was the Administrative Assistant for Education. Concurrent education students prepared workshops for Simcoe County District School Board’s Gifted Outreach Conference, located at the Youth Leadership Camp in Orillia.
By the Fall of 2009, non-Honours Concurrent students had completed their pre-professional program, and it was time to provide a professional program for Concurrent and Consecutive students. 37 Concurrent and 210 Consecutive teacher candidates formed 6 cohorts. Fiona Blaikie transferred from Thunder Bay to become the first Orillia Chair of Education. Don Napierala remained as the Professional Experiences Coordinator. Sonia Mastrangelo was hired as the second tenure track professor, while Ruth Beatty and Yvette DeBeer accepted 3-Year Limited Term positions. About 35 contract lecturers were hired that year to complete the faculty roster, including Elizabeth Thomas and Rosemary Hartley. Education classes were held in Town Court, Corner Gas (so-called because it is next to the gas station at the corner of West and Colborne Streets), Green Gables (the second floor of the building next to the Tim Horton’s on Colborne Street), and St. James Church on Peter Street. Faculty offices were located in Green Gables that year. Carolyn Rimkey moved to University Avenue to become the Administrative Assistant of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. Julie Howell joined the faculty as Education Programs Officer. This was the year of the first graduating class of Education students in Orillia.
In September 2010, Lakehead Orillia’s University Avenue campus opened, and all programs moved there except the Faculty of Education, which was consolidated for the most part at the Heritage Place location. While pre-professional courses were offered at Simcoe Hall, all professional program courses remained downtown. Walls were removed to create a Learning Commons on the main level of Heritage Place, and rooms were renovatedoin the lower level to create five classrooms and two large communal faculty office spaces. Room 3 remained a Computer Lab with 17 desktop computers for student use. The professional program that year consisted of 78 Concurrent and 203 Consecutive teacher candidates in 7 cohorts. Fiona Blaikie left Lakehead at the end of June, and Bruce Boyes and Elizabeth Thomas served as successive Acting Directors of Education Programs during the academic year, with Linda Summers as the Acting Professional Experiences Coordinator. Janet Earle, the top student in the first Orillia Education graduating class, took on the role of Administrative Assistant. Ruth Beatty was the successful applicant for a tenure-track Mathematics position, and Lyndsay Moffatt joined the faculty in a 1-Year Limited Term Language Arts position. The Faculty of Education community were stunned by the January death of teacher candidate Connie Ward in a traffic accident.
2011-2012
Michael Hoechsmann came to the faculty as Chair of Orillia Education programs, and Elizabeth Thomas became the full-time Professional Experiences Coordinator. The faculty had 7 Cohorts, made up of 83 Concurrent and 208 Consecutive teacher candidates. The SCDSB Gifted Outreach Conference was hosted for the first time at Lakehead Orillia’s University Avenue Campus in May.
2012-2013
Janet Earle moved on to a teaching career, and Rosa Fabiano assumed the Administrative Assistant position. Yvette DeBeer left the faculty, and Katherine Becker arrived in Orillia to begin a 3-year Limited Term position in Language Arts accompanied by her husband Dan who took on an instructor role in many courses. 84 Concurrent and 206 Consecutive teacher candidates were organized into 8 Cohorts.
2013-2014
Elizabeth Thomas resumed her original role as Faculty Advisor, and Catherine Hannon was hired as Professional Experiences Coordinator. The faculty housed 7 Cohorts of teacher candidates, 66 Concurrent and 225 Consecutive. Lakehead, like other faculties of education in Ontario, began to plan for the extended teacher education program mandated by the Ministry of Education, to be implemented in 2015.
2014-2015
Frances Helyar became Chair of Orillia Education programs, Seth Agbo relocated from Thunder Bay to Orillia, and Sharon Malyczewsky was appointed Math exam co-ordinator. This was the final year of the 1 Year Consecutive program, although the Concurrent program was grandfathered so that students already registered had until June 2019 to complete their pre-professional and professional studies. The faculty had 8 Cohorts consisting of 93 Concurrent and 199 Consecutive teacher candidates. Catherine Hannon, Cynthia Hardie and Denise Calvert secured funding from the Ministry of Education’s Enhancing Teacher Development Fund – Associate Teacher Partnership Projectsto develop a series of professional development workshops for Simcoe County District School Board and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board associate teachers. Helen DeWaard took the lead on preparing and capturing video for this project. In May, Sonia Mastrangelo and Katherine Becker organized the first Global Conference on Holistic Early Learning and Development. Over a hundred scholars, practitioners and teacher candidates gathered to share knowledge, understanding and ideas about early learning.
2015-2016
Meridith Lovell-Johnston was hired as the tenure-track Language Arts instructor. Katherine and Dan Becker moved on to positions at Sheridan College and York University, respectively. With the introduction of the 2 Year Consecutive program and limits placed on the size of the program by the Ministry of Education, the number of cohorts dropped to 5, made up of 87 Concurrent and 68 Consecutive teacher candidates. The program was complicated by the challenge of offering a 1 year and a 2 year program at the same time.
2016-2017
Ruth Beatty became the Acting Chair of Orillia Education programs during Frances Helyar’s year-long sabbatical. 8 cohorts of 85 Concurrent and 150 Consecutive teacher candidates represented an overall increase resulting from three programming streams, the 1 Year, the 1stYear and the 2ndYear.
2017-2018
Ruth Beatty and Michael Hoechsmann won Contribution to Teaching awards. Ruth and her collaborative research team were also winners of the university’s Indigenous Partnernship Research award. The MEd program in Orillia was officially approved, and Sonia Mastrangelo became the advisor. Sonia also organized a Spring Institute on Self Regulation at Lakehead’s University Avenue campus. The institute was offeredexclusively to teachers in both Simcoe boards along with parents (particularly those from FNMI) communities. The professional program welcomed 8 cohorts of teacher candidates, 58 in the Concurrent and 126 in the Consecutive stream.
by Frances Helyar
When the Orillia campus was established in the Fall of 2006 at Heritage Place, many in the Charter class were Concurrent Education students. A picture of the full class still hangs in the Heritage Place lobby. During the first year, Thunder Bay instructors taught the required Education courses by video conference to rooms 4 and 8. They used clickers as a teaching tool, but the technology was not reliable and student satisfaction was low, and the technology was dropped. In an attempt to improve the student experience, instructors came to Orillia from Thunder Bay, a different one each week. Among the instructors were Seth Agbo, Walter Epp, and Wayne Melville. Two of the courses were Introduction to the Foundations of Education, and Contemporary Educational Thought.
Don Naperiala, a contract lecturer and retired Thunder Bay school principal, was seconded to Orillia for eight months in the second year of the Concurrent Education program to become Director of Orillia Education programs. Don stayed for more than two years, living in an apartment at Heritage Place. His shared office was in the lower level of the building. Frances Helyar was hired to a tenure track position in the fall of 2008, teaching five different courses in her first semester. Her office was with other faculty members at Town Court, north of Heritage Place on West Street. Carolyn Rimkey was the Administrative Assistant for Education. Concurrent education students prepared workshops for Simcoe County District School Board’s Gifted Outreach Conference, located at the Youth Leadership Camp in Orillia.
By the Fall of 2009, non-Honours Concurrent students had completed their pre-professional program, and it was time to provide a professional program for Concurrent and Consecutive students. 37 Concurrent and 210 Consecutive teacher candidates formed 6 cohorts. Fiona Blaikie transferred from Thunder Bay to become the first Orillia Chair of Education. Don Napierala remained as the Professional Experiences Coordinator. Sonia Mastrangelo was hired as the second tenure track professor, while Ruth Beatty and Yvette DeBeer accepted 3-Year Limited Term positions. About 35 contract lecturers were hired that year to complete the faculty roster, including Elizabeth Thomas and Rosemary Hartley. Education classes were held in Town Court, Corner Gas (so-called because it is next to the gas station at the corner of West and Colborne Streets), Green Gables (the second floor of the building next to the Tim Horton’s on Colborne Street), and St. James Church on Peter Street. Faculty offices were located in Green Gables that year. Carolyn Rimkey moved to University Avenue to become the Administrative Assistant of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. Julie Howell joined the faculty as Education Programs Officer. This was the year of the first graduating class of Education students in Orillia.
In September 2010, Lakehead Orillia’s University Avenue campus opened, and all programs moved there except the Faculty of Education, which was consolidated for the most part at the Heritage Place location. While pre-professional courses were offered at Simcoe Hall, all professional program courses remained downtown. Walls were removed to create a Learning Commons on the main level of Heritage Place, and rooms were renovatedoin the lower level to create five classrooms and two large communal faculty office spaces. Room 3 remained a Computer Lab with 17 desktop computers for student use. The professional program that year consisted of 78 Concurrent and 203 Consecutive teacher candidates in 7 cohorts. Fiona Blaikie left Lakehead at the end of June, and Bruce Boyes and Elizabeth Thomas served as successive Acting Directors of Education Programs during the academic year, with Linda Summers as the Acting Professional Experiences Coordinator. Janet Earle, the top student in the first Orillia Education graduating class, took on the role of Administrative Assistant. Ruth Beatty was the successful applicant for a tenure-track Mathematics position, and Lyndsay Moffatt joined the faculty in a 1-Year Limited Term Language Arts position. The Faculty of Education community were stunned by the January death of teacher candidate Connie Ward in a traffic accident.
2011-2012
Michael Hoechsmann came to the faculty as Chair of Orillia Education programs, and Elizabeth Thomas became the full-time Professional Experiences Coordinator. The faculty had 7 Cohorts, made up of 83 Concurrent and 208 Consecutive teacher candidates. The SCDSB Gifted Outreach Conference was hosted for the first time at Lakehead Orillia’s University Avenue Campus in May.
2012-2013
Janet Earle moved on to a teaching career, and Rosa Fabiano assumed the Administrative Assistant position. Yvette DeBeer left the faculty, and Katherine Becker arrived in Orillia to begin a 3-year Limited Term position in Language Arts accompanied by her husband Dan who took on an instructor role in many courses. 84 Concurrent and 206 Consecutive teacher candidates were organized into 8 Cohorts.
2013-2014
Elizabeth Thomas resumed her original role as Faculty Advisor, and Catherine Hannon was hired as Professional Experiences Coordinator. The faculty housed 7 Cohorts of teacher candidates, 66 Concurrent and 225 Consecutive. Lakehead, like other faculties of education in Ontario, began to plan for the extended teacher education program mandated by the Ministry of Education, to be implemented in 2015.
2014-2015
Frances Helyar became Chair of Orillia Education programs, Seth Agbo relocated from Thunder Bay to Orillia, and Sharon Malyczewsky was appointed Math exam co-ordinator. This was the final year of the 1 Year Consecutive program, although the Concurrent program was grandfathered so that students already registered had until June 2019 to complete their pre-professional and professional studies. The faculty had 8 Cohorts consisting of 93 Concurrent and 199 Consecutive teacher candidates. Catherine Hannon, Cynthia Hardie and Denise Calvert secured funding from the Ministry of Education’s Enhancing Teacher Development Fund – Associate Teacher Partnership Projectsto develop a series of professional development workshops for Simcoe County District School Board and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board associate teachers. Helen DeWaard took the lead on preparing and capturing video for this project. In May, Sonia Mastrangelo and Katherine Becker organized the first Global Conference on Holistic Early Learning and Development. Over a hundred scholars, practitioners and teacher candidates gathered to share knowledge, understanding and ideas about early learning.
2015-2016
Meridith Lovell-Johnston was hired as the tenure-track Language Arts instructor. Katherine and Dan Becker moved on to positions at Sheridan College and York University, respectively. With the introduction of the 2 Year Consecutive program and limits placed on the size of the program by the Ministry of Education, the number of cohorts dropped to 5, made up of 87 Concurrent and 68 Consecutive teacher candidates. The program was complicated by the challenge of offering a 1 year and a 2 year program at the same time.
2016-2017
Ruth Beatty became the Acting Chair of Orillia Education programs during Frances Helyar’s year-long sabbatical. 8 cohorts of 85 Concurrent and 150 Consecutive teacher candidates represented an overall increase resulting from three programming streams, the 1 Year, the 1stYear and the 2ndYear.
2017-2018
Ruth Beatty and Michael Hoechsmann won Contribution to Teaching awards. Ruth and her collaborative research team were also winners of the university’s Indigenous Partnernship Research award. The MEd program in Orillia was officially approved, and Sonia Mastrangelo became the advisor. Sonia also organized a Spring Institute on Self Regulation at Lakehead’s University Avenue campus. The institute was offeredexclusively to teachers in both Simcoe boards along with parents (particularly those from FNMI) communities. The professional program welcomed 8 cohorts of teacher candidates, 58 in the Concurrent and 126 in the Consecutive stream.