Academics

Nathalie Bendavid, BA (Hons.), B.Ed – Teacher at PEAC & Athletic Director at PEAC

Nathalie has been at PEAC since its inception in 2005. As PEAC’s French teacher and resident national athlete for the Women’s national rugby team, students are delivered French by one of our countries best teacher-athletes. Nathalie spends time training our athletes in the fitness centre with cutting edge athletic training techniques delivered by our national rugby programs athletic trainers. Students benefit from Nathalie’s organization, dedication and generous extra-help sessions to ensure that every one of our students is successful in their academic programming. Nathalie also takes on the organization of the school library and utilizes student volunteers for their community service requirements.

Sasha Nedelkovski: BSc (Hons), Masters in Teaching, B. Ed. Secondary and Intermediate Sciences. Teacher at PEAC/PEAC Head Trainer – Flex Program Director.

Sash will be entering his second year teaching and training at PEAC. He will again be teaching Math’s and Sciences along with Nutrition this year. Sash makes great use of classroom resources offered here at PEAC, including the interactive white-board, which is a mainstay in his classroom. Along with technology Sash uses a variety of teaching strategies to ensure an effective learning environment for all students. Sash has spent a good deal of time over the summer creating programs specific to our FLEX athletes in order to help them compete at the highest level in their particular sport. The hockey dry-land training program will again be running this year, and Mr. N hopes all of PEAC‘s hockey players will take advantage of this opportunity and come out early and often.

Sash has a very strong nutrition and weight lifting background, having created the University of Toronto Body Building Club, as well as competing in body building competitions, while studying in Sydney, Australia. He also has a wide breadth of teaching experience, having taught in both the secondary and post-secondary education systems, (Sheridan College). Undoubtedly, this experience will assist our student-athletes in preparing for post-secondary school.

Dr. Colin Walsh, Masters Aerospace Engineering, PhD Aerospace Engineering, B.Ed Physics and Math. Teacher at PEAC

Dr. Colin Walsh recently joined PEAC as the senior Mathematics and Science Teacher, and is excited at the opportunity to share his enthusiasm for math and science with the students. Dr. Colin’s experience includes teaching in a rural high school in Ghana, teaching and research at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, research at Defence Research and Development Canada, running a small consulting business, and teaching at a variety of schools in Simcoe County. Dr. Colin’s recreational interest include cross country skiing and canoe camping.

Deirdre Quinn, Honors specialization Kinesiology B.A., B.Ed Intermediate Senior Physical Education, English, Special Education

This is Deirdre’s third year teaching with PEAC, and she brings with her a wide variety of experiences. Some of the courses she teaches include, Visual Arts, Exercise Science, and Media Arts. She also continues to be one of the school’s Guidance Counselors and strives to ensure that our students are on the right path to completing their OSSD and finding success at the post-secondary level. Deirdre completed her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario, where she also worked as a Certified Personal Trainer. Following up her graduation, she finished her Bachelor of Education at the University of Toronto/OISE. She has had the opportunity to work in some of the most challenging schools in Toronto and has a wealth of experiences working with students with varying exceptionalities.

Ryan Stickle Teacher & Hockey Coordinator

Ryan has been working in the classroom, on the ice and behind the bench at PEAC since 2007. His career to date includes a variety of professional experiences and roles with companies in many industries. Ryan combines his workplace understanding with his keen interest in current Canadian and global issues and transfers this knowledge to his students each day. Ryan provides his students real world situations drawing on his work with successful entrepreneurial ventures, sales with glass distributing firm, and government funded training for adult workers. Academically, he completed his Bachelor of Arts in History at Canisius College in Buffalo and his post graduate certification in Human Resource Management at Seneca College in Toronto.

Sticks proudest sports achievement to date was being named his team MVP for the 1995 Brant Bandits Midget AAA hockey team. Playing hockey and rugby at the NCAA level helped Ryan understands the unique needs of PEAC students learning to find a balance between sports and school. Ryan was a member of Rugby Canada`s Elite Athlete Development program from 2001–2003 and played for the Ottawa Harlequins, Niagara Thunder in the Rugby Canada Super League. He captured the Ontario Men’s Rugby Championship with the Brantford Harlequins in 2007, and was runner up in 2008 with the Aurora Barbarians. In 1999 as a freshman walk on Ryan scored his first and only NCAA hockey goal at Buffalo State College in a 5–2 victory. Ryan still plays many sports including tennis, golf and chasing his one year old son around.
During the past three years Ryan had the privilege of coaching PEAC hockey players at every age category and is always excited at the prospects of elite players from various club teams competing for an elite school like this. One of Ryan`s most memorable coaching experiences was seeing PEAC win the 2010 Brampton Battalion Elementary Tournament, and participating in an exciting NCAA visit to the University of Maine in 2008.

Chad Malone, BA, English Literature, Middlebury College; Master of Arts, Teaching, Clark University.

Chad returns for his third year at PEAC as an English teacher and guidance counselor. He brings with him 6 years of teaching, guidance, and coaching experience in the United States and Canada. As an English teacher, he helps his students become life-long readers, writers, and thinkers and he challenges them to use their voice, skills, and athletic talents to continually improve themselves and their community. In his role as guidance counselor, he works closely with the student-athletes at PEAC and their parents, helping them understand the NCAA recruiting and eligibility guidelines and preparing them for the admissions and application process at U.S. Colleges and Universities.

Chad’s experience as a competitive athlete and coach makes him keenly aware of the needs of his student-athletes. Chad captained his NCAA basketball team at Middlebury College and later went on to be an assistant coach there. In 2005, he took over a struggling inner-city girls’ high school basketball team in Worcester, Massachusetts and three years later led them to the school’s first-ever appearance in the district semi-finals. All of the players from his teams are now in college, including three players who are currently playing NCAA basketball. Chad still enjoys playing basketball and is currently training to run in his first marathon.

Gary Clarke, B.A. H.Kin & B.Ed

In the upcoming 2010–11 academic year, Gary will be teaching the Grade 6,7, and 8 Language Arts and Science along with the Grade 9 Intro to Business. Gary has been teaching in various situations since graduating from the University of Maine education program in 2006. His teaching career has carried him as far as South Korea and to Canada’s West and North.

Gary has been involved with competitive athletics since a young age, playing provincial hockey in Newfoundland and progressing to play Sr. A in New Brunswick. He went on to coach in Minor Hockey programs in Alberta and Northern Ontario. Outside of hockey, Gary makes himself readily available both in school and in the community, volunteering with different organizations and community groups

Allyson Stark BSC.

2010–2011 will be Allyson’s first year teaching at PEAC. Allyson obtained her Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Dalhousie University, and continued on to obtain her Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa. Allyson has recently returned from living and teaching in Monterrey, Mexico where she taught Physical and Health Education. Her background in athletics includes basketball, volleyball, snowboarding and lacrosse, and more recently she has taken up ultimate frisbee and triathlons. Allyson brings to the classroom a philosophy centering around respect, which she believes should span into her students’ community and athletic endeavours as well.

Kristin Bowman, Bsc (Hons), DipEd- Teacher at PEAC

This will be Kristin’s second year at PEAC. Last year, Kristin taught at our PEAC Burlington campus and this year she joins us at Toronto. Kristin will be mainly teaching Sciences this year. She has a wide wealth of teaching experiences in Australia, England and Canada teaching in both elementary and secondary schools. Her enthusiasm for her subject areas and positive personality will be a welcomed addition to PEAC Toronto!

Melissa Lodu, BSc (Hons), DipEd

Melissa started teaching at PEAC in 2009, and encourages her students to develop an interest in science and mathematics. She graduated from McGill University with first class honours in chemistry and after a year of teaching English in Xi’an, China, she decided to bring together her love of science with her passion for teaching. Following her year in Asia, Melissa travelled to Australia to complete her Diploma of Education. Her international teaching experiences have enabled her to embrace a variety of teaching strategies and learning approaches.

Melissa also comes from an athletic background, having played competitive softball, volleyball and basketball and having coached high school volleyball. She is currently involved in a wide range of other sports including squash, dodgeball, ultimate frisbee and skiing.

Jacqueline Almeida

Jacqueline has her B.A in Early Childhood Education from Ryerson University as well as her B.ED in the ECE P/J Division from York. Jacqueline is the new French teacher at PEAC. At school, she took French Immersion from grade 5 to grade twelve and continued her French studies in University. Jacqueline has been tutoring students in French throughout her academic career during the Elementary years all the way to the end of University. Jacqueline also has been teaching French to young children for about 2 years in early learning centres as well as in private schools. Her other passions are fitness and sports. For a couple years, Jacqueline created and signed on as captain for a co-ed adult soccer team and she also acquired her fitness instructor specialist certification through Can-Fit Pro.