Learning Support Services

Virginia joined the LSS department at TLA in 2013. Her previous work was in post-secondary education, teaching in psychology, counselling, Bible studies, and Christian History. She transitioned to K-12 education and has found her work with students who need learning support to be deeply satisfying. She has also been a teacher in a BC provincial prison, where she also volunteers with the chaplain’s office; has worked in children’s ministries; and provides pastoral counselling within her local congregation.

Her educational journey includes degrees in Christian education, theological studies, counselling, and educational leadership. She views participation in Christian education and pursuing excellence for our students as a privilege.

Virginia is married to Ralph. They have two adult children, and three delightful grandchildren. They share interests in reading (biographies of historical persons), music (Ralph is a vocalist and Virginia is a flutist), hiking, camping, kayaking, and taking road trips with their grandchildren.

Merissa Ang lives in Vancouver with her husband Mark and their two children, Abigail and James. She enjoys reading, sewing, kayaking and spending time in nature with her family. Merissa holds a B.A degree in Geography and Biology and a B.Ed degree specializing in high school education from Trinity Western University.

Merissa taught high school in the lower mainland before moving to a rural First Nations community (2011-2016) where she taught students in grades 2-11 in multi-grade homeroom classes at the local community school. In 2017 she returned to the Lower Mainland and began working as an LSS teacher with TLA.

Joanne has been a part of the TLA LSS teaching team since 2008. She has been extremely blessed learning from her talented colleagues and working with students and families to create and implement educational plans that cater to their individual strengths and needs.

She studied English and History in her undergrad years and then completed her Bachelor of Education in Secondary English and Socials Studies. She has always known that her passion was in educating special needs children, and so she continued on and received a post-graduate diploma in Special Education at UBC. She has taught a range of students, from kindergarten to grade 12, in both the public and private education systems.

In her spare time, Joanne loves to laugh, relax and read, and simply be with her family and friends.

Val comes to TLA from the Surrey School District, where she was a teacher of all grades from primary to secondary, as well as Special Education. She has her Master’s Degree in Supervision of Instruction and was a Vice-Principal with the Surrey District.

She has a passion for students who require the extra support and understanding to feel successful in learning. Val is also very supportive of the important role that teachers play in partnership with parents in the education of their children.

Val and her husband have two daughters and two beautiful grandsons. Family is very important to her and she is very pleased to be a part of the family of TLA.

A desire to help children reach their potential is what drew Charles to education. He enjoyed working in various Christian schools throughout the Lower Mainland.

Previous to that he worked supporting adults with physical and mental challenges in the community. After graduating from Simon Fraser University, he went on to complete a master’s degree in education at the University of British Columbia.

He and his wife Nicole (also an educator) live in White Rock, where they spend their time adding to their substantial film collection or taking photographs of family members.

Debi has worked as a classroom teacher for 35 years in the public school system. She taught K-2 in the classroom and was a learning assistance teacher for students in K-7. Debi has also worked privately on teams supporting children with autism.

She graduated from SFU with a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies and then completed the PDP program with a concentration in Early Childhood Education and Learning Disabilities. Debi has also completed a diploma in Law Education at UBC.

Currently, she is very happy to work at TLA with families of students with special needs! She enjoys travelling, sailing, running, yoga, reading and spending time with her friends and family.

AmandaEve holds Bachelor degrees in Music and Biblical Scholarship from Rocky Mountain College (Calgary), a Masters of Applied Linguistics from Charles Darwin University (Darwin AUS) and became a BC certified teacher in 2018.

She has taught at Long & McQuade (Abbotsford), Harmony Music School (Calgary), Encore Music Studio (Calgary), Providence College (Otterburne MB), Rocky Mountain College (Calgary), Ziegfeld School of Dance (Winnipeg), Doreen Bissett School of Dance (Winnipeg) and also worked as a Teaching Assistant at CanIL @ Trinity Western University (Langley). She has extensive experience with children’s programming in church and camp settings.

Musically, she has enjoyed performing with various choral and instrumental ensembles across Canada and the USA. She has also been involved in choral composition, arranging, and directing in various contexts.

Her approach to education is to learn through play, topics of interest, exploring the world, and for each child to grow based on their level of ability. She believes strongly in the flexibility home education offers to families and is honoured to be part of helping other families achieve their goals.

She is navigating the diversity of LSS from both sides of the coin because autism is also part of her daily family life.

Island raised, LSS Teacher Sarah Stolz and her young daughter Emily live in Victoria, B.C. Sarah joined the TLA team in July 2014 and is thoroughly excited to be working with families to ensure their child’s program is as individual and unique as they are.

Sarah’s interest in family focused education comes naturally from her background which includes 10 years as a nanny, behavioral interventionist, respite worker, summer camp leader, and educational assistant. She completed her BA in Psychology and Business early in 2010 and finished her Bachelor of Education (K-12) with an emphasis on Special Education later that fall.

Communicating regularly with families is one of the things Sarah enjoys most about her position with TLA. In person visits to the home or extracurricular activities, home videos of learning experiences, email and skype sessions are ways in which Sarah is able to really connect with the students. Phone calls, emails and online document sharing allow Sarah to communicate effectively with parents and educational team members weekly.

Emily resides in Langley, B.C. with her husband Adam and her two sons Lucas and Samuel. She joined the TLA team in 2008 and appreciates the flexibility her career offers to raise her boys at home. She enjoys working with DL families, helping to meet the unique needs of each child.

Emily and her husband spent their first year of marriage in Korea, coordinating and instructing English Language training programs for teachers. After returning home, Emily taught Learning Assistance and ESL in elementary and middle schools in the Abbotsford and Langley school districts.

In her spare time she enjoys gardening with her boys, adventuring in the local outdoors with her family, reading a good book, and enjoying a hot coffee with a good friend.

Megan Mackenzie is an actor, director, writer, teacher and all around lover of the arts. She holds her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Creative Writing and Theatre from the University of the Fraser Valley and her Bachelor of Education with a minor in Secondary Teaching from Simon Fraser University.

Megan had the pleasure of teaching within the Abbotsford School District before making the shift to DL Education. Megan worked three years in the Blended Program at TLA teaching Humanities and Drama before taking a leave of absence to work on a passion project: writing her first novel! Now that the novel is almost complete, Megan is thrilled to be back with TLA, this time working within the wonderful LSS Department.

Megan fills her limited spare time reading, writing, creating, travelling, dreaming and baking all kinds of desserts … which she tries not to eat … but always does, anyway.

Fabien was a special education teacher for almost ten years before joining TLA in 2019. He has had experience in both Alberta and British Columbia’s public school system where he taught Kindergarten-Grade 12 classes. He also had his first experience teaching homeschooling in Alberta where he worked with many families developing school plans for their kids.

Fabien is excited to help families with the rewarding work of educating their children in a home setting and is excited to share his learning passion with parents. He is an avid traveler and loves to play and coach basketball. Seeing Christ in Everyone – I enjoy all my students for who they are, as they are made in God’s image.

Gen resides in Surrey, BC with her husband, Joe, and two children, Jacqui (age 3) and Walter (age 1). She joined the TLA team in 2019 and loves the flexibility of DL teaching, allowing for the perfect work—life balance. Gen has taught grades 1-8 and specializes in learning support services. In the past, Gen has worked as a teacher in both the Burnaby School District and in Manitoba, as well as a behaviour interventionist, educational assistant, and personal trainer.

Gen’s philosophy of teaching encompasses the ideas that each student is unique, special, and valuable and believes in assisting families to discover what makes their children special, and thereby empower them with the confidence needed to maximize their potential. Gen loves working together with families to brainstorm new resources that may help a student reach his/her goals and/or work at an accelerated rate to improve on skills which may have been overlooked in the past. Gen’s expertise lies in identifying and making the adaptations needed for each individual to develop a sense of autonomy, belonging, and competency they need in order to access their talents and share them with the world.

Gen loves music in all forms and can play multiple instruments. Exercise and nutrition are a big part of her life, but Gen loves to cook and bake as well (and eat!). During down time, Gen can often be found in the kitchen making a chocolate dessert with her daughter, playing with her kids and dog at the park, at the Library, or on an adventure to the Zoo.

Lauren is new to TLA this year and super excited to be working in the LSS Department. She comes to us from nine years of teaching at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School. She was born and raised in King City, Ontario. She moved to BC when she was in Grade 11, and stayed – no way was she going back to the snow. She loves all things outdoors, except mosquitoes; food, and trying new things.

After graduating high school, she went to the University of Victoria earning a Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of Education degree. After working at Notre Dame for two years, she went to UBC and completed a Master’s in Education with a specific focus in Creativity and Curriculum Design. She has a passion for education and learning. It’s why she’s a teacher.

In her spare time, Lauren loves to travel, read, and ride her motorcycle. In the summer months, she’s into paddleboarding, mountain biking, hiking and camping; and in the winter, she switches to snowboarding, snowshoeing, and watching Netflix. Lauren and her husband Geoff split their time between Rossland and Victoria with their incredibly active Aussie Shepherd, Kali.

Kerri has known from childhood that she wanted to be a teacher. While obtaining a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education, Kerri began teaching children with Special Needs. Kerri has a passion for teaching and strives to find an environment that students feel positive and confident to learn in.

In her spare time Kerri loves to read, crochet and keep active with a variety of outdoor activities.

Deanna came to TLA from the Burnaby School District in 2019. She has been teaching for the past 20 years both in the regular classroom (k-7) and LSS. Deanna has also worked privately as a BI and group program facilitator. She received her Bachelor of Education from SFU and her Diploma of Special Education from UBC.

She lives in Port Coquitlam with her two teenage sons, husband, and little dog, Cali. In her spare time, she is often reading, cooking, or at the dog park.

My passion is to help students with special needs to develop a love of learning and have a positive school experience. Everyone deserves to feel successful and supported!

Jennifer holds a Bachelor degree in Education received from Vancouver Island University in 2012. She relocated to Fort St. John, B.C. with her husband, where she worked as a Kindergarten and K-12 Teacher in the district.

Residing in Nanaimo, B.C., Jennifer enjoys painting, paddle boarding, and camping adventures on Vancouver Island with her husband and three energetic girls. She is excited to begin her journey as a LSS Teacher with TLA, where she can continue to connect with and support students and families in life and learning.

Allison has been working in the field of developmental disabilities for the past 15 years. During this time, Allison has lived in a variety of communities allowing her the opportunity to work with a diverse population.

Allison has studied at SFU and UBC receiving her Certification in Elementary School Teaching and has attended UCLA where she became a Certified PEERS® Consultant under the training of Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson.

Allison’s passion for working with children and youth is shown within her work, training and continued advocacy for inclusion within the education system. When she isn’t working with children and youth, you can find her enjoying time with her children, exploring local beaches and taking in the expansive culture of Nanaimo.