B.Sc., B.Ed. from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Stephen taught in a small fishing village in Newfoundland for 13 years and then moved to Ontario teaching in several high schools in Ontario and assuming the role of Science Department Headship as well as Team Leader in Mathematics, Science and Computer Studies. "There is no better occupation in the world than teaching a class of students. The energy in that class, if harnessed, can move mountains! I consider myself honoured to have had the opportunity for almost 3 decades to tap into that energy flow and influence the lives of highschool students."

Deb Homuth, Principal of Program and Staff Development at the Virtual School, thrives on challenge and change. After 26 years in public education as a teacher, learning co-ordinator, vice-principal and principal, she is delighted to find herself helping to lead a school where excellence and innovation are not the exception but the rule. Her perspective on education has been developed while working at 10 schools and in 4 different school boards and by traveling throughout the province as a curriculum and staff development leader.

After a decade in Toronto, Nicole Dixon moved to a lobster-fishing village on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. She has taught every grade from kindergarten to post-secondary and a variety of subjects, from music, art, film, multimedia, French, and Canadian literature, to name just a few. Before teaching English with VHS she also taught courses with an online high school in Nova Scotia. As well, she is a published writer.

Dr. Alfred Hecht is a founding Director and now the Associate Director of the Viessmann Research Centre on Modern Europe at Laurier. He has published more then 80 articles and books in various national and international journals. His graduate degrees are from Clark University (PhD) and the University of Manitoba (MA) while his honorary degree is from the Free University of Berlin.

Felicia has her B.Sc. (Physics) and B.Ed from the University of Babes-Bolyai of Cluj in Romania. She has taught high school Physics for 16 years and has been a science, physics and mathematics curriculum writer and teacher with VHS for a number of years. "I was fascinated by the idea of writing courses for e-learning environment because it was a unique opportunity to present Physics in a new and more attractive way. Diagrams, animations and video clips inserted in lessons take students closer to the essence of the physical phenomena."

Claire has been with VHS since 2004, teaching a number of courses and developing an English course. She also works as a learning specialist at a private school in British Columbia. She has a B.Ed. from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Carleton University. The most enjoyable part of working at VHS is interacting with so many students from diverse backgrounds who are highly independent and motivated learners.

Anca has a B.Sc. in Physics and a B.Ed. from the University of Babes Bolyai Cluj in Romania. In addition, she has her Honours Specialist in Physics from the University of Western Ontario. She currently teaches Physics, Science and Mathematics in Ontario while co-writing the SPH4U course for VHS. Anca believes in the importance of establishing effective academic communication with her students and to do so effectively, she must maintain a friendly and open-minded line of communication with the online student.

BSc (Major in Mathematics) 2001 University of Victoria, Ontario Interim Certificate of Qualification 2003 (Secondary Mathematics); Alberta Interim Certification 2003 (Secondary Mathematics); BC Professional Teaching certification 2002 (Secondary Mathematics). Uma also works at TVOntario (Ask a Teacher) where she has been a content writer/online tutor (From 2003). At the Equilibrium International School, she was a Secondary Teacher for two years teaching Math 10, 20, & 30, grade 12 calculus.

Ken has been with VHS for several years, writing 4 of our math courses and assuming the duties of the math department head. He has an honours BSc in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics from the University of Toronto and a BEd from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. Over the past year, he has been actively editing our mathematics courses in grades 9 and 10 to align them with the new curriculum and is currently looking at the changes that will be needed in our senior courses in mathematics.

It has been my point of view that when you create learning experiences for young people, your goals are to inspire students to love learning and to challenge them to go beyond what they consider to be their limitations. Students taking my courses online will quickly realize that I care about what I do and that my standard for excellence is demanding.

You may have noticed that Mr. Smallwood is the only one among the esteemed faculty members to have all of the appendages we associate with most human beings. While the other instructors have large brains and wisdom beyond their years, John Smallwood has sacrificed these assets for a working torso and limbs that allow him to hike, run, kayak, run, bike, run and run.

Sarah Hemingway began her academic career at home, like many of the online students at Virtual High School. Being home-schooled through elementary school planted the seeds of independence and determination, and now she helps her independent and determined online students succeed in their Grade 9 Science and Biology courses. Sarah was educated at the University of Waterloo and Redeemer University College. She taught high school Science, Biology, Physics and Math in a 'brick and mortar school' until her maternity leave, and now enjoys teaching online from the comforts of her home office.

My work in the field of online learning spans seven years and includes course development, online tutoring, online seminar presentations as well as teaching a variety of Ontario secondary school Mathematics courses.

My two undergraduate degrees are in the areas of mathematics/ psychology (B.A.) and education (B.Ed.). During my Master's degree I focussed on counselling psychology (M.Sc.).

Terry Hsia graduated from UC Berkeley with both her BA in psychology and her MA in education. Mrs. Hsia has been teaching science for the past 8 years at local public high schools in California. She is currently teaching online science courses for a charter school in California. She truly believes traditional brick and mortar schools do not meet the needs of all students.

Officially I hung up my chalk in 2001. But I did so in part to try my hand at online as opposed to classroom teaching. So far I have not regretted that decision as I have found creative outlets as a writer and instructor in four quite different online educational ventures - the latest and greatest, of course - becoming a teacher and course developer for the Virtual High School.

Dawn Ruddick has eight years experience and a Masters Degree in Education. Her most meaningful time was two years teaching and training teachers through a voluntary organisation in Northern Namibia. Now with two young sons, if it weren't for Virtual High School, her only contact with education would be trying to teach her children to pick their toys off the floor.

Independent, self-motivated, technology savvy, and disciplined are some words to describe students within our Virtual High School community. I've been teaching the Grade 9 Academic English course for 2 years, and in that time period I have had the privilege to work with a variety of multicultural, determined, talented and energetic group of students. I earned my B.A. of Social Science and B. Ed at the University of Ottawa.

Mike Clare, who has a Masters in Education, has taught with the York Region District School Board for over thirty years. Mike has currently just finished co-authoring a teacher's guide to accompany a new history text book (Canada: Our Century, Our Story) and a data test bank for a new Civics textbook. Beyond teaching and working on teachers' guides, Mike has written articles for The Canadian Social Studies Journal and OHASSTA's Rapport magazine.

Murray has been involved in education for the last 31 years as a teacher of Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science; as an administrator and as a volunteer math tutor at an adult aboriginal school. He attended the University of Waterloo where he earned his Honours BSc, MSc and PhD in Physical Chemistry. His BEd came from UWO. He helped create the Computers in the Classroom Specialist program for teacher additional qualification. Murray feels that online courses challenge both students and teachers.

I have been working for VHS since January 2007 writing and teaching science curriculum. I completed a Mathematics degree at Brock University and have been teaching math and Science at a private school. Being involved in the guidance program at a brick and mortar school has allowed me to work one on one with students and encourage them to use their abilities to their greatest potential.

Since retiring after 31 years of teaching (physical/health education and co-operative/guidance education) in a brick and mortar school system, I have come to realize that I can't quite give up my previous role an an educator. Thank goodness for technology! People assume that particular courses such as physical and health education courses can't be taught using e-learning. Not willing to give up the flexibility to pursue personal interests that retirement allows, I was very excited to have found a tool to teach the "Health for Life" course from the comforts of my home.

I have been teaching for 9 years, and it has been the most rewarding and fulfilling career choice. I am a very active teacher in the classroom, as I enjoy discussion, and interaction with students. I coach numerous sports including football and wrestling. I also love the online learning environment in the flexibility it allows students to achieve their learning goals. Currently, I am teaching history course at VHS and have had the pleasure of interacting with so many fantastic students from various places and backgrounds.

Denise Tremblay a native French-Canadian from Baie-Comeau, Québec, has enjoyed teaching French at many levels and in a variety of settings, from French Immersion, Francophone schools and to middle school Core French. She has been privileged to lead workshops in Reading and Technology for classroom teachers.

Erin has been teaching math for the past eight years in both the public and independent school systems. She is currently teaching mathematics and physics at an independent school in Ontario, has finished developing the VHS Grade 10 TIK 2O course and is very excited to add to her experience by continuing to teach VHS math courses. Erin has an Honours B.Math from the University of Waterloo (teaching option), a B.Ed from Queen's University and her Honours Specialist in Mathematics from Queen's University.

Stephen comes to VHS with a B.A., a B.Ed, 5 years of teaching experience, and a great deal of excitement to be involved with this online educational institution. In his physical classroom, he has endeavoured to create an online experience by providing his students and parents with an interactive communication, homework, and resource blog. Currently, he is teaching three Introduction to Business courses, and is enjoying the opportunity they are providing him to see how students from such diverse background approach subjects they find interesting.

Dan has taught and trained teachers from the wild coasts of Northeast England to the arid deserts of Namibia, and from the cosmopolitan European cities of Brighton and Madrid, to a remote village in Zambia, where he had to travel 8 hours on mud roads on the back of a truck just to pick up his salary.

He now lives in Wortley Village in London, Ontario with his wife and two young sons, and feels privileged to be working with Virtual High School, where students are put in total control of their learning, without losing any of the personal touch and interaction vital to education.

Sharlene McHolm comes to VHS bringing a wide variety of educational experiences both as a teacher and a learner. Her teaching experiences in Mexico, in prison schools and in traditional high schools, has effectively taught her to help students meet their individual potential. As a learner, Sharlene believes in continuously challenging oneself. She has three university degrees and a college diploma and has been “in school” continuously since kindergarten (and let me tell you that is a long time!).

I am excited to be teaching History and English courses at VHS. I currently teach sections of ENG3U, CHI4U, CHW3M, and CHC2 Academic and Applied streams. After graduating from the Queen's University Concurrent Education program in 2001, I taught for one year in England before returning to do a MA in History at University of Toronto. I then spent four wonderful years teaching History to grades 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 at the National Ballet School in Toronto, during which time I completed an Honours Specialist AQ in History.

Diana Muir is the Founder of the Hawking Institute, Inc., a non-profit educational entity whose mission is to provide free, K-16 education to 3rd world countries via the Internet in a handicapped accessible format, with state of the art technology.

Ms. Muir currently serves as the Chief Education Officer for the Hawking Institute and works as the Owner/Operator of the Personal Learning Center which is developing an International Middle School and High School Diploma program. for deployment in January of 2009.

I have been teaching business and computer studies in Ontario for a number of years. A have a bachelor of Commerce degree from Ryerson University and a bachelor of Education degree from the University of Toronto. I hold Business Honour Specialist qualifications and love getting students excited about the world of business. For the past 7 years I have been heavily involved in teaching and writing e-learning courses.

Mark is a graduate of the University of Windsor who has concurrently attained a B.Ed and B.Sc. He is currently working toward a M.Sc in Educational Administration. Mark has been teaching for the last several years at the high school level, his specialities include biology and chemistry. Mark is excited to be a member of VHS as he actively engages student knowledge by applying an inquiry based teaching method within an independent online student centered learning environment. It is his philosophy that by teaching respect, discipline and critical thinking, he can educate the whole person, intellectually, morally and ethically.

Denis joined the Canadian Forces in June 1980 to pursue his collegiate and university studies at the Canadian Military Colleges. He graduated in May 1985 from the Royal Military College of Canada with a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering; Denis has served in Quebec, Ontario and Chilliwack and held various leadership and technical positions from Troop Commander, Test Engineer, Engineering Instructor to Operation Officer, Training Development Officer and Information Systems Officer. His experience was reflected in many successes: first, as a test-engineer during the Gulf War of 1991 where he led a team of post-production technicians to prepare the first portable reverse osmosis water treatment units for deployment.