Louise Herle is the new face of the Sunshine Coast Teachers Association (SCTA).
Herle was elected SCTA president earlier this year when outgoing president Jenny Garrels left to pursue a new position with the British Columbia Teachers Federation (BCTF).
Herle brings to the position 20 years of teaching experience, 15 of those years spent in schools on the Sunshine Coast.
"Certainly the hardest part for me was leaving the classroom," Herle said.
"I've taught from kindergarten to Grade 12, so it was really an exciting and, in a way, a full circle year because some of my very first students from Davis Bay Elementary, the kindergartens and Grade 1's that I had as a music teacher, were graduating in Grade 12 [this year]. So it's certainly been an emotional and an exciting decision to run for president of the teachers' association."
Herle has taught music, English as a second language and French as a second language in various schools on the Coast during her years as a teacher.
While Herle found teaching extremely rewarding, she decided to run for the president's position when she heard Garrels was leaving, knowing she could return to teaching at a later date.
"I ran because I really feel ready to run for president. It's a little earlier than I expected, but I've been sitting at the executive table for seven years," she said.
Herle was the teachers' professional development chair for three years, the social justice representative for two years, and has held the position of vice president with the SCTA for the past two years.
In her role as professional development chair, Herle got a taste of working with different teachers across the province and she has had more than a decade of training as a facilitator with the BCTF.
She feels "honoured to serve the hard-working, dedicated teachers" of the Sunshine Coast.
"I think we have an excellent, quality education system here and I look forward to working with teachers as opposed to students and seeing things from the other end of the scope. I feel ready, I feel honoured and I feel really excited about this leadership role with the teachers."
While Herle is excited about her new position, she realizes this will be a tough year for teachers who are bargaining a new contract with the government.
"It's certainly going to be a full year - not a normal first year, with the job action that potentially will be coming up if no significant progress is made at the bargaining table," she said.
"We try to be hopeful, we try to maintain a positive attitude. There have been some very small movements, but overall there are very stalled and slow talks at the provincial table."
While some job action (dubbed phase one) is planned by the teachers when school starts Sept. 6, Herle is hopeful it will not escalate into a full-blown teacher's strike.
"Our teachers hope we do not have to go from phase one. We hope with the lens of support for students and the lens of teacher autonomy and teacher professional development, we hope phase one will be the end and we will come to a fair settlement," she said.
