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Meet Our Team
The employees of Oceanside Building Learning Together bring a wealth of experience, education and enthusiasm.
Each staff member feels passionately about literacy and the need to offer accessible programs to those from babies to our respected seniors. Please take a few minutes to find out more about OBLT’s valued employees, their favourite quotes and see what makes them tick!
Hover your mouse over the team pictures to see who we’ve become!
Judi Malcolm
OBLT Manager Daughter, Sister, Momma, Grandma, Wife, Auntie, Friend. Mexican foodie. Mandala artist, writer, emerging water colourist, overall optimist with a side of humour. Passionate about community. engagement and collaboration.
“How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.”
George Elliston
Heather Kinley
Assistant to the Manager Adventurer, Life-long volunteer. Writer. Enthusiast of just about anything. Off the beaten path traveler. Non-profit champion. News junkie. Pragmatic optimist. Wife, Mom, Nana and friend.
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
Maya Angelou
Erin Matheson
“When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.”
-Desiderious Erasmus
Brenna Landry
Administrative Assistant Mom of two girls. Camper. Explorer. Coffee drinker. Bookworm. Optimist. Board game enthusiast. Carb connoisseur. Snuggler. Hogwarts applicant. List maker. Kayaker. Wife, Daughter, Sister, and Friend.
“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”
Angela Schwindt
Bryce Parry
Bookkeeper Father of twins. Island born and raised. VIU ABT Certificate focus on Computers/Accounting. Technology inclined. Likes to be social with friends and family.
“Every morning is a fresh start. Wake up with a thankful heart”
Kristen Butler
Brian Collicott
TLC Coordinator Tolkien lore master, tech nerd, nature walker, armchair historian, cat servant, loves starting home projects, can’t watch scary scenes in movies.
“One of the best things about getting older is constantly discovering that kindness is the most important quality we can cultivate.”
Brian Collicott
Gerry Barnum
Music Program Coordinator Music in motion… Pretty much sums it up for me. On the go, fast or slow…movin’, groovin’ toe tapping, have some fun…To be shared! Feel the beat. Let’s do this thing!!
“Well that’s that for that then.”
Gerry Barnum
Chris Peters
Program Facilitator Play enthusiast. Nature buff. Painter. Dreamer. Hugger. Lender of shoulders and hands. Cool mom. Adoring wife. Loyal friend. Living in gratitude.
Thousands of Reasons
If every morning, you can find a reason to say, “Yes, it’s going to be a beautiful day.”
And every day, you find a reason to say, “Yes, it is a beautiful day.”
And every night, you find a reason to say, “Yes, it was a beautiful day.”
Then one day, you’ll look back and easily say, “Yes…it was a beautiful life.”
By Doe Zantamata
Geraldine Elliott
Program Facilitator/Cultural Liaison Teacher. Student. Mother. Friend. Nature lover. Tree hugger. Plant medicine enthusiast. Creatrix. Moon gazer. Ecstatic dancer. Explorer.
“We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams…”
Arthur O’Shaughnessy
Odette Herr
Program Facilitator Wearer of many different hats. Mother. Wife. Daughter. Sister. Neighbour. Educator. Colleague. Friend. I am always here for you!
Shoot for the moon but even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.
Attributed to Norman Vincent Peale
Melanie Swanson
Saturday Breakfast Club Coordinator Mother of three. Gramma of one. Happy camper. Adventure lover. Lifelong learner. Excited to share my journey with all.
“Whatever comes, let it come. What stays, let it stay. Whatever goes, let go.”
H.W.L. Poonja
Stone Soup Café Coordinator East coast born and bred; West coast adopted. Wife, mother, daughter, sister. Special needs educator. Movement. Music. Laughter. Listener. Chai tea lover. Young at heart.
“As times goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts. And what doesn’t. Doesn’t.
Time solves most things and what time can’t solve; you have to solve yourself.”
Haruki Murakama
Judi Malcolm
OBLT Manager Daughter, Sister, Momma, Grandma, Wife, Auntie, Friend. Mexican foodie. Mandala artist, writer, emerging water colourist, overall optimist with a side of humour. Passionate about community. engagement and collaboration.
“How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.”
George Elliston
Heather Kinley
Assistant to the Manager Adventurer, Life-long volunteer. Writer. Enthusiast of just about anything. Off the beaten path traveler. Non-profit champion. News junkie. Pragmatic optimist. Wife, Mom, Nana and friend.
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
Maya Angelou
Erin Matheson
“When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.”
Desiderious Erasmus
Brenna Landry
Administrative Assistant Mom of two girls. Camper. Explorer. Coffee drinker. Bookworm. Optimist. Board game enthusiast. Carb connoisseur. Snuggler. Hogwarts applicant. List maker. Kayaker. Wife, Daughter, Sister, and Friend.
“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”
Angela Schwindt
Bryce Parry
Bookkeeper Father of twins. Island born and raised. VIU ABT Certificate focus on Computers and Accounting. Technology inclined. Likes to be social with friends and family.
“Every morning is a fresh start. Wake up with a thankful heart”
Kristen Butler
Brian Collicott
TLC Coordinator Tolkien lore master, tech nerd, nature walker, armchair historian, cat servant, loves starting home projects, can’t watch scary scenes in movies.
“One of the best things about getting older is constantly discovering that kindness is the most important quality we can cultivate.”
Brian Collicott
Gerry Barnum
Music Program Coordinator Music in motion… Pretty much sums it up for me. On the go, fast or slow…movin’, groovin’ toe tapping, have some fun…To be shared! Feel the beat. Let’s do this thing!!
“Well that’s that for that then.”
Gerry Barnum
Chris Peters
Program Facilitator Play enthusiast. Nature buff. Painter. Dreamer. Hugger. Lender of shoulders and hands. Cool mom. Adoring wife. Loyal friend. Living in gratitude.
Thousands of Reasons
If every morning, you can find a reason to say, “Yes, it’s going to be a beautiful day.”
And every day, you find a reason to say, “Yes, it is a beautiful day.”
And every night, you find a reason to say, “Yes, it was a beautiful day.”
Then one day, you’ll look back and easily say, “Yes…it was a beautiful life.”
By Doe Zantamata
Geraldine Elliott
Program Facilitator/Cultural Liaison Teacher. Student. Mother. Friend. Nature lover. Tree hugger. Plant medicine enthusiast. Creatrix. Moon gazer. Ecstatic dancer. Explorer.
“We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams…”
Arthur O’Shaughnessy
Odette Herr
Program Facilitator Wearer of many different hats. Mother. Wife. Daughter. Sister. Neighbour. Educator. Colleague. Friend. I am always here for you!
“Shoot for the moon but even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”.
Attributed to Norman Vincent Peale
Karen Dziedzic
Program Facilitator Coffee drinker. Nature seeker. Beach dreamer. Star gazer. Night owl. Mom of girls, wife, sister, daughter, friend. Chatty socializer. Thoughtful listener. Eternal optimist.
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning, but for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”
Fred Rogers
Saturday Breakfast Club Coordinator Mother of three. Gramma of one. Happy camper. Adventure lover. Lifelong learner. Excited to share my journey with all.
“Whatever comes, let it come. What stays, let it stay. Whatever goes, let go”.
H.W.L. Poonja
Stone Soup Café Coordinator East coast born and bred; West coast adopted. Wife, mother, daughter, sister. Special needs educator. Movement. Music. Laughter. Listener. Chai tea lover. Young at heart.
“As times goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts. And what doesn’t. Doesn’t.
Time solves most things and what time can’t solve; you have to solve yourself.”
Haruki Murakama
OBLT has been working to build a strong community by developing programs, combining our efforts with other organizations with a common goal to support learning across generations. Our efforts help to develop and operate programs and services to engage and meet the needs of community members from pre-natal to our honoured elders.
We firmly believe that by paying attention to the learner as a whole and celebrating the strengths each of us bring, we unlock the secrets to building long lasting, meaningful and successful community literacy programs.
Join The Team
We have competitive wages with benefits and most of our positions are part time. We have a very respectful workplace and believe in work-life balance while doing our best to be flexible.
This is what some of our staff say:
“We are part of a multilayered family: our team, our parents and children who come to our programs, their families, the school district family and the community partners family. It is all about being part of a shared vision of discovery.”
Current Opportunities