Meet the new hires at the public school board

You've seen most of their faces around town, but these people all have new, high-profile jobs with the Algoma District School Board.

Bob Cole (second from right) who just about everybody knows as the former principal at Korah Collegiate, is now a superintendent of education.

From left to right, the others are Joe Santa Maria, manager of finance; Teresa Vavala, manager of human resources; and Fran Walsh, communications officer.

The following are the announcements as released last night by the Algoma District School Board:

**************************************************************** Superintendent of Education - Mr. Bob Cole

Mr. Bob Cole has been appointed as Superintendent of Education with the ADSB effective immediately.

Bob brings 34 years of experience in the education field to the position.

He has been a Science Teacher, Science Department Head at Lakeway and Korah, Vice Principal of Lakeway, Bawating, and Korah and, for the past 11 years, has been Principal of Korah Collegiate and Vocational School.

His experience as a leader and principal were particularly highlighted as he initiated and chaired the process to have the renowned International Baccalaureate program approved for Korah.

His continued commitment to students was demonstrated in his introduction of an Independent Study Program for Students at risk at Korah.

He has Chaired numerous Board working committees dealing with issues as diverse as Harassment Policies, Extra-curricular Volunteer Policies and Procedures and Central Area Secondary Staffing.

In his role as Superintendent of Education and in addition to the coordination of program and staff organization for all secondary schools, Bob will be responsible for the supervision of a family of elementary and secondary schools to ensure effective provision of programs and services, staff development and performance management.

Manager of Finance - Mr. Joe Santa Maria

Joe Santa Maria was appointed to the position of Manager of Finance effective January 1, 2003.

Joe is a Certified General Accountant and has been employed in the ADSB's Finance Department since 1996, most recently as Financial Services Supervisor.

He will oversee the Payroll, purchasing, accounts payable, tax department and financial accounting functions within the Finance Department.

Previous to the ADSB, Joe was employed with the Ontario Lottery Corporation in a variety of accounting positions.

In addition, Joe serves on the Board of Directors for the John Howard Society as their Treasurer.

Manager of Human Resources - Mrs. Teresa Vavala

Teresa Vavala was appointed to the position of Manager of Human Resources effective June 23, 2003.

Teresa joined the ADSB board in 1998 from the Algoma Central Railway Inc. (Wisconsin Central) where she was Manager of Human Resources.

Since 1998 Teresa served the Board as a Human Resources Officer.

Teresa has her Designation as a Certified Human Resources Professional, is Chapter President for the Algoma Region HR Profession Association and teaches Human Resources to adult students at Sault College.

Communications Officer - Ms. Fran Walsh

New Communications Officer Fran Walsh joins the board as of August 2003.

Most recently, Fran was the Marketing and Publicity Coordinator for the Vancouver TheatreSports League, an award-winning comedy improv theatre troupe.

In that time, she also acted as Special Events Coordinator for Vancouver's professional live theatre awards, a gala industry event known as the Jessie Awards.

For 10 years, Fran worked in television in Toronto and Vancouver as a producer, researcher and writer with YTV, CBC and CTV.

She is looking forward to bringing her skills as a media relations expert, events planner and communications coordinator to her new position as Communications Officer with the Algoma District School Board.

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