ASCA Board of Directors 2024 - 2025
Left to right (front row) Meagan Parisian, Brandi Rai, Greta Gerstner, Ed Tse. (back row) Rich Haggarty, Ken Glazebrook, Kerry Bodell, Stephanie Bugbee (note - Ismeria Bruce missing)
Board of Directors
For information about current volunteer opportunities with the ASCA Board of Directors, please contact the Nominations Committee Chair at parents@albertaschoolcouncils.ca
Election of the Board of Directors takes place at the Annual General Meeting each April.
ASCA Board Vision Path 2024-2027
President Kerry Bodell, St. Albert
“Engaging parents in education is important to student success. Being a part of the ASCA Board allows me the opportunity to contribute to the continued success of the collective parent voice being heard in education.”
Kerry lives in St. Albert with her husband, two children aged 13 and 15, a dog and a cat. Kerry has spent many hours over the years volunteering in classrooms, libraries, organizing events, hot lunches, and lunch supervision. She has been in various roles on School Council and Fundraising Associations since 2015; 6 of those years in the Chair position. She also volunteered on her school district education foundation (GSCSD Education Foundation) as Vice Chair.
Kerry previously worked as a substitute EA. Her wish is for student success through access to quality public education with a consistent parent voice that meets the diverse needs of all children.
Introduced to ASCA when she was Chair of her school council, Kerry attended her first AGM in 2019. After learning more about School Councils and their role in education she became interested in how to do more for parents and school councils to support student learning and success, and joined the ASCA Board in 2021.
Vice President Ken Glazebrook, Edmonton
Advocating on issues that are important to parents and school councils, can determine outcomes that best support the students of today and into the future.
Ken is a single father, with a daughter in a “Connections” class, and understands the dynamics of blended families and the challenges facing students with two homes. A big supporter of the “Pay it Forward” and “Random Acts of Kindness” movements, Ken believes there is a special magic in children, and when given the right environment, support, and chance to be heard, they can accomplish so much.
Ken feels that each student has their own unique requirements, strengths and ways of learning, and need the educational tools and resources to be successful as they grow and their needs change.
Volunteering in schools since 2005, Ken has been involved with school councils in various positions since 2015. He has seen firsthand how students flourish by volunteering in the classroom, as well as helping with special projects and field trips.
A firm believer if you want to make change, you need to be involved, Ken first observed ASCA in 2017 championing issues on behalf of parents to work towards outcomes that best support students, and joined the ASCA Board of Directors in 2023.
Director Greta Gerstner, Edmonton
“Parents truly are the experts on their children and represent such a diverse learning experience that it enhances the education system for all children.”
Married for 18 years, Greta has two children aged 14 and 17, both who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities in reading, writing and math. She was a member of CASA’s Family Advisory Council and participated in a photovoice research project which told the parent’s story of parenting a child with mental health challenges.
Greta’s passion for education stems from her own children not having access to the resources they needed to learn to read and write. It is her dream that every child has what they need to reach their full potential in the public education system without having to pay privately for it - as that creates a two-tiered education system, when education is supposed to be the true equalizer.
Involved on school council for 12 years in various positions, Greta attended her first ASCA AGM eight years ago, and enjoys engaging with all ASCA members to ensure the parent voice is heard within the education system and considered as partners in our child’s educational journey.
Director Richard Haggarty, Spruce Grove
“I realized that issues that are important to me are also issues for others. The shared voice that is ASCA is much louder than one person.”
Richard lives in Spruce Grove, with his wife and two children. Involved with school councils for nine years, he volunteers his time to grow and develop the benefits of parent engagement.
Rich’s passion to be involved in education started with his wife – who is a teacher. They share the idea that education should, and will be, a place of inclusion and acceptance.
A part of ASCA for five years now, Rich remembers his first conference he attended and felt the shared passion for educating students. He knew then, it was where he needed to be, to make a difference.
Director Edward Tse, Calgary
I became a director to offer a diverse perspective to the decisions of ASCA in an Educational landscape of rapid change.
Proud to be the product of quality publicly funded education in Alberta, Dr. Tse grew up in Calgary Board of Education schools and went to the University of Calgary for his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. Dr. Tse describes himself as having been "just a geek kid" who became a parent voice absolutist through the pain of losing parent voices in education. He transformed a feeling of being silenced into an opportunity to be a voice for the voiceless through advocacy with technology.
Dr. Tse's grassroots activism includes founding two School Councils, including Alberta's largest online K-9 school, the St. Isidore Online School with 5600 students. His passion for inclusive education led him to the Alberta School Councils' Association (ASCA), whose Member School Councils represent over 1 in 4 eligible Albertan voters. He hopes to leverage his expertise in Artificial intelligence (Ai) and User Experience (UX) to harness GPT technology to transform ASCA Advocacy Policies, creating new advocacy methods.
Working in Education and Technology for over 15 years, Dr. Tse is also focused on helping children, parents, and school districts through Ai Parenting, a hybrid learning company that that bridges robotics, Ai, mental health, and social studies.
Director Chelsea Ezeagwuna, Calgary
My children inspired my desire to become a Director, which was born out of the passion to make a difference in the education system.
Chelsea is passionate about parents using their voices to advocate for children and the public school system. She lives in Calgary with her husband and three children. She loves Sushi and spicy food. In her free time, she enjoys writing both fiction and non-fiction books that stimulate healthy engagement and meditation for children and adults.
She is the Chair of Varsity Acres School Council (VASC) where she leads and manages the school council leadership team and supports the staff and sub-committees with decisions that enable the delivery of the best educational system within the Varsity Acres School and Calgary Board of Education, while also helping to build a strong community of parents on school council.
Chelsea has been involved in school councils for five years serving in various positions. She is very excited to leverage her managerial skills to collaborate and strategically support the ASCA President, Board of Directors, and additional stakeholders involved with various ASCA initiatives.
Director Stephanie Bugbee, Sylvan Lake
I became a Director to collaborate on solutions with key stakeholders in Alberta Education and ensure that the voices of our communities small, large, or marginalized, are heard with an equal voice at the table.
Happy to represent rural Alberta, Stephanie lives on the North side of Sylvan Lake, is married and has three elementary aged children. With a background in Human Resources and Management and Labor Relations, Stephanie spent many years working in private industry, post-secondary education and consulting. She now finds herself volunteering at the school and in the community, running her family’s corporation, and loves to raise, show and race, Irish Wolfhound dogs.
Stephanie is the current Chair of the Ecole Our Lady of the Rosary School Council, and is deeply passionate about children’s access to a public education system that values equity, inclusion, safety, and academic excellence. She would love to see all Albertan children have access to the same resources and opportunities as others in the province, as well as every available resource to ensure their success in a public system.
I believe in and appreciate ASCA’s role in elevating parent voices to create and collaborate on beneficial change in education. A collective voice and collaboration with all the key stakeholders in our children's future is key and I am honored to participate in the process.
Director Ismeria Bruce, Lethbridge
In terms of decision-making, we all have a responsibility as the primary educators and advocators for our children to ensure that our public school systems’ resources are allocated appropriately and maintained in a manner that speaks to the betterment of our kids’ education.
Born in Toronto, Ismeria spent most of her childhood in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ghana during her formative years. After marriage, her family moved to the Southern Albertan city of Lethbridge, where not only her daughter’s academic journey began but where her involvement in the Alberta school system commenced, as well.
The position of Executive Secretary opened up on the Lethbridge Montessori Society Board (LMSociety Board), which she gladly took on for six months before moving on to Vice Chair and then Chair at St. Teresa of Calcutta School after her daughter completed Montessori. It was after her first year as Chair that Ismeria yearned to do more and be more in the public school sphere. The turning point for Ismeria happened while attending ASCA’s AGM last year for the first time. What led her to run as a candidate was a desire to be part of the change she knows needs to happen within the system.
As an ASCA Director, Ismeria cannot wait to meet families at their point of need by prioritizing the learning and well-being of every student, where each school-going child feels academically sound in terms of their acceptance, support, safety and security —— it is only then that we can respect and celebrate the success stories that come out of that.
Director Meagan Parisian, Red Deer
“If at first you don't succeed, find out why. Take chances. Make mistakes. Get messy!” - Ms. Frizzle, The Magic School Bus
Meagan Parisian (she/her) is a dedicated community builder with a passion for youth, mentorship, and encouraging our children's potential to become the leaders of tomorrow. A product of Red Deer Public Schools, where her own children now attend, she has dedicated time volunteering with school councils since her eldest human joined the school community in 2017. Meagan has also held the Vice Chair position of RDPSD’s City-Wide School Council since 2023, and has been an active member of the district’s SOGIE Committee since its inception in 2022. Spawned in part by her experience as a woman with a late ADHD diagnosis, as well as the neurodivergence of her children, she strongly believes we must recognize our classrooms are more diverse and complex than ever before and advocate for the supports our students need to thrive.
In her first term as an ASCA director, she is excited to work with her provincial colleagues to represent and advocate for the ever changing landscape that is education in Alberta from the parent perspective. Outside of her volunteer portfolio and spending time with her three kids, two dogs, and husband (always with a large cup of coffee or Dr Pepper close by), Meagan is working on completing her MA in Communication & Leadership while enjoying her work as a freelance marketing consultant and as Club Director for Red Deer Minor Basketball.