Saint John Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services

Serving Southwestern New Brunswick

Meet the Staff

 

 

 

Office Staff

Lynn LeBlanc

Executive Director

Lynn started out with the agency in 1993 as the Employment Counselor.  In 1996 she was promoted to the Executive Director’s position.  She grew up in Moncton, New Brunswick and was an active member and volunteer in the deaf community there before moving to Saint John.  Lynn strongly believes in partnering with the communities she works with and is an active member of the deaf community and the interpreting community.  She is fluent in English, ASL and French.

 

RoseMary Blanchard

Administrative Assistant

Rose started out on a short-term placement in September of 2006 and then became a permanent fixture in the office in January 2007.  Rose is a hard of hearing consumer herself, which goes a long way in our assistive, listening device sales portion of the agency.  She is currently enrolled in our ASL classes so that she is able to communicate with the deaf community as well.  Rose was born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick and is a value added member of our team.

 

New Brunswick Visual Language Interpreter Services (NBVLIS) Professional Interpreters

 

Shelley Williams

Shelley is originally from London, Ontario and has been interpreting since 1990.  She moved to the Maritimes in 1993 and then on to Saint John in 1994 on a permanent basis.  Shelley works in the area of community interpreting around the province.  She is a Past President and a founding member of the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of New Brunswick (AVLI-NB) and an active member of the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC).

 

Ginnie Black

Ginnie is originally from Burlington, Ontario and has been interpreting since 1997.  She began her career in the public school system under APSEA and moved  on to post-secondary education in Fredericton, New Brunswick.  She moved to Moncton, New Brunswick in 2005 and now works in the community in Moncton and the surrounding areas.  She is a Past President and current Secretary and found member of AVLI-NB and is an active member of AVLIC.

 

Becky Schirato

Becky is originally from Windsor, Ontario and has been interpreting since 2003.  She moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick after doing her placement in Saint John and started her career in the public school system under APSEA.  She has been working in the post secondary field since 2005 and does community assignments as well as her duties at the University.  Becky is currently the President of AVLI-NB and is an active member of AVLIC.

 

 

Pam Scott

Pam is originally from Liverpool, Nova Scotia and has been interpreting since 2003.  She began her career in the public school system in Springhill, NS Under ASPEA.  She then took a transfer with APSEA to Fredericton, New Brunswick.  She moved to post-secondary interpreting in the fall of 2006 where she does work with the community as well as her duties at the University.  She is a past executive member of AVLI-NB and an active member of AVLIC.

 

Jennifer Hunter

Jennifer is originally from Saint John, NB and has been interpreting since 2003.  She began her career in the post-secondary field in Halifax, Nova Scotia and transferred back to Saint John with APSEA in 2006.  She is now interpreting at the post-secondary level and does some interpreting in the community as well as her duties at the college.  She is currently Vice-President of AVLI-NB and an active member of AVLIC.

 

Katie Damen

Katie is originally from Lucan, Ontario an has been interpreting since 2006 and is one of our new Rookies.  She moved to Saint John, New Brunswick after doing her placement.  She began her career in the post-secondary field and some interpreting in the community under a mentorship as well as her duties at the college.  She is an active member of both the provincial (AVLI-NB) and national (AVLIC) professional associations.

 

 

ASL VISTA Program and Immersion Program

 

 

Gerald Frazee

Gerald is one of our Senior Instructors and has been teaching the ASL VISTA Program since 1997.  He has his ASL Instructor Training Certificate from the Nova Scotia Community College.  Gerald has been one of the ASL Immersion Program instructors since the beginning of 2004.  He received his training from the Winnipeg and Halifax Immersion programs.

 

 

Jennifer Gibson

Jennifer has her ASL Instructor Training certificate from the Nova Scotia Community College and has been teaching at the Immersion Program since 2005.  She also provides language development services with our Early Intervention Program.

 

 

 

Joann Bourque

Joann is a Language Acquisition Support Worker (LASW) as well as being an instructor in our Immersion Program.  She has been with program since its beginning in 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

Paula Jenkins

Paula has been involved as an instructor with the Immersion Program since the beginning in 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

Walter (Wally) Jenkins

Wall is one of our Senior Instructors and has been teaching the ASL VISTA program since 1997.  He has his ASL Instructor Training Certificate from the Nova Scotia Community College.  Wally has been one of the ASL Immersion Program instructors since the beginning in 2004.  He received his training from the Winnipeg and Halifax Immersion Programs.

 

 

Sharon Fitzpatrick

Sharon has her ASL Instructor Training Certificate from the Nova Scotia Community College and has been teaching at the Immersion Program since 2005.  She teaches in our VISTA Sign Language program out of Fredericton and also provides language development services with our Early Intervention Program.

 

 

Chrissy Montgomery

Chrissy is originally form Halifax, Nova Scotia and has graduated from the NSCC AEIP program in 2003 as a Deaf Interpreter.  She primarily works in the public school system under APSEA.  She currently lives in the Fredericton area and works in the community as well as her duties in the public school system.  She is an active member of both the provincial (AVLI-NB) and national (AVLIC) professional associations.  She also teaches in our VISTA Signing Naturally program out of Fredericton, is a teaching member of our ASL Immersion program and provides mentorship and language development in the Fredericton area.

 

Wanda Berrette

Wanda is a graduate of Gallaudet University and trained as a Deaf Interpreter through the Canadian Hearing Society.  Wanda has been working in the field of Deaf Literacy since 1991 in Sudbury Ontario.  She moved to Saint John to continue her career in Deaf Literacy in September of 2005.  Welcome aboard Wanda.