Our Staff
Education: B.A. (English), B. Ed. (Adult Education), Diploma in Adult Education (ESL), M.A. (Comparative Literature)
Ping Ping has been in the ESL field for over 20 years. Ping Ping enjoys the multi-cultural environment of Solomon College. She values the sense of community in the school and the way everyone helps each other achieve their goals.
Education: M.Ed., B.A., PTC, TESOL Certification
Trudy has been in education for her entire career. She is passionate about helping international students and new immigrants reach their language learning goals. She taught in the public school system for many years before becoming certified as an ESL teacher. More recently, she has taken on leadership positions, working as a college principal in Hong Kong, and managing an exchange program at the University of Alberta. Trudy’s specialty is intercultural communication and when she is not working, can be found travelling the world seeking new cultural adventures.
Education: B. Mgt. (Adv. Accounting)
Ben has been working for Solomon College since January 1999. He worked for Statistics Canada and the University of Alberta before he was employed by Solomon College. He likes dealing with numbers and computers.
Education: B.A., TESL Certification
Benjamin is an experienced EAL Instructor, receiving his TESL Canada certification in 2016. He spent 5 years living and working abroad, in both Taiwan and Austria, where he developed his skills working with students of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures. His time abroad also taught him valuable lessons about the difficulties of living and working in an environment isolated from one’s native language. As a result, he carries a strong sense of empathy, and abiding patience for his students. Benjamin highly values a multicultural and inclusive classroom where learning can occur in a safe, respectful environment.
Education: ThB, B.Sc., PPTC Certification
Upon completing his studies at University of Calgary, Merle taught Physical Sciences two years in central Alberta before moving to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) for 3.5 years where he taught O, M and A Level Physics with Chemistry and Chemistry. Returning to Alberta, he began teaching Chemistry, Physics and Math in 1975, retiring from his full time employment in 1999 after 30 years in the classroom. That fall, he began teaching at Solomon College as a permanent part-time Chemistry and Physics high school teacher. Over the past 20 years, Merle has also taught ESL and Hotel Management when needed. Presently, he is the Physics and Math instructor in Solomon’s Aviation Program.
Education: B.S.Ed. English, M.Ed. TESL
Christina is passionate about teaching and has been in the classroom for her whole career, spanning over 35 years. She has taught high school English in Zimbabwe, Scotland, and Australia. She also taught student teachers how to teach English at a teacher training college for a few years before leaving Zimbabwe to teach abroad. Christina arrived in Canada in 2019 and is currently enjoying her new EAL role at Solomon College.
Education: B.B.A., M.A.
Ann earned her Master of Arts (Second Language Acquisition) from Eastern Michigan University, graduating in 2002. Since then she has taught students from grades 7-12 at Chia Yang High School, where she served as an English teacher and Department Head for five years. She moved to Canada in 2007, and has taught or volunteered at ASSIST, NorQuest College, and Solomon College. In her free time, she likes spending time with her family, watching movies (mostly foreign ones) and enjoying the opportunities for exploration and culture that Edmonton has to offer.
Education: B.A., M.A., M.A., TESOL Certification
Mary started her teaching career as a Teaching Assistant to new university students. She helped many students who spoke English as a second language. She completed her teaching practicum at the Toronto Catholic District School Board. For her undergraduate degree, she was an international student for one semester at Philipps University, in Marburg, Germany. The language of instruction for all classes was German.
Her favourite part of her role teaching LINC 4 is to help newcomers achieve their goals for learning English. She’s from Calgary, but loves being back in Edmonton to live closer to family.
Education: B.Ed., TESL Certification
Bill has been working in adult education for over 30 years. He has worked with all levels of English language learning from beginners to foreign-trained professionals. In his career, he has developed several successful programs. One of his most interesting jobs was working as the community adult educator in a remote settlement in the far north (NWT). He finds it most rewarding when students come back and tell him that he has made a difference in their lives. In his free time, Bill spends time with his dog, keeps tropical fish and dabbles in stained glass.
Education & Designation: B. Com, Aviation Dip, ATPL, Class 1 Flight Instructor
Lawrence has been a licensed pilot since 2006 and graduated from the University of Alberta School of Business. Having worked in both Airline and Charter Flight operations and with over 10 years experience as a Flight Instructor, Lawrence is now also the Chief Flight Instructor of Cooking Lake Aviation.
Education: B.Sc., TEFL, TESL Certification Level II
Colette has recently joined Solomon College after teaching English to children in Vietnam for three years. She is happy to be back in Canada, and is enjoying the experience of teaching EAL to adult students. She enjoys the conversations with her students as well as learning many things from them. Colette’s previous careers were in Health Care, and although she misses some aspects of patient care, she finds teaching English to be extremely gratifying, and rewarding.
Education: B.Ed., TESL certification
Paula is a caring and compassionate teacher with proven success in a wide array of educational programs over the last 26 years. She has sixteen years of ESL experience in post-secondary environments including EAP and English. She brings her love for life into the classroom and encourages her students to exceed their expectations.
Education: B.Ed. Spanish and ESL, TESL Certification, Graphic Design Diploma
Mark has taught English to newcomers in the LINC program for a little over two years and has volunteered teaching ESL for a few years. Mark has taught English for one year in Ecuador to a variety of age groups. While at the University of Alberta, he volunteered with SVCC
Education: B.A. Psychology
Karen graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and found herself drawn toward helping people find employment. In 2003, she started work as a Career and Employment Counsellor with at-risk youth. Since then, she has worked with many demographics helping people secure gainful and meaningful employment in Alberta. Karen considers herself a resume expert and is very familiar with how ATS (Applicant Tracking System) works. She believes that everyone deserves a good resume that they can be proud to share with employers.
Education: B.Ed., M.A. , TESL Certification
Prior to joining the staff at Solomon College, Judy spent 14 years in Asia working in international education. She also worked at an international school in Papua New Guinea for five years. Judy loves to learn and teach and she considers it her life-long journey.
Education: M.Ed., B.Ed.,OCT, IPC (Alberta)
Palwasha has been teaching ESL for 11 years in both post-secondary institutions and elementary schools. Her educational background spans the field of Education, Language and Psychology, with teaching certificates in both Alberta and Ontario. She has always loved creating exciting and creative ways to learn, and helping students adjust to their new lives in Canada. When she is not teaching, she enjoys travelling with her family and trying new cuisines.
Education: B.A., M.A., TESOL Certification
Kathy has been teaching ESL and LINC classes in America, China and Canada for more than ten years. She enjoys working in multi-cultural environment with the students, and she is in helping the students integrate into the Canadian Society. She especially enjoys the diverse cultures around the world.