Board Directors
Rob Barr | President
My parents attended School for the Deaf and Blind long before I enrolled in Jericho Hill School in 1959. I am the second generation of my family to attend. I attended 3 different off-campus classes under Jericho Hill School (Trafalgar / Carnarvon Elementary, Cecil Rhodes Elementary, and Kitsilano Secondary). I graduated from Jericho Hill School and Kitsilano Secondary in 1974. This shows that many things change throughout our school history and all with interesting stories.
I am also a second-generation Deaf family member to serve on the board of the alumni along with my father, Bob Barr. I have been on the alumni since 1982 as a volunteer and then fully served the alumni board since 1986 with different positions. During those 35 years, I have seen many board members come and go and see the many changes to the school, the location, and the logos. As we travel the path to a new era in the years to come, we can be nostalgic about our shared past. You can see all the history in our new BC History Book and our archives / resource room at BCSD. Not only this, but our next Alumni Reunion will be hopefully in late June 2025.
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers, young and older who have worked tirelessly throughout the many years, and who have given their time and effort to keep our alumni alive. Thus, together we commit to supporting the Alumni Association for our past, present and future students, the school staff, the dorm staff, and our volunteers for many more years to come.
Jeanne Durnion (Chepela) | Vice President / Reunion Coordinator
I have been on the BCSDAA board for almost 25 years; first from 1990 to 2005, and then I returned in 2010. In 1966 I came to Jericho Hill School from Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf in Milton at the age of 8. After 8 years at Jericho Hill School, I went back to Milton, Ontario for one year before returning to Jericho Hill School for my last year and graduated in 1976.
I consider myself a humble, respectable, thoughtful, and family-oriented individual, who is an animal lover. My passion is to travel, teach ASL, and volunteer in Deaf communities. I particularly enjoy working with our Deaf Seniors. I strongly believe in advocating for our human rights and my favorite things to do are hiking, camping, and taking road trips.
My values are to see Jericho Hill School history preserved for future generations. Before 2015 the reunions focussed only on Jericho Hill School alumni; however, we were able to expand the alumnus to include people from all over BC. My dad and aunt attended the Saskatchewan School for the Deaf and sadly it was shut down. I do not want that for our school here in BC. My goal is to help with building BCSDAA’s strengths to keep the community connected and our Deaf schools strong in BC. My greatest fear is that in the future our Deaf school and its history will fade away, so therefore, we are working hard to keep it alive and well.
Vacant | Secretary
The position is vacant any interested, contact president@bcsdaa.ca
Lois Wood | Treasurer
I graduated from Jericho Hill School in 1975. I joined the BCSDAA board in November 2019. I have always enjoyed being a treasurer on various Deaf organizations and helping with events and board duties. I grew up living close to Jericho Hill School on West 8th, across from Jericho Hill School for 15 years. I have served meals for 50-100 members at World Deaf Timberfest in Oregon for over 25 years. In 2021, that will be my last year as a volunteer there.
My passion is to travel the world with various Deaf travel agencies, they are very fun and rewarding! I have developed a Green Thumb growing up and learning from my mother who had over 350 roses. I became the community’s rose consultant. I continue to raise 55 rose bushes, colorful flower plants, and various shrub plants in my yard. I am very excited to be part of the BCSDAA board.
Ian Macalister | Director at Large for North BC
I graduated from Jericho Hill School in 1969. I have been on the BCSDAA board for almost 4 years. It has been a pleasure representing members from North BC. My hobbies are scuba diving, fishing, camping, hunting, old car collection, and many other outdoor activities. My goal is to keep the Deaf Community from North informed and represented through BCSDAA and celebrate old times together.
Doug Lambert | Archive Director
I graduated from Jericho Hill School in 1965. I have been on the board, on and off, since 1967. I was inspired by the older generation and as Mabel Blake always said; “Get Together like a Family.” It was the only time we were all got together at once. My contribution to the BCSDAA is to preserve BCSD/Jericho Hill School history for future generations. I am working with an amazing team, especially Joanne Robinson on BCSD’s history book, which will be sold in mid-2020. I grew up playing many sports including basketball, volleyball, softball, swimming. Right now, I am enjoying fishing, pickleball, hiking, darts, bowling, and many other outdoor activities.
Roxy Mayall | Director at Large
I attended Jericho Hill School from 1964 until I graduated in 1976. I have been involved with BCSDAA for over 10 years and want to assure that the BCSDAA continues to support Deaf Schools to remain strong.
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Jerome Yager | Director at Large
Coming Soon.
Carla Yager | Director at Large
Coming Soon.