Mr. Brian Burke
Mr. Burke has been teaching for over 25 years including the last five year at Pattison High school. He was born and raised in Toronto but has spent over ten years teaching abroad including South Korea and Japan. For the last 18 years he has been living and working in Vancouver.
His experience includes teacher training as well as IELTS. He is now teaching social studies and economics. He believes that knowledge and an appreciation of the past is helpful to properly understand the present.
In his free time he likes cycling around the parks and trails in the city or reading in the sun on one of the great beaches in Vancouver.
Ms. Erin Pettinger
Ms. Pettinger moved back to Canada and started working at Pattison High School in 2019. She enjoys teaching academic readiness, career education, physical & health education and working with students from around the world.
Ms. Pettinger had lived in Jeju, South Korea for 15 years. She worked for the Public Office of Education teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to middle and high school students as well as teacher training programs. Prior to teaching in Jeju she also taught EFL in Japan.
She completed a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Lethbridge and a Master’s degree specializing in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the University of Southern Queensland.
In her free time she enjoys hiking, biking, snowshoeing, swimming and playing volleyball.
Mr. David Truman
Mr. Truman is originally from Edmonton, but has lived in Vancouver since 2016. He earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English literature and a minor in Mathematics from the University of Alberta. He then spent four years teaching English as a Second Language in the Seoul area of South Korea before returning to Canada to complete his Bachelor of Education at the University of Alberta.
The experiences teaching overseas have taught him many things about teaching, as well as the many of the difficulties those from other cultures face when moving to and living in a different country and environment.
In his spare time, he enjoys travelling, reading, movies, watching sports, and experiencing the Vancouver lifestyle.
Ms. Lydia Austrom
Mr. Christopher Catalano
Mr. Catalano studied at Emily Carr from 1984-88, and at Nimbus School of Recording and Media in 2011. He has a B.F.A. in painting through Emily Carr and Thompson Rivers University and a Diploma in Advanced Music Production from Nimbus. His creative work consists of allegorical/surrealistic painting, drawing, photography/videography, and music creation, production and performance. He has had over 20 solo exhibitions, has his music available for on Apple Music and Spotify. His main instruments are voice, guitar, and bass but he has also been exploring synthesis, sound design, percussion and drums for many years. Mr. Catalano integrates different media into all of his classes, and he encourages his students to find creative outlets that will enhance not only their academic studies but their lives in general. He feels that everyone can benefit from sharing the knowledge they acquire.
When he is not out on his bicycle or exploring the city with a camera, Chris spends much of his time in his project studio recording new songs and soundscapes, painting, and watching movies. In the summertime he loves to swim and in the winter he loves to chill.
Mr. Catalano’s door is almost always open; he has collaborated numerous times with large and small groups of students (and teachers) on school music productions, and he likes to answer questions (even when he has no answers). Please feel free to visit his room anytime.
Mr. Timothy Chan
Mr. Chan earned an Associate Degree in Engineering from PolyU Hong Kong Community College and a Bachelor Degree of Science in Physics from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology back in 2016 and 2020 respectively.
After working in a biochemistry company as a research assistant in the field of genetic sequencing for around one year in Hong Kong, he decided to come to Vancouver in 2021. With another year of experience as an estimator in an engineering company for heating, air conditioning, and ventilating systems, he switched his focus on the academia.
On top of the prior exposures in tutoring high school science and mathematics, and instructing college level astronomy laboratory sessions, he started teaching full time in high school in 2023 and joined Pattison High School in September 2024.
He is interested in mathematical physics, in particular Topology, Differential Geometry, Representation Theory, Operator Theory, and Moduli Space. He would also post some YouTube videos on the channel “Maths Pupil” in his spare time, and occasionally read about theology and philosophy.
Ms. Moira Robinson
Ms. Robinson, originally from San Diego, California, is a dedicated and passionate ELL teacher with over 12 years of diverse international teaching experience. With a strong background in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and a TEFL certification, Ms. Robinson has successfully taught English in various countries, including the United States, China, Iraq, and across East and West Africa. Her teaching approach is student-centered, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment that meets the unique needs of English language learners.
Outside the classroom, Ms. Robinson enjoys painting, playing basketball and volleyball, running track, and writing fiction novels.
MS. Gordana Maestrovic
Gordana is born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She is the holder of three passports—Canadian, French, and Croatian, with her heart and mind belonging to all in different ways.
She is a graduate of UBC, where she double majored in English and Linguistics. As part of her Linguistics studies she completed an ELL teacher training and practicum, with the intention of travelling the world. She did stop working and backpack one turn around the planet for two years having a great adventure.
She has lived and taught in many places, including Vancouver, Tokyo, Hanoi, and Paris. Wherever she is and whatever she is doing, discovery, education and the sharing of our knowledge and cultures is her passion.
In her spare time she enjoys solving problems, true crime, ceramics, writing, and coffee.
Mr. Kyuin Jin
Ms. Carpio Donnalyn
Ms. Carpio was born and raised in the Philippines, but her teaching journey has taken her to diverse corners of the world, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), before finally settling in Vancouver. With 11 years of teaching experience spanning Grades 9-12, she specializes in Biology and Science subjects, following the California Common Core Standards and Advanced Placement (AP) Biology. Ms. Carpio’s pedagogical voyage began in the Philippines, where she dedicated five years to nurturing young minds in her homeland. Seeking continuous growth, she ventured to the UAE, where she honed her teaching skills over another five years in a multicultural setting. This experience has equipped her with the unique ability to connect with students from various backgrounds, creating a globally inclusive classroom environment.
Education-wise, Ms. Carpio graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education, majoring in Biology, and is currently on the path to completing her Master’s of Science in Teaching, with a continued emphasis on Biology.
Beyond the classroom, Ms. Carpio finds joy in creative pursuits like baking, cooking, and handicrafts. She is genuinely thrilled to be a part of this educational community at Pattison High School, eagerly looking forward to guiding and supporting students as they strive to reach their academic aspirations.