Alumni

Christopher Dedeyan, Chair

Christopher graduated from Vanguard School in 2008. Diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of eight, his parents found Vanguard School and quickly realized that it would be the best environment to help Christopher thrive in the current educational system. Christopher attributes much of his success as an entrepreneur to his lessons learned while growing up in the school system as a dyslexic. One of Christopher’s life missions is to debunk the myth of learning disabilities while teaching others how to overcome difficulties by becoming the best versions of themselves.

Bruno St-Jean Desjardins, Vice-Chair

Bruno graduated from Vanguard Intercultural Westmount class of 2008 with an award for citizenship, Since 2009, I have been an entrepreneur in the real estate industry of Montreal. During my time at Vanguard, I was school council president two years in a row, 2007 and 2008. I always felt a sense of belonging and involvement for what Vanguard school represented. Recognized by my fellow classmates and members of the Vanguard community, 10 years later, today , I sit as treasurer (Vice Chair) on Vanguard Alumni’s Board of Directors. I wish to make a difference by supporting the activities to promote Vanguard’s cause as well as the desire of the Alumni Association to increase the strength of the student network by bringing together former, present and future members of the Vanguard School.

Sarah-Gabrielle, Administrator

Sarah is a Vanguard Alumni, class of 2009 from the French sector. I arrived at Vanguard School at the age of 7, after being diagnosed with dyslexia, dysorthography and mild attention deficit disorder. Following my education at Vanguard School, I was able to pursue my studies at Dawson College where I graduated with honors from the General Social Science Program. I continued at the University of McGill in Anthropology. After a year, I decided to change paths and transferred to a Cégep in a technical program, biomedical analysis. After a couple of years working full time I wanted to change career paths so I completed a DEP in Aesthetic and permanent hair removal. I am now a certified electrolisyst by profession while I pursue my mission to educate people on the reality of living with a learning disability.

David Lebrun, Treasurer

David is a former Vanguard student – French sector who graduated in 2009. Since that time, he persevered to obtain his software engineering degree in 2017. He faced some difficulties at school due to his attention deficit disorder. He is very grateful for all the help he received during his school career.

Georgia Kiriakos, Administrator

My name is Georgia Kiriakos and I have a learning disability. As most people will say, school was extremely hard. By the time I got to Grade 6, we found out that I had a learning disability. For high school, I came to Vanguard knowing this school was going to help me. Of course, school was still hard, but I was determined to succeed, and I was happy to be learning. Well, I did succeed by graduating from Vanguard and following my dreams to becoming a teacher. I wanted to give back to the community that helped me to push myself further. Now I am a teacher at Vanguard School helping students understand that a life with a learning disability just means taking the longer, scenic route to our destination!

Philippe Ujvari, Administrator

I graduated from Vanguard in 2008. I have a DEP diploma in Computer Support. I have worked as an operator and a computer technician. Also, I have worked as a telecom technician. I am currently working for La Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs as a network operator.

Kevin Li, Administrator

I am a graduate – class of 2008. After school, I did a DEP in Electricity; after that, I did a DEP in industrial Mechanics and to complete my CEGEP studies, I completed a program in Industrial Electronics. I worked as an electrician apprentice for four years and after that I worked as an instrumentation technician. Today, I work as a specialist in business development for a company that specializes in storage systems.

Antoine Cantin-Cormier, Administrator

Initially enrolled at Vanguard Laval School, Antoine was part of the first cohort of francophone graduates at the new building in 2014. Wishing to follow in his father’s footsteps, Antoine enrolled in the DEC in Business Management at Collège Montmorency in Laval. Recipient of the perseverance bursary and the merit and departmental excellence bursary, Antoine continued his studies at ESG-UQÀM in the Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing. A proud university graduate, Antoine will participate in Alumni Vanguard’s efforts to give back to the next generation. His main objective is to offer Vanguardians the expertise of alumni to guide them in their career choices. A manager at a well-known retailer, Antoine is enthusiastic about the success of the Alumni mission and the founding of the Vanguard School.

Nancy Kounadis, Secretary

My name is Nancy, and I graduated from Vanguard School in 2003. My teachers made the learning experience valuable and gave me the support I needed to help me learn. Moreover, the teachers and administrators never gave up on me and they were always rooting for my success. I was involved in student life throughout my academic journey at Vanguard, and I was the head of the leadership program during my senior year. This was such a rewarding and fulfilling experience that undoubtedly impacted my success at Vanguard. I graduated with the Ambassador Award,  and I was valedictorian. 

I continued my post-secondary studies and completed a child study program. I have been a pre-kindergarten teacher for over 15 years, and I teach English as a second language to kindergarten students. Vanguard gave me the confidence and skills to face my most complex challenges. The Vanguard leadership program has been enriching and has truly shaped the way I lead my classroom today. 

I am very grateful for my journey at Vanguard. But  I am most thankful for how Vanguard is helping my son. My son has completed his elementary at Vanguard School and is enjoying his first year of High School. Thanks to Vanguard he has found the confidence and developed the skills to achieve academic success. Thank you Vanguard!