Who We Are

Terry Davies

Terry founded the Class Afloat programme in 1984. Terry provides the leadership and direction for the delivery of the school's strategic goals, philosophy and mission. He has worked consistently in the field of education for over four decades in the areas of teaching, educational management, school leadership and development, curriculum development, facility design and related business strategies. Terry has undergraduate and graduate degrees from McGill University, Middlebury College and Université de Paris - Sorbonne.

Originally from Victoria, B.C., Terry now lives with his wife and children in Montreal. Class Afloat is very rewarding for Terry; he loves hearing about the success stories of Class Afloat alumni and enjoys the diversity of his day to day work. 

When Terry isn't dedicating his time to Class Afloat, he enjoys traveling, spending time with his family, flying his own aircraft and - you guessed it - sailing. Golfing, classic sports cars, business, sports, reading and writing are a few of his additional hobbies.

David Jones

Before joining Class Afloat, David Jones served 15 years as Director General of the World Youth, Student & Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation and ISTC, based in Amsterdam.  Representing 550 student and youth travel companies in 120 countries, the global membership provided international experiences to more than 10 million young independent travellers each year: study abroad, backpackers, volunteers, adventure travel, language education, cultural exchange, au pair, work abroad, student flights and the International Student Identity Card (ISIC), as well as hosted WYSTC, an annual conference for up to 1,000 specialist youth travel professionals from around the world.

He started his life-long career in student services when elected President of the student union at the University of Toronto, Canada's largest university.  After graduation and a year spent travelling around the world, he became Executive Director of The Canadian Federation of Student - Services, operating student service programs including: Travel CUTS, a specialist student travel bureau that grew into a $100 million operation with 70 offices serving 500,000 young Canadian travellers each year; Canadian Programming Service - a national speakers bureau; The Student Work Abroad Programme; The National Student Health Plan.

• Vice President, UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Affiliate Members Board of Directors
• Board member, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
• Chairperson, European Travel Action Group (ETAG)
• Member, the UNWTO Committee on Sustainable Development of Tourism

Kate Knight

Kate has been with Class Afloat for 8 years and will be joining our crew again in 2011-2012 as our Head of School and Shipboard Director. Her contributions to Class Afloat are legendary; she has served as a teacher both at sea and on land, she has served as a Shipboard Director, as the Director of Marketing & Recruitment and as Head of School. Prior to joining Class Afloat, Kate worked as a teacher on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic as well as in Colorado, USA. Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trent University, Bachelor of Education degree from Queen's University and a Master of Education (Leadership) from the University of Calgary. Originally from south-central Ontario, Kate now makes her home in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Bruce Middleton

Bruce just wrapped up his third term as Shipboard Director with Class Afloat. He has also held assignments in operations and programme development; he is currently working as the Chief Operating Officer in our Lunenburg office.  Bruce has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Carleton University and a Bachelor's degree in Outdoor Education from Lakehead University. Bruce hails from the South Shore of Nova Scotia.

Stacey Lohnes

Stacey is entering her third year with Class Afloat, in her continued role as Administrative Assistant.

Christine Maloney

Christine, Class Afloat Alum from 05-06, has been assigned the principal role of Field Studies Coordinator for the 2011-2012 academic year. In that capacity, Christine will coordinate field studies with faculty and determine and contract for those port based activities that support academic programme. Aboard the vessel, Christine will serve as the lead manager of field studies and will also manage the student's web with uploads from each port of call. She is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University in New York and holds an honours degree in Anthropology.

Kate Braedley

Kate is our Admissions Officer and hails from Truro, Nova Scotia.  In 2009 she joined the Concordia crew as a Math and Science teacher and taught again on the Sorlandet for the 2010-11 school year.  She holds two degrees: a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Mount Allison University and a Bachelor of Education degree from Acadia University.

Jennifer Williams

Jennifer is on her first assignment with Class Afloat as part of our Social Sciences, Humanities and Biology faculty; Jennifer is scheduled to return for the 2011-2012 academic year. When not on board the Sorlandet, Jennifer makes her home in Toronto, Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours) from Queen's University and a Master of Arts degree in Environmental Education and Communications from Royal Roads University.

Megan MacLeod

We welcome Megan back for her second teaching position with Class Afloat. Megan taught in the first semester of 2010-2011 and will continue for a full year science teaching assignment in 2011-2012. Megan has taught in Nova Scotia, Quebec and aboard the Sorlandet and is an avid traveler and canoe/kayaker.

Stephanie McNaughton

Stephanie will be joining Class Afloat for the first time as an English and social science teacher. She attended Dalhousie University in the Bachelor of Arts programme and Acadia University in the Bachelor of Education programme. Stephanie has taught ESL in Shanghai, China, and, most recently, she has been working in the Canadian North, where she taught English and Social Studies at the high school level as well as being an active coach and swim instructor.

David Collier

Dave, from Sacramento California, is a career teacher who was trained and certified in California. He is a truly adventurous educator who has taken his trade to many corners of the globe. An avid sailor, David comes to Class Afloat from Qatar and looks forward to taking up his assignments in Mathematics, Calculus and Physics. Dave is engaging, enthusiastic and can't wait to use the vessel's rigging and the science of sailing as some of the practical demonstrations of the applications of physics. If only there were one more block... we could cut the work required by 50%...

Mathieu Arsenault

Mathieu joins Class Afloat following eight years of experience in teaching. A resident of Cornwall, Prince Edward Island, Mathieu holds a Master's degree in International Development and undergraduate degrees in the Social Sciences, and Russian. He is also trained and holds certification in Community Development and Cross Cultural Communication. The renaissance person that he is, Mathieu will teach a range of courses including Economics, French, Canadian History and Entrepreneurship. Given the opportunity, you should ask Mathieu about his experiences as an International Liaison Officer in Russia or as an International Development Officer in Tajikistan, or Founder of an International Affairs Radio Show. Whether in politics, in ultimate Frisbee or when sailing, Mathieu is at home with many interests and many people.

Professional Crew

Halvor Hanssen - Master
Gunnar Utgaard - Master
Sune Blinkenberg - Chief Officer
Georgina Micet - First Officer
Tobiaz Forsberg - Chief Engineer
Jake Gottesman - Chief Engineer
Peter Flint - Bosun
Kim Pedersen - Bosun
Paul Bracken - AB
Johannes Brondum - AB
Shawn Anderson - Medical Officer and AB
Carlos Macias - Head Cook
Jill Coleman (Alum) - Cook's Mate