We Are LCC

Mark Salkeld, Head of School: Leading LCC - A Year One Retrospective

In this episode, we sit down with Mark Salkeld to reflect on his inaugural year as Head of School at Lower Canada College. Drawing on 30 years of experience as an educator in both the United Kingdom and Canada, Mark shares how his transition from Director to Head of School in June 2025 shifted his perspective on the LCC community. He discusses the "lessons learned" during his first year, the specific student interactions that remind him why he chose a career in education, and the delicate art of balancing the needs of our youngest Kindergarteners with Seniors preparing for life beyond the campus. The conversation also dives into the mechanics of school leadership, exploring the vital partnership between the Head of School and the Board Chair in maintaining the school's strategic momentum. As LCC looks toward the future, Mark outlines his vision for upcoming shifts in curriculum and school culture, the "big audacious goals" for the next academic year, and the essential skills today’s students will need to thrive over the next decade. We wrap up the episode with 'The Rapid-Fire 7,' where Mark weighs in on the ultimate Montreal bagel debate and reveals his hidden talents and favorite pop culture picks. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

The LCC Athletic Edge: Building Leaders Beyond the Classroom

In this episode, we dive into the LCC student-athlete advantage. At LCC, participation in athletics is more than just a game—it is a powerful, real-world extension of the classroom. Through sports, our students learn invaluable lessons about resilience, teamwork, and leadership that shape them into well-rounded individuals ready for success in all aspects of life. To explore what gives our student-athletes this unique edge, we are thrilled to be joined by LCC’s Director of Athletics, Christian Viau, along with two incredible alumni who have lived the LCC athletic experience firsthand and taken those lessons into their college and professional careers. Christian Viau, BEd | Director of Athletics, LCC Chris has been a cornerstone of LCC Athletics since joining the school in 1999 as a math and physical education teacher. A lifelong sports enthusiast, he has coached everything from soccer and hockey to basketball, tennis, and baseball. Before taking the reins as Director of Athletics in 2011, Chris served as the Junior School athletics coordinator and ran LCC's hockey camp for over a decade. He also co-founded the Ligue de Hockey Interscolaire du Québec, which has since merged with the RSEQ provincial league. Isaiah Fox | LCC Class of 2017 Isaiah’s hockey journey is a testament to perseverance. After graduating from LCC in 2017, he spent two years at the Holderness School (NH) before taking a two-year gap year to play Junior hockey for the Maine Nordiques (NAHL). His hard work earned him a Division 1 scholarship to Long Island University, where he played four years and graduated with a degree in Business Management in 2025. Isaiah then signed a professional contract in the ECHL with the Adirondack Thunder (NJ Devils affiliate) and later played in Iowa before concluding his pro hockey career. He is currently an Account Manager for Margo Sales. Angelina Chevrier | LCC Class of 2023 Angelina exemplifies the ultimate student-athlete balance. Currently studying Health Sciences at Vanier College, she serves as the 2025 Women’s Soccer Team Captain and recently earned the impressive title of RSEQ Academic All-Star. Beyond her rigorous studies and athletic commitments, Angelina is a community leader and entrepreneur, serving as the co-owner of She Kicks, an all-girls soccer camp based in Montreal. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Chris Martin '10: From Friction to Flow: Operationalizing Empathy

Chris is an LCC alum who works with organizations and communities to make decisions that actually match how people work, what systems demand, and the realities they serve. Over the past decade, they worked across agencies and consultant networks in the nonprofit and social impact space, often stepping in where strong intentions were undermined by unclear processes, conflicting priorities, and unrealistic expectations placed on staff and volunteers who were already carrying complexity without shared language or support. Chris has intentionally built their work outside the content and visibility economy. Instead of relying on constant posting, paid marketing, or a polished web presence, they engage in spaces where people are already thinking deeply, amplify leaders across disciplines, and stay in conversation through collaboration and dialogue, often across roles and perspectives that do not usually speak to one another. All of their work has emerged through trust, peer relationships, and referral, modelling an alternative to burnout driven and transactional approaches to impact. A Nonprofit Hive Trusted Partner, Chris has supported organizations working across gender and identity, youth mental health, and humanitarian and conflict affected contexts. Their approach is shaped by academic experiences across international development, peace-building, and psychology at McGill University, where they studied how power, conflict, and social systems shape outcomes on the ground, and how change actually happens when people are under pressure. Within the past year, Chris founded Empowering Empathy, a federal nonprofit, to carry this relationship centred work into shared infrastructure, knowledge, and capacity for the sector. Through coaching, advising, and facilitation, they support people and organizations leading change in imperfect conditions, helping teams move from friction toward shared clarity, steadier decision making, and ways of working that can actually hold the impact they are trying to create. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

April Bi '25, Pre-U '26: LCC in the Wild - The Field Science Immersion Experience at The Kenauk Institute

April '25, Pre-U '26, a student at LCC with a strong passion for science, spent the summer of 2025 putting her research skills to the test as an intern at the Kenauk Institute. In this episode of the We Are LCC podcast, she shares insights from her fieldwork, shedding light on the practical scientific research opportunities available to students. April hopes her experience encourages others to be bold, step beyond the classroom, and explore what real-world science has to offer. It’s amazing what can happen when you take that leap—listen in to discover April’s journey and what she learned along the way at the Kenauk Institute. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Pat Dussault '97: Behind-the-Scenes of an Award-winning Comedy Writer, Actor, and Producer

Patrick Dussault is an award-winning comedy writer, actor, and producer, whose credits include Just for Laughs, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Beaverton, The MMVAs and The Canadian Screen Awards. He has written jokes, sketches, and monologues for comics and celebrities including Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen, Chevy Chase, Norm MacDonald, Sir Patrick Stewart, Jim Gaffigan, Nikki Glaser, Jimmy Carr, Carrie Fisher, Jeff Goldblum, Anthony Jeselnik, Anthony Anderson and Lily Singh. As an actor, Patrick’s film and TV credits Borje, The Fire Inside, The Jane Mysteries, StarTrek: Strange New Worlds, and Olympians at Heart.  Pat is best known to audiences as befuddled life coach Rowen S.N. Potts, the spokesman for Sportsnet+. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].