When Luverne Public Schools opens the doors for the 2021-22 school year, seven new teachers will be in the classrooms.
Some of the faces are familiar.
However, this time they’ll be in the front of the classroom instead of behind a student desk.
Cassie Uithoven (nee Pap) is an LHS graduate and will teach ninth-grade English language arts and grades 11/12 speech.
She received an elementary education degree from South Dakota State University in Brookings in 2010 and is currently working toward secondary education licensure.
“What I am looking forward to this year is living out the goal I had hoped to achieve ever since college graduation — teaching in the district where I graduated from,” she said. “I am looking forward to working with the students and offering them positive learning experiences.”
Uithoven comes back to the Luverne district with 11 years of teaching experience.
She spent one year as a substitute teacher in Luverne before teaching 10 years of kindergarten, one year in Hills-Beaver Creek and nine years in Brandon, South Dakota.
She and her husband, Aric, live in rural Magnolia with their three young children.
Christina Aukes (nee Casazza) returns to the Luverne district as a first-grade teacher. She graduated from LHS in 2016.
“I am looking forward to spending the year learning and growing with my first-graders,” she said.
Aukes attended Minnesota State University Mankato, earning a K-6 elementary education degree. Her student teaching was in first grade in Mankato.
Last school year she was the preschool and Title I teacher at Ellsworth Public School.
She is married to Jake Aukes, and the couple lives in Luverne.
Tara Sudenga is the new ninth- and tenth-grade math teacher. She will also coach junior varsity softball.
The Luverne native graduated from LHS in 2014 and worked as a substitute teacher in Luverne right before the coronavirus pandemic closed down school buildings in 2020.
Last school year she was a full-time substitute teacher in Adrian. Sudenga completed her student teaching in Worthington in 2019.
“I am looking forward to being a Cardinal again,” she said, as she makes her home in Luverne. “I went to school in Luverne years K-12, so I am excited to continue my school career in Luverne.”
Sudenga received an associate’s degree from Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville and a bachelor’s degree from Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, graduating in 2019. She obtained a physical education/health degree with a minor in coaching.
She is currently working toward her math endorsement.
Last year’s full-time substitute teacher in Luverne was Stacey Thone, who returns to the district as the sixth-grade earth science teacher.
“I am looking forward to building a relationship with my students, creating a classroom environment where students are engaged, accepted and have fun learning,” she said.
The Excelsior, Minnesota, native attended Minnetonka High School before attending college at University of Northwestern in St. Paul. She received a double major in elementary education and Bible with a minor in pre-primary education.
Thone was a substitute teacher in Luverne and Beaver Creek from 2005-2007 before returning to substituting two years ago.
She spent 12 years as a stay-at-home mom to children Coulter (a ninth-grader), Coy (seventh), Marrs (fourth) and Calla (second). She and her husband, Tom, live in rural Luverne.
Amy Chapa (nee Bechler) grew up in Luverne, graduating from Ellsworth Public School. She will be the preschool teacher and Early Childhood Family Education educator.
She received a degree in early childhood education from Grand Canyon University. Chapa has also achieved a master’s degree in early childhood education (birth-third grade).
Chapa previously was a student teacher for preschoolers and second-graders as well as a substitute teacher, filling a long-term absence in sixth-grade math.
She lives in Luverne with her husband, Travis, and children Jaycee (a ninth-grader), Addy (fifth) and Kamdyn (third.)
“(I am looking forward to) getting to know the teachers, parents and students,” she said.
Madeline “Maddie” Jenkins comes to Luverne as the preschool through fifth-grade speech/language pathologist. She previously worked with Southwest West Central Service Cooperative, spending the past two school years working in the Pipestone Area School District.
The Winnebago, Minnesota, native graduated from Blue Earth Area High School in 2015 and attended Augustana University in Sioux Falls. She earned a degree in communication sciences and disorders in 2019.
Jenkins is currently in graduate school participating in an online program through Idaho State University for a master’s degree in speech/language pathology.
She and her dog, Remy, live in Luverne.
“I am looking forward to getting involved in the community more, meeting and working with new kiddos and meeting new people in town,” she said.
Eric Arnold joins the Luverne staff as the middle school computer applications and high school general business teacher.
He spent six years as a business technology teacher at Ozanam School in Kansas City, Missouri, and ten years at the Kansas City Christian School in Prairie Village, Kansas.
The Kansas City, Missouri, native graduated from Ruskin High School. He attended the University of Missouri-Columbia as well as Webster University. He majored in natural resources management and received a master’s degree in computer resources management.
“(I am really looking forward to) getting to know the students and staff at Luverne,” he said.
Arnold lives in Rock Rapids, Iowa, with his wife, Tracy. Their daughter, Emily, is a college freshman.