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Fifteen new teachers will be working in classrooms when the school doors open for students in Adrian, Ellsworth and Luverne Tuesday for the 2016-17 school year.
Five new teachers will be at Adrian Public Schools.
Amanda Engelkes will be a first-grade teacher at Adrian Elementary. She is married to Tyler Engelkes and lives in Bigelow. Engelkes received her bachelor’s degree in early childhood family education with a minor in special education at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. She is a first-year teacher having student-taught second grade in Heron Lake.
Greg Harner will teach eight-grade geography and ninth- and tenth-grade history at Adrian Middle/High School. He will also serve as the district’s junior varsity basketball coach. He lives in Luverne. Harner attended South Dakota State University, Brookings, and student taught in Luverne.
Ivy Kruse is the early childhood family education coordinator and will teach in the Kids Connection Preschool. Kruse lives on a farm near Chandler with her husband, Dale. She graduated from Southwest State University in Marshall with degrees in elementary and early childhood education with a pre-primary specialty. Kruse is currently pursuing a master’s degree in reading from University of Sioux Falls. Kruse taught preschool (three years) and second grade (two years) at Sioux Falls Catholic Schools.
Patrice Peters is the Adrian Middle School special education teacher. She will also be the assistant high school girls’ basketball coach. She lives in Little Rock, Iowa. After graduating from Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa, Kruse taught special education at Maurice-Orange City-Floyd Valley Elementary/High School for two years and one year at Central Lyon Middle/High School.
Amber Williamson teaches third- through fifth-grade Title 1, provides English language learner support and instructs sixth-grade language arts. She will also coach the junior high girls’ basketball team. Williamson lives in Garretson, South Dakota. She graduated from Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, and taught fourth grade (one year) and fifth grade (two years) in Wabasso Public Schools.
Ellsworth Public Schools welcomes four new teachers.
Jessica Albrecht is the physical, health and developmental adapted physical education instructor. She will also be the head volleyball coach and assistant basketball coach. Albrecht lives in Ellsworth. She graduated from Winona State University and student-taught at La Crescent-Hokah school district.
Mitchell Beekman will instruct high school social studies and advise the student council. He and his wife Dani live in Ellsworth. After graduating from Bemidji State University he taught at Lumberjack High School in Bemidji.
Hanna Hemme will teach third grade. She graduated from Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, with an elementary education degree. She lives in Luverne.
Jen Huisman teaches middle and high school art. She and her husband, Brant, and children Makayla, Anna, Olivia and Levi live in Luverne. Huisman graduated from Bemidji State University and Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall.
Six teachers will be new to Luverne Public Schools.
Gabi Bright will teach special education at Luverne Elementary. Currently living in Sioux Falls, Bright graduated from Dakota State University, Madison, with degrees in kindergarten through 12th-grade special education and kindergarten through eighth-grade elementary education. She received her graduate degree in differentiated instruction from Concordia University in St. Paul. She previously taught in Brookings, South Dakota, Zhengzhou, China (one year) and McCrossan Boys Ranch (two years.)
Courtney Graanstra will instruct biology and advanced placement biology. She currently lives in Sioux Falls. Graanstra graduated from Augustana University with majors in biology and secondary education. She student-taught at Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls and Harrisburg South Middle School.
David Rysdam is the high school social studies teacher. He will also coach seventh-grade volleyball, eighth-grade girls’ basketball and seventh- and eighth-grade baseball. He and his wife, Jennifer, live in Luverne and have six children: Ainsley, Peyton, Annalise, Will, Jack and Harrison. Rysdam graduated from Bemidji State University.
Caylee Tennis will teach physical education at Luverne Middle School. She will also coach eighth-grade volleyball and B-squad softball. She lives in Luverne. After graduating from South Dakota State University, Brookings, Tennis student-taught at Roosevelt High and Cleveland Elementary schools in Sioux Falls.
Carmen Thompson instructs family and consumer science and is the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America adviser for Luverne High School. She and her husband, Nathan, live in Edgerton. They have two children, Jordana and Garret. Thompson previously taught in Plankinton and Grant-Deuel schools in South Dakota and LeRoy-Ostrander and Southland districts in Minnesota.
Jeffery Weber will teach ninth-grade physical science and non-core biology and chemistry classes. He will also be the ninth-grade boys’ basketball coach. Weber currently lives in Sioux Falls. He graduated from Bethel University, St. Paul, and taught 10th-grade biology at Mahtomedi High School prior to coming to Luverne.