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By Glenda McGaffee
Five new teachers will welcome students to their classrooms in the Hills-Beaver Creek School District for the 2019-20 school year.
Caitlin Slaba, Sioux Falls, will teach seventh- and eighth-grade English Language Arts.
She graduated from Canby High School in 2011 and from South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English education.
Slaba previously taught ninth- and 12th-grade English Language Arts/Mass Communications for three years in Tri-Valley High School.
Tyler Johnson will teach art in first through 12th grade.
He lives in Luverne with his wife, Peggy, stepsons Isaac, 16, and Brendan, 13, and son Shawn, 13, and daughter Rayna, 1.
Johnson graduated from Luverne High School in 2000 and from Winona State University with a Bachelor of Science in marketing and Augustana University with a Bachelor of Art in art and education. He previously taught for one year in Adrian High School.
Katie Rogers, Luverne, will teach agriculture at H-BC and will be the FFA adviser.
Her father, Jeff, is an agriculture instructor at Minnesota West; her mother, Ann, is an elementary reading interventionist, and her brother, Ben, is a freshman at Minnesota West.
Rogers graduated from Worthington Senior High School and from South Dakota State University with a degree in agricultural education.
She previously student taught at Jackson County Central High School/Middle School.
Amy Comp, Brandon, South Dakota, will teach vocal music to grades K–12 at H-BC.
Her husband is Lee and their son is Keelan, 1.
She graduated in 2008 from Logan-Magnolia Junior/Senior High School and from the University of South Dakota with a Bachelor of Music education degree.
Previously she taught in Scotland High School from 2013 through 2017, 9–12 vocal, 5-12 band and then K–12 vocal from 2017 to 2019.
Renee Edmundson, Garretson, South Dakota, will teach sixth grade at H-BC.
She and her husband, Jon, have nine children, McKenzie, 26, Cooper, 24, Trever, 16, Tyler 13, Kalla, 6, Marius, 6, Rashane, 4, Moses, 3, and Jurnee, 2.
She graduated from Washington High School in 1996 and Grand Canyon University in Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in elementary and special education.
Her previous teaching experience was in the Sioux Falls School District at Lowell Elementary for two years as a second-grade teacher and two years as a special education teacher.
By Mavis Fodness
Seven new instructors joined the staff of Adrian Public Schools for the 2019-20 school year, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Kristi Groth is the district’s kindergarten through 12th-grade English language learner instructor.
Groth previously worked as a guidance counselor at Worthington Middle School, a substitute teacher in Luverne and more recently as a Title I/guidance counselor at Ellsworth Public School.
The graduate of Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, and South Dakota State University, Brookings, lives south of Luverne with her husband, Kevin Ferguson. The couple has two children: Julia, a freshman at Winona State University, and Kyle, a sophomore at Luverne High School.
Devyn Meyer teaches sixth-grade language arts and works with third- through fifth-grade students in the Title 1 program.
Meyer graduated from Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall and previously taught junior high students at St. Mary’s School in Bird Island.
She currently lives in Wilmont and is engaged to Duane Christians.
Sam Voss joins the middle-high school math team.
The 2009 Adrian High School graduate earned her bachelor’s degree in math education at Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, where she also earned her master’s degree with an emphasis in math.
Voss previously taught for four years at Fulda High School.
She lives in Adrian with her husband, Adam, and 18-month-old daughter, Addison.
Sara Henning joins the sixth- through 12th-grade special education department.
Henning’s previous experience includes teaching anger management and substance classes at Southwestern Youth Services in Magnolia, anger management groups at Prairie Justice Center in Worthington and also completing independent living skills training.
She is a licensed social worker and received training in criminal justice.
Henning lives on a farm near Adrian with her spouse, Andy, and children, Austin, Jacob and Whitney.
Christine Thorson heads up the district’s K-12 vocal music department including the middle and high school choir.
Thorson received a bachelor’s degree in music from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury and a master’s degree in music from Minnesota State University in Mankato.
Previously she worked as an assistant teacher at Little Lambs Preschool and is a private voice instructor with Luverne Street Music.
She lives in Luverne with her husband, Kip, and children Bryanna, Hope and Ian.
Lexi Lynn is the new preschool teacher with Adrian Schools.
The graduate from South Dakota State University, Brookings, completed her student teaching assignment in Worthington.
Henning lives outside of Adrian with her husband, Tony.
Matt Gaudian instructs sixth- through 12th-grade art, after spending the last eight years teaching art at Edgerton Public Schools.
Gaudian graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls.
He and his wife, Maggie, live in Worthington, with their children Audrey, 11, and Lily, 7.
By Mavis Fodness
Three new teachers will be on staff when Ellsworth Public Schools opens its doors Tuesday, Sept. 3, for the 2019-20 school year.
One of those staff members fills a new position for the district.
Bailey Rempel assumes the new ag educator and FFA chapter adviser position.
She earned a degree in agricultural education from the University of Minnesota Crookston. Rempel student-taught at Chisago Lakes High School prior to accepting the position in Ellsworth.
Rempel replaces Darrel Mayer, who retired as the district’s industrial arts/shop teacher.
“We looked at the program and how to include more students,” said Superintendent John Willey. “Ag was the answer since the ag curriculum covers many aspects including many of the industrial arts pieces along with including all the ag items.”
Rempel and her husband, Caleb, live in Luverne.
Katie Klosterbuer will instruct Family Consumer Science and fill the technology integrationist position for the district.
The Luverne Class of 2008 graduate attended Minnesota State University in Mankato and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in family consumer science grades 5-12.
Klosterbuer student-taught at Blue Earth Area Schools in 2013. Her first teaching position was as a FACS instructor for three year at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Most recently, she was the Nobles County 4-H program coordinator in Worthington. She filled that position for the past four years.
She lives in Luverne with her puppy, Winnie.
Jaysa Saumer is the kindergarten through 12th-grade music educator. She will also instruct the jazz, marching and pep bands, colorguard and drumline.
Saumer graduated from St. Cloud State University with a Bachelor of Science in K-12 music education degree with a focus on instrumental instruction. She student-taught in Paynesville Area Junior-Senior High, Paynesville Elementary and St. Cloud Tech High School before coming to Ellsworth, where she makes her home.