Wakulla County Recruits and Hires 35 Teachers for the 2006-2007 School Year

Crawfordville, FL - Wakulla County School District Principals and Site Administrators have spent time this summer staffing their schools and departments.  The new employees hired this year bring experience from the field of education and Corporate America as well as a plethora of new ideas.  Most of them participated in Survival Training, August 1st-August 3rd, where they were introduced to policies, procedures and practices of the Wakulla County Schools as well as a flavor of accomplished teaching practices including basic classroom management.  Superintendent Miller shares, “I am more excited this year than I have been in many years.  Most of that excitement comes from the impressive candidates we have hired to staff our schools.” 

As of August 7th, 35 new teachers were hired to staff Wakulla County Schools.  With the support of mentors and peer teachers, on-going seminars and school-based orientations, we anticipate a smooth transition for our new hires.  Wakulla Schools is proud to introduce the following instructors:
 

Crawfordville Elementary School

•    Holly Harden, a National Board Certified Teacher, has been hired as a 3rd grade teacher.  She lives in Crawfordville with her husband and two children.  She brings 10 years of experience from Bradenton and is a Troy State graduate.

•    Laura Lawhon will teach 1st grade.  She will teach at the same elementary school that she attended as a young child.  She is a Flagler College graduate and a lifelong resident of Wakulla County.

•    Cynthia Loney returns to Wakulla County after teaching 17 years in Leon County.  She is an FSU graduate and will teach 1st grade. Mrs. Loney lives in Crawfordville with her husband and three sons.

•    Angela Mullinax will teach 5th grade and lives in Crawfordville.  She taught 4th grade in Bay County and is a Florida State University graduate.

•    Susan Rep, the new speech language pathologist, graduated from FSU and spent 6 years working for the Pasco County Schools and in upstate New York

•    Jeff Van Syckle comes to our county as a Guidance Counselor with experience from Palm Beach County.  He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the New York Institute of Technology.

Medart Elementary School

•    Kathryn Briggs will teach ESE. She has previously taught in Clermont, FL and Snook, TX.  She is pursuing further studies in American Sign Language, and she hopes to teach in deaf education classes.

•    Margaret Callaghan will teach 4th grade. She has 14 years of experience in Leon and St. Johns Counties and is a designated National Board Certified Teacher.  She is a University of North Florida graduate and lives in Crawfordville.

•    Anne Harden, a WHS alumnus, returns to Wakulla County after teaching 6 years in Franklin County as a 1st grade teacher.  She is an FSU graduate and lives in Sopchoppy.

•    Krissia Lawhon will teach 2nd and 3rd grade inclusion.  She received her master’s degree from FSU in varying exceptionalities.  Ms. Lawhon returns to teaching in Wakulla after an extended maternity leave.  She lives in Sopchoppy.

Shadeville Elementary School

•    Debra Marsh will teach 5th grade.  She received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Flagler College and resides in Tallahassee.

•    Jessica Skelton has been selected as an ESE 3rd-5th grade teacher.  She graduated from Flagler College in St. Augustine with a degree in Elementary Education.  She is a newlywed.

Riversprings Middle School

•    Cay Arant has been selected as a 6th grade teacher and a volleyball coach.  She has previous experience in Vero Beach and resides in Crawfordville.  She has a Bachelor’s degree in English.

•    John Kane, a former electrical engineer has been a resident of Ochlocknee Bay since 1998.  He will teach 7th grade math and world history.  Mr. Kane is married with two sons and has a Master’s degree from the University of Florida.

Wakulla High School

•    Alicia Crum, an FSU graduate, will teach 9th and 12th grade English.  She has been an instructor of Victim Services for the past 8 years and lives in Ochlocknee Bay.

•    Ashley Flynt, ESE teacher, brings three years of teaching experience from Manatee County.  She graduated from the University of West Florida with a master’s degree in history and historical archaeology.  She resides in Tallahassee.

•    Kenneth Gambill will teach math and science at WHS. He has a bachelor and master degree in engineering and has recently moved to Wakulla County from Kentucky.  He enjoys building Geodesic domes and house boating.

•    Krystal Goodwin, a University of Florida graduate, will teach Vocational ESE.  She lives in Crawfordville with her husband.

•    Melanie Homan will be teaching 9-12 VE classes at WHS.  She worked last year as a substitute teacher as well as a Para-professional and resides in Crawfordville.

•    Teena Ketchum, transfers to WHS from Leon County with seven years of teaching experience.  She is currently the color guard coordinator for the FSU marching chiefs and is also an FSU graduate.

•    Terrence Maguire, English teacher, joins WHS after teaching in Gadsden and Orange counties.  He has experience teaching English, Reading, and Drama.  Mr. Maguire is a University of Florida graduate and resides in Tallahassee.

•    Kathleen Musheno, returns to our school district as a high school reading teacher.  She is a Crawfordville resident and has received her bachelor and master’s degrees from Ohio State University.

•    Kristy Phillips, a true believer of the value of strong families, will teach ESE.  She spent 12 years as a family & consumer science teacher in Polk County before coming to Wakulla.  She lives in Crawfordville.

•    Karen Raines will be the new Read 180 9th grade teacher at WHS.  It has been a dream of hers to be a teacher.  Fortunately since her FSU graduation that dream can now become a reality.

•    Melanie Rentz, an FSU graduate will teach math at WHS.  She comes to Wakulla with 13 years of teaching experience in Leon County.  Mrs. Rentz lives in Crawfordville and her 5 year old twins will attend Crawfordville Elementary School.

•    Missy Rudd, a WHS alumnus, will be returning to WHS as a VE teacher.  She graduated from FSU with a Bachelor’s degree in English.

•    Shelby Williams, a previous WHS intern, will be teaching Geography and World History.  She resides in Crawfordville and holds a social science degree from FSU.

Joe Rozanski and Joe Jacobs		National Board Certified Teacher Diane Perez with new teachers.

Wakulla Middle School

•    Sarah Ashman, not only taught in Leon County but also coached football, soccer and softball.  She is an FSU Criminology graduate and will be the new 7th/8th English & Math teacher.

•    Sarah Marquez will teach reading and math at WMS.  She completed her internship at Godby High School and graduated from FSU.

•    Melissa Rios-Rosier joins the WMS team as an ESE teacher.  She has experience as a behavioral resource teacher, ESE coordinator and assistant principal at the middle school level.

•    Joseph Rozanski, the new 6th grade geography/math teacher is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University.  He has experience teaching grades 3-6.  He lives in Crawfordville with his wife, Courtney, and his son, Kyle.

Sopchoppy Education Center

•    Don Franks, Sr. will teach part-time as an adult education GED teacher.  He graduated from FSU with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science.  He has taught the past two years in Leon County.

•    Tim O’Donnell has been in education for more than 30 years including teaching at COAST Charter School and Crestview Independent School.  He lives in Tallahassee and is a University of South Florida graduate.  He will teach social studies, life management skills, PE and Art at Sopchoppy.

Wakulla Education Center

•    Carol O’Cain graduated from UCF and has experience teaching kindergarten and pre-K.  She is excited about teaching Pre-K at WEC.  She also lives in Crawfordville.

District Itinerant

•    Nicole Klees is the Secondary Speech Language Pathologist.  She received her Master’s degree from FSU and is married to the new WHS Head Football Coach.

- Written by Karen J. Wells, Director of Human Resources, wellsk@wakulla.k12.fl.us, 850.926.0065, #256

This article originally published on August 8, 2006.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

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