There is a new social studies teacher here at GEHS. Her name is Jessica Gladbach and this is her first year teaching. She teaches US History and Sociology in room 517.
Q: Why did you decide to teach?
A: “I’ve always known that I wanted to teach ever since I was little. I just have always worked with kids, whether it was babysitting, being a nanny over the summers, or working on an after-school care program. It just was what I wanted to teach that was the deciding factor, so I decided in college I wanted to teach history.”
Q: Why did you decide to teach history?
A: “Probably [because of] one of my professors. He was just really cool and engaging, and my experience with my high school history teachers was not great. They were all coaches first [and] teachers second, so they didn’t really care about us actually learning history or making it exciting. And so, in college, when I actually had a good history teacher, I realized that I want to be that good teacher. I want to make a change in someone else’s education.”
Q: Where did you go to school and grow up?
A: “I went to high school at Helias High School in Jefferson City, Missouri, which is where I grew up. Then I went to college at Missouri Western State University in Saint Joseph, Missouri.”
Q: What do you like to do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I like to read. I was a substitute last year and I read about 25 books in the past 12 months. I [also] really enjoy being outside, especially during thunderstorms. I take pictures of lightning when I have free time [as well].”
Q: What are your favorite foods?
A: “I love tacos. I can go for white people tacos or authentic tacos at least three times out of the week.”
Q: What are your favorite bands?
A: “I love all kinds of music, whether it’s Tate McRae or The Cranberries or Noah Kahan or Zach Bryan. All of those.”
Q: What are your favorite movies?
A: My favorite seasonal [movies] are Nightmare Before Christmas, and, I’m not a Christmas girly, but I can watch The Grinch year round. The Jim Carrey [one] used to be my favorite, but the new Illumination one’s soundtrack has [probably] bumped it up to my favorite.”
Q: Why did you decide to come to GEHS?
A: “While I was subbing, I met a teacher that works at Olathe East, and she actually saw the job posting and recommended it to me because she spent her first five years here and enjoyed it so much and thought that I would fit in perfectly. And I love it here.”
This is Shalaine Blazic’s third year teaching. She teaches Audio Video Production and Fundamentals, Video two and three, which is the Blazer Broadcast, and Digital Photo one and two. If you ever need her, she is in either 315 or 605.
Q: Where did you go to school and grow up?
A: “I’m from Hawaii, and my family, like all, moved here last year. I went to Prairie View High School, which is the middle of nowhere, so when they pulled up to it, I was like, ‘what is this?’”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “I do love tacos. Chips and salsa is like my favorite thing, but I love trying new things too. So anytime we go out to dinner, I try to find a new place because there’s so much in the Kansas City area. I also love ramen, I love sushi. There’s so many things.”
Q: What’s your favorite TV show or movie?
A: “The Office is like, my go to. Then movies I don’t know. I can’t pick like, a favorite movie. I like action movies. It just depends on the genre.”
Q: What’s your favorite band or singer?
A: “I usually play, my girls, their playlist, which right now is a lot of Lumineers and Zach Bryan and just, like a mix of things. Sometimes [if] I really want to jam out I just go to, like, 90s alternatives and then that feels like when I was in high school.
Q: What are you excited about GEHS?
A: “I enjoy this community so much, and my kids have enjoyed the school here. So I really wanted to teach here, because it’s really close to home, but also I feel like it’s such a great place to be.”
Christen Nickel has been teaching for eight years. Before teaching Aerobics and Lifetime Fitness at GEHS she was an elementary PE teacher. If you ever need her she will be in her office in the locker rooms.
Q: Why are you teaching this subject?
A: “So as a kid, I wanted to be the fastest, strongest, fittest. I loved PE fitness test week. [It] was always my favorite week, which is ridiculous. I also played softball, so just kind of having the sport background, and just really admired my high school softball coach, who also taught PE and just the difference she made in my life. I wanted to have that for students, and then I kind of got more into the health and fitness side of things.”
Q: Where did you grow up and got to school?
A: “I grew up in a small town in Arkansas, graduated with 84 people at Gosnell High School in Gospel Arkansas. Went to Arkansas State University for college. I got my bachelor’s and my master’s degree from there, and then I was actually able to student teach in Olathe.”
Q:What do you do in your free time?
A: “Well, I have a four year old and a one and a half year old, so they take up a lot of my free time. Usually, whatever they want to do is what I do, but I do like to exercise, which kind of goes with being a PE teacher. I like being outside, like being out on the lake. I really like to cook, so just kind of experimenting with all the different smokers and blackstones and gadgets that we have at home.”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “It totally goes with the mood that I’m in. I would say, just being from the south, any comfort food. I mean, everything’s fried in the south.”
Q: What is special about GEHS?
A: “I obviously came from a small town, so I loved being out of the hustle and bustle. I just really enjoyed my experience growing up in a small town, and so I felt like Gardner was big, but also had that small town feel like on Friday nights, we would sit out in our driveway, [and] we could hear the football game going on. I really liked that Gardner just immediately, before the last school year was even over, you know, really welcomed me.”
Elena Martinez is starting her first year of teaching here at GEHS. She is a math teacher and currently teaches Algebra I. If you need her she is located in 507.
Q: Where did you go to school and grow up?
A: “I grew up in Mexico, so I went to school there until I was 11, and then I moved here to California. Went to middle school there, and then I moved to Kansas. I went to high school at Celina south, and then I graduated from Bethany college with my undergrad.”
Q:What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I like reading. I love watching shows. Just binge watching. I like to try out new places to eat. I like to make coffee. I have my own espresso machine, so I like to try different kinds of coffee, make new combinations.
Q: What is your favorite tv show?
A: “I really like the office. I mean, I think everybody likes the office. Friends, of course. Ghost, one, there’s two different ones. There’s a British and an American version. I’ve been watching the American one.”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “Tamales are my favorite.”
Q: What is your favorite music?
A: “I like any Spanish music. I will listen to almost anything. I’ve listened to Japanese songs, to Korean songs. I’ve listened to a lot of things, so I’m open to anything.”
Emma Bundy our new speech pathologist is located in the library in room 154 with a green door and this is her first year of becoming a teacher here at GEHS and first year ever being a teacher in her career.
Q: How many years have you been teaching?
A: “This is my first year teaching, I graduated in May.”
Q: Why do you teach what you teach?
A: “I want to be a speech pathologist because I love getting to work in small groups and help students achieve their goals.”
Q: Where did you go to school and where did you grow up?
A: “Olathe and I got my undergrad at K-State, and I got my master’s at Fontbonne University.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I like to read and I like to travel.”
Q: What is your favorite movie or band?
A: “I’ve been talking about that a lot and I love that question. It changes a lot right now, I mean my favorite movie is the Spider Man Homecoming.”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “My favorite food is cheeseburgers.”
Caitlyn Bour is one of our new FACS teachers and has joined us here at GEHS. She is located in room 317. She teaches Baking and Pastry classes and one Event Planning Class.
Q: How many years have you been teaching?
A: “This is my seventh year in a public classroom,”
Q: Where did you go to school? Where did you grow up?
A: “I grew up in Fresno California, I went to Fresno Pacific University and got my master’s in Emporia State University.”
Q: Why teach? Why are you teaching this subject?
A: “I decided to start teaching because, so my bachelor’s was in pre-law and I wanted to help kids before they got in trouble, I wanted them to be in a safe space. I absolutely love baking, it started with my family, and thought it would be cool to teach high school.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A; “Bake. I hang out with my two kids and we go on bike rides and are outdoors as much as possible.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “Sweet Home Alabama the movie, I love Reese Witherspoon, the music, the story, everything”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “Pizza and tacos I don’t like one more than the other, I want them both”
Q: What do you like about teaching at Gardner Edgerton High School
A: “It’s really about the whole area, the small town pride and feels, I really like it.”
A new social studies teacher, Will Reiter, will be joining the GEHS staff this year for his 26th year of teaching. He will be teaching World Geography and World History in room 423.
Q: Why did you decide to teach?
A: “I really like social studies, I’m a big history buff, so that’s what I went into in college [for]. Some of my favorite people were teachers [as well], my mom was a para and so [a school would] always [be] the best atmosphere to work in.”
Q: Where did you go to school and grow up?
A: “[For] high school, I went to St. John’s Catholic School in Beloit, Kansas, it’s in north central Kansas, and for college, I actually ended up going to three different places. I went to KU first and then transferred to Emporia State and finished my bachelor’s in education. Then I got my master’s degree at Baker University.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I like to work in my garden and my yard and I like to do activities with my kids still, even though they’re much older. Hanging out with them and talking with them is a lot of fun.”
Q: What is your favorite movie, food, and book?
A: “My favorite movie is probably The Patriot with Mel Gibson. It’s about the Revolutionary War period. My favorite food is probably any Mexican food, like tacos and enchiladas and stuff like that. My favorite book is [probably] a book on Lincoln called Team of Rivals. It’s [about] how Lincoln chose his Cabinet members for when he became president in 1860. It’s really interesting.”
Q: Why did you decide to come to GEHS?
A: “GEHS is where two of my kids already graduated, and then I have a daughter that’s a junior [here], and I’ve lived in Gardner for 20 years, so this has been my hometown school. For various reasons, I’ve been teaching at other places and looking for an opportunity to teach here. I’ve always wanted to teach here.”
A new position, assistant band director, was added to the GEHS staff this year. Nicholas Proctor, who has taught for a little over 25 years, got that position. So, now he assists with the Marching band, the Concert Band, he runs the Beginning Band this semester, he will run the Symphonic Band next semester, and he assists the high school and middle school jazz bands and sixth-grade bands. Most of these classes take place in the band room, room 712.
Q: Why did you decide to become a band teacher?
A: “Well, I was really involved in band when I was in high school, and when I joined the army I joined an army band, and my intent was to actually go into the active duty army band field. But, once I student taught at Shawnee Mission West, I just really enjoyed working with the high school students, and then I got to do some elementary music as well and I just sort of really enjoyed doing that. I just really enjoyed teaching kids.”
Q: Where did you go to school for teaching?
A: “I went to Wichita State University for my Bachelor’s degree and then I got my master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music.”
Q: Where did you go to high school and grow up?
A: “I grew up in the Shawnee Mission area. My dad was a Methodist preacher, so we moved around a lot. We started in Illinois and then we moved into Western Kansas in the Westmoreland area. Then we went to Leavenworth, [then] De Soto Kansas, and [then] we settled in Shawnee Mission and we stayed in that area for my middle school and high school years.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I don’t have much free time, between school, [the] army, and family. But if I do have free time I like to play my trumpet. I am in a couple different civilian bands, I’m in a European brass band. I [also] like to race RC cars. That’s something Mr. Davidson [actually] does as well. He and I will try to get out to the RC Race track in Blue Springs, Missouri, and go race RC cars. So I like tinkering with those.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “It’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Yeah, I really like Star Wars, but of the more recent ones, Whiplash, which was about a jazz drummer and a tyrant jazz band instructor. It’s a good movie.”
Q: What is your favorite band?
A: “In the jazz field Maynard Ferguson was my biggest influence. He was a jazz trumpet player [and] he sort of brought the whole scream trumpet-playing genre into effect. I got his autograph. He’s my favorite musician. As far as current groups [though], it would be, probably Foo Fighters.”
Q: What about your favorite food?
A: “I love Raising Cane’s, I like a good pizza. This is controversial, [but] I like Chicago-style pizza, not New York-style pizza. I think it’s because I grew up in the Chicago area in my formative years. But I also like seafood. I just like all kinds of food. But my favorite meal here in Gardner is the seafood chimichanga at La Carreta.”
Q: Why did you decide to come to GEHS?
A: “I’ve actually lived in GEHS since 1999. I was working at Paola at the time because I was a brand new teacher and that was the job that was available when I got out there. All my kids went through the school district here [though], and I [was] just really impressed with what Will Biggs at the time did with the band here. So when the opportunity came at Trail Ridge Middle School I jumped on the opportunity to work in this district. And then when this position came open this year, I was sort of missing working with the older kids cause I’d worked with older kids when I was at Paola for about 17 years. I like the middle school kids as well, but I can do a little bit more musically with the high school kids.”
Q: Is there anything you want to add?
A: “This is a great, supportive school district. I do really enjoy working here, and the admin here have been very supportive of the band program, so we appreciate it.”
Jodi Warner is a new counselor here. She is starting her twentieth year in the district. Prior to becoming a counselor she taught fifth grade for 3 years so this will be her seventeenth year as a counselor.
Q: What does a counselor do?
A: “Scheduling, like [an] unbelievable amount of scheduling, and learning about credits for students to graduate high school. You have to have so many credits, and making sure everybody’s up to par where they need to be. I’m working with the foreign exchange student program. So that’s pretty cool to learn about. There’s just a lot of different things that I’m gonna open my eyes to along the way.”
Q: Why did you go into counseling?
A: “I taught fifth grade, and I loved it. I love working with that age group. But as I was teaching kids would come to me and talk to me about just other problems going on in life, home stuff, friendship stuff, and I thought I want to take that direction and do more into counseling. Where I’m still working with students, and I can go in and do little guidance lessons with the students. So I did Middle School [counseling] for multiple years, and I just feel like, as my own kids are getting older, I wanted to transition and figure out what high school was like, because I’ve always kind of had that little itch, like I want to try it.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A:I have four kids at home, so I’m always running to sporting events, or I’m a taxi cab for my kids. But in my free time, I love to watch True Crime TV. I like to garden, and if I can get myself motivated, go out and walk and run.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “Favorite movie, Christmas vacation. I love comedies.”
Q:What kind of music do you like listening to?
A: Country music. [My favorite artist is] George street
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “You can’t go wrong with Mexican food. Like, that’s always a good comfort, and I have a major sweet tooth, so I am always wanting candy, cookies, things that I shouldn’t have.”
Q: What are you excited about GEHS?
A: “I just love learning about the students and their future goals that they have for themselves. Seeing the students involved in different programs and activities here. I just like to see where students are now and how far they’re going to come in the future. Where they end up.
Kyetta Currier is one of our new Business and Computer teachers. She is located in room 302. She teaches Financial Literacy and Intro to Chromebook repair.
Q: How many years have you been teaching?
A: “One, this is my first year so I guess not even one, I’ve done a lot of substitutes I’ve been doing that for eight years.”
Q: Why teach? Why are you teaching this subject?
A: “Before I started I was a gymnastics coach for a little over 30 years so I’ve always liked teaching kids, My undergraduate degree is in business and accounting, I know a lot of people find that boring but I actually like it.”
Q: Where did you go to school? Where did you grow up?
A: “Here I am a Gardner graduate and I grew up here in Gardner and I went to college at Backer University”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I love to do Do It Yourself type of project every summer, this summer I refinished our chair and table, I sanded and painted it and refinished it, also love walking the dogs.“
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “Gone with the Wind, my grandmother got me hooked on it when I was very little,”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “I would have to say salmon first it’s healthy for you and everyone at the house loves it.”
Q: What Is Your favorite part about teaching at Gardner Edgerton School?
A: “Working with all the kids, it keeps me up to date and it’s not even five minutes from my house.”
John McCall is one of our new physical education teachers and has joined the Gardner Edgerton High School staff. He is located in room 18. He teaches P.E. 1 and guided studies
Q: How many years have you been teaching?
A: “This is my 30th coaching and 28th teaching”
Q: Why teach? Why are you teaching this subject?
A: “I like working in public high schools”
Q: Where did you go to school? Where did you Grow-up?
A: “My undergrad is from MidAmerica Nazarene and I got my degree in Northwest Missouri State”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I like to cook and spend time with coaches and like to spend time with my family.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “The Covenant, I really like it because of the way it defines commitment.”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “I really like Italian food and seafood.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about teaching in Gardner Edgerton High School
A: “The people.”
Matt Jacobsen is Gardner Edgerton’s newest freshmen guided studies teacher. Jacobsen went to the University of Central Missouri. This year marks his fourth year teaching. Jacobsen enjoys working with kids and giving them support. He is in Room 607
“It’s just an area where I can help improve…Working with kids that just need a little bit more extra support, have someone in their corner to help them, just help them stay on task, don’t get behind on anything. Just be there for more support, really.”
Q:What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “In my free time, I like to spend [it] with my children and my wife, of course. Just doing just having fun around the neighborhood, riding bikes, Playing out on a cul-de-sac when I’m not coaching. So that’s just spending time with my family.
Q:What is your favorite movie?
A: ”My favorite movie is Top Gun.”
Q:What is your favorite food?
A: “Chinese food. Just in general. I have a wide range of it “
Q: What do you think of GEHS so far?
A: “I enjoy it here. I’m glad I’m here. It’s a great place to be. I have a lot of support. Everyone’s very friendly, everyone’s very welcoming, and I’m excited to be here this school year.”
Tyler Lemke is a new Social Studies teacher here at GEHS. This year is his tenth year teaching. Lemke went to Emporia State and Baker University for his degrees. He is in Room 420.
Q: Why teach? Why are you teaching this subject?
“I had a really good history in government teachers growing up, so it kind of gave me an interest in the subject. Teachers don’t really know the impact they have if students don’t tell them, but that’s kind of why I’m interested in it.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “That’s a tough one. [I’m] a really big fan of Goodwill Hunty. I don’t know. It’s just an interesting storyline about being kind of misunderstood and kind of set as the underdog, but once people get to realize who you are, then you kind of tap into that potential.”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “I really love spaghetti. Spaghetti is probably by far my favorite. Red sauce, it’s gotta be red. I don’t know why. I don’t like white sauce, but yeah, it’s gotta be red sauce.”
Q: How are you liking working and being at GHS so far?
A: “I absolutely love being here. My wife and I have lived here for six years now, so I’ve been part of the Gartner community already. It just has an extra special feeling when you’re actually living in the community that you teach it. The kids are awesome. [The] people are awesome here, so I’m loving it so far.”
Manuel Rodriguez is our new World languages teacher at GEHS. He is located in room 808. He teaches Spanish 1 and Spanish 2.
Q: How many years have you been teaching?
A: “I’ve been teaching for 15 years.”
Q: Why teach? Why are you teaching this subject?
A: “I like to be able to help people find what they want to do in life and I like to see change in people’s lives. Spanish is another language, and it only improves their opportunities in life, if you only know ten words and another person knows those ten words and in another language, they know twice as much as you.”
Q: Where did you go to school? Where did you grow up?
A: “In high school, I went to California and college in Nevada and Kansas.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I like to do tabletop games and I like to do sporting things with my dogs.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “My favorite movie is The Royal Tenenbaums. It is quirky and it shows a real portrait of what families are.”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “Tamales, they are a part of my heritage and they are tasty.”
Q: What Is Your favorite part about teaching at Gardner Edgerton School
A: “The students are amazing they are energetic, they are funny and, they want to learn.”
There will be a new freshman English teacher, Avery Andersen, at GEHS this year. She is located in room 403 and this is her first year teaching.
Q: Why did you decide to become a teacher?
A: “I knew I wanted to be a teacher from a pretty young age. I flip-flopped a little bit back and forth on what I wanted to be. I looked into acting for a while actually. I was a theater major for a little bit in college, but then eventually just sort of fell back to it. I come from a long line of teachers and I realized in theater and the different avenues I was trying to go down, what I was gravitating towards was teaching those subjects, and what I really missed was English and analysis and grammar, weirdly. So, I made the decision to switch back to teaching English.”
Q: Why English and not any other subjects?
A: “I really love English. This is going to sound like I’m bragging, I’m not bragging, I’m just good at English. I’m a big reader and I’m a big nerd. I love grammar and vocabulary, and I’ve always loved reading and writing, and I really love how English can allow you to have really cool, deep conversations and experience empathy for things that aren’t real, like, just words on a piece of paper.”
Q: Where did you go to high school and college?
A: “I grew up in Overland Park, Kansas. I went to Blue Valley, Northwest High School and I graduated from UMKC, which is the University of Missouri-Kansas City, in Kansas City, Missouri.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I really like hiking. I’m a runner as well, so I run. I read, of course. I go outside, I hang out with friends a lot. I like to spend time with people.”
Q: What is your favorite book?
A: “My favorite book is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It is a memoir about her life. She was a reporter in New York. I think she might still be, [but] she might be retired by now. Her life was very crazy [though]. It was actually a book I had to read for my senior AP Lit class, and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was one of the first books I ever annotated.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “I think what I’ve been saying recently is the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice. But I’m also a very big fan of Twilight. And the third Harry Potter movie.”
Q: Why did you decide to come to GEHS?
A: “I had a job working in Edgerton, actually, last summer, and would come up to Gardner and Edgerton a lot, and just really fell in love with the town. And then Megan Clark came halfway through the year [last year as a] sophomore English teacher. We were actually both working at Olathe West together, she was student teaching and I was working there part-time. [We] got to know each other and when I heard she got hired here I [decided to] apply [here] as well, and then I ended up getting hired here [too], and that’s been really cool because she’s an amazing teacher and a wonderful friend.”
Q: Is there anything you would like to add?
A: “Blaze ‘em.”
Steve Skoczek is a new Learning Center teacher here at GEHS. He has been teaching for 29 years. He got his degrees from the University of Kansas, Emporia State, and Baker University. Skoczek began teaching to make a difference for kids. He is in Room 506.
“I just kind of thought that I worked well with that group of kids. And so [I] thought that would be a great place for me to be.”
Q:What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “Hang out with my family and kids. Travel, we love to travel and try new things and then eat barbecue. We like to drive around Kansas, just to kind of check out all the cool things. And if we see a barbecue, we like to always stop.”
Q:What is your favorite movie?
A “Favorite movie of all time [is] probably Star Wars, like the original 1976. When that movie came out, I was like five years old and it was the coolest thing ever. Like space and stuff, it was neat.”
Q:What is your favorite food?
A “I would say pizza or barbecue.You know, I’m from Chicago and so I just like Italian sausage or Italian sausage and green pepper, nothing special.”
Q: What do you think of your time at GEHS so far?
A:I’ve loved it. It’s been great. The kids have been awesome. The staff has been really welcoming. I feel part of the community already. So yeah, it’s been a great couple of weeks.
Alyssa Penn, one of our new FACS teachers, is located in the 300 hallway close to the end of the hallway in 309. This is my very first year as the teacher, but I was a para for 4 years before this which has helped me transition into this role smoothly.
Q: Why do you teach what you teach?
A: “Teaching was something everybody told me I should do when I got older, I tried to avoid it for a while because I was stubborn but ultimately I fell in love with it. I chose FACS because it was the perfect way for me to impact my students the most. I get to learn so much about these kids and who they are as people. My favorite thing is getting to see them grow and figure out who they want to be in life.”
Q: Where do you go to school and where did you grow up?
A: “I grew up in Olathe and graduated from Olathe East. I moved up to Nebraska to finish college at Wayne State and just moved back this past year to teach here at Gardner and be close to home.”
Q: What do you like during your free time?
A: “I love sports and being active, typically I’m either at the gym, watching my sister play softball, at a football game, or spending time with the people I love.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “My favorite movie of all time is Matilda, but I also love a good Pixar movie like Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo or Inside Out.”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “My favorite food is Chinese or pasta.”
Cooper Bell is our new health and guided studies teacher and his room is located in 713 in the old freshman wing.
Q: Why do you teach this subject?
“I enjoy the relationships that I build with students and Health Fitness has always been a passion of mine.”
Q: Where did you go to school and where did you Grow-up?
A: “I grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas [and] went to Hutchinson High School before graduating from Kansas State.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I like to spend time with my family and I enjoy golfing.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “My favorite movie is Remember the Titans”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “I really enjoy breakfast foods. Breakfast for dinner is my favorite.”
Chad Motter, one of our special ed teachers, is located in the 200 hallway. Motter worked in life skills when he was at Sunflower Elementary School.
Q: How many years have you been teaching?
A: “19 years as a special education teacher”.
Q: Why teach? Why are you teaching this subject?
A: “I wanted to make a difference in a child’s life. I could not obtain a general education job when I first started, so I needed to renew my teaching license. I needed to relicense and earned a special education degree through Mid America University. I then went back to school, added a low-incidence endorsement, and then later went to Pittsburg State for a low and high-functioning autism program. I like teaching kids because they want to learn and find out what they want to do.”
Q: Where did you go to school? Where did you grow up?
A: “For K-12, I went to West Franklin, which is West of Ottawa, Kansas. For college, I went to KU, MNU, and Pitt State.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I play Clash of Clans, watch YouTube, and ride my motorcycle.”
Q: What is your favorite movie or band?
A: “My favorite movie is Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and my favorite band is Metallica.’
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “Steak.”
Cordia Hammonds is one of our new FACS teachers and is located in the 300 hallway at the very end of the hallway in room 316.
Q: How many years have you been teaching?
A: “This is my 4th year teaching but I have worked in schools for 10 years”.
Q: Why do you teach what you teach?
A: “I like to help others learn, I like passing on the information I know to others, I love to bake.”
Q: Where did you go to school and where did you grow up?
A: “I grew up in Mission Kansas and moved to Baldwin when I was 11. I graduated from Baldwin High School. I went to KState for 2 years and then switched to KU where I got my bachelors and last year I got my masters from Pitstate.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “I like playing Zelda and mario. I like to go to the lake in the summer and go swimming. I like to go camping and ride 4 wheelers.”
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: “I love movies. It’s too hard to pick one. My favorite type of movie is comedy. Some of my favorites are Wayne’s World, Zoolander, and Pride and Prejudice.”
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: “I love cheese.”
