Lind, Ritzville schools welcome new staff

With the start of the second year of the academic cooperative between the Lind and Ritzville School Districts, parents and students can expect to see many new faces in the classrooms in local schools.

The majority of staffing changes are occurring in the Lind School District, following the retirement and resignation of eight educators in the district. There are still a variety of positions left to fill in the districts, including several para-educators, a custodian in Ritzville and a counselor to serve in the cooperative.

Following the resignation of Cheryl Henjum, principal for the Ritzville Schools, the school board and administration conducted interviews last week to fill the position. Teresa Laher has officially accepted the position as principal for the Ritzville Schools for the upcoming year.

Three tenured educators retired from the Lind School District this year. After serving over a combined 70 years in the district, Chris Johnson, Debbie Knodel and Cathey Erickson all retired from their posts as teachers in the Lind Schools.

Lind resident Jason Sanger is filling the position of Lind-Ritzville Middle School social studies teacher, a position formerly held by Johnson. Shauna Burghard is stepping into the position previously held by Knodel as third grade teacher at Lind Grade School, while Breanna Walker has been hired to teach second grade, a grade formerly taught by Erickson.

Stepping into the position of middle school English teacher is Rita Fryberger. She is filling the position vacated by Jennifer Kendall, who resigned after serving for one year in the district.

After the resignation of music teacher Eleonora Robinson, Heidi Nygren has been hired to serve as the physical education and music teacher at the Lind Elementary School. Lance Marquardt will now fill the middle school math position previously held by Richard Taylor, and Gaynor Edwards is replacing Jeff Wendt to serve as the special services instructor in the Lind Schools.

In the Ritzville School District, Kim Weishaar has been hired to teach the second grade class at Ritzville Grade School. Susan Schafer previously taught the second grade, but has accepted the position of grade school music teacher for the district.

The final position split between the cooperative is the job of nurse. Aimee Schell has been hired as the nurse for the upcoming year and will serve both districts. The position became vacant following the resignation of Denise Wollweber and Melissa Buob.

For information about the district positions and new staff members, visit the Lind-Ritzville Schools Cooperative website at http://lrschools.org.