Monica LaSalle, Gilpin County.  Gilpin County Schools has been fertile ground for many new teachers and staff this 2018-2019 school year. Many of them are attracted to the beautiful mountain vistas; but all have agreed that the amazing community that is Gilpin County has got to be the biggest perk to their new positions.

Mary Kay Morris received a B.S in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University and proceeded to work as an occupational therapist for six years. She then worked as a Montessori assistant for 11 1/2 years. Four of the eleven and 1/2 years as a Montessori assistant were in lower elementary, with the other seven in Montessori preschool classrooms. Mary Kay also owned and operated a Gymboree play program in Tulsa, OK for six years. Since coming to the area, she completed Montessori Primary training at Montessori Education Center of the Rockies in Boulder, CO and taught in a Jeffco Public Schools preschool. This year is a self-directed internship year for her at Gilpin, as she is more than half way through a master’s degree in early childhood education at The University of Colorado Denver. Mary Kay says she was drawn to working in Gilpin Schools due to the warm and generous attitudes she encountered from staff and the community as well as the beautiful mountain vistas and beauty of the area.

Dawn Blake is originally from Alaska. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree at Eastern Oregon University in 2001, then returned to Alaska to teach middle school math for 8 years in Juneau. There she met her husband, followed him back to his home state of CO and got a job teaching math at Clear Creek High School in Evergreen. In 2011, Dawn decided to take a break from the classroom to raise her children and pursue a Master’s degree in Math Education from the University of Alaska Southeast. Dawn came back to teaching last year and started substitute teaching at Gilpin County Schools. Here she fell in love with the K-12 school and the students. She and her family live in Black Hawk, and her children are enrolled in the Gilpin school system. For Dawn, Gilpin is their community school (and her husband’s Alma Mater), and she has a great appreciation for the level of commitment the community puts forth towards learning through a terrific staff and beautiful facilities. Dawn looks forward to sharing her enjoyment for the problem solving aspects of math with her students and hopes to get them to appreciate math, learn real world applications, and see the need to train their mind to learn new concepts.

Michael O’Connell is teaching Science at Gilpin High School this year. Last year, he taught at Morey Middle School in downtown Denver. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Wichita State University. Besides being employed as an educator, he has also worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Through work and education in the past twelve years he has lived in 8 different states, 11 cities, and one aircraft carrier. He is now looking forward to planting some roots in our wonderful community. He enjoys music, cooking, and everything that the mountains have to offer. Michael hopes to share his enthusiasm and passion for science by providing multiple teaching methods to his students and matching his students’ energy and efforts for learning with his own.

Jackie Walby is no stranger to the challenges of teaching in a rural community. Born and raised in Montana, Jackie earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Montana State University Bozeman. From there she taught 5th and 6th combination class as well as kindergarten in a very rural school district in eastern Montana. Later, Jackie switched gears and spent some time designing and implementing professional development trainings for licensed childcare professionals in Billings, a change that later assisted her in starting her own in-home childcare business and her family. Two years ago, Jackie and her family relocated to Longmont, where she chose to work as a toddler teacher at the same NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accredited childcare facility that her son attended. But their longing for country living and wanting to put down roots in a mountain community with a great school system had them looking in Gilpin, and they moved up the mountain in the summer of 2017. Jackie spent the beginning part of last school year filling in as a substitute before accepting a position to be a classroom assistant and reading interventionist with the Lower El Montessori classrooms. Now she is teaching math and social studies to this year’s 5th grade population. Jackie says she strives to make lessons meaningful and fun for the kids, and tries to help the kids see how the math skills they are practicing today can be used in real-life situations as they grow…ever looking for the “A-ha” moment in her students suddenly making a new learning connection and being excited to propel forward.

Teaching is something that Anita Myers had been missing during her 10 years as an Elementary Principal for DPS and Adams 14, and she considers being able to return to the classroom a gift. Anita is a long time resident of Central City and she feels more of a connection to the community in her current position as the new 6th grade ELA teacher at Gilpin County Schools. She started her career teaching language arts to middle school students in Denver and says what she loves about sixth graders is their sense of adventure and excitement in learning. Anita earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Metropolitan University of Denver and her Master’s from CU Boulder. She followed up on this with postgraduate work at DU.

Katura Sales is a 2013 graduate of Gilpin County Schools and has a history of working with the youth of the area through the Gilpin County Recreation Center where she worked in the summer camp program each year supervising 30 or more kids a day. Katura is pleased to now be given an opportunity to give back to her community through being Gilpin County’s Certified Athletic Trainer as well as the new PE teacher. Having received her Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and a minor degree in Exercise Science from Missouri Valley College has given her the skills required to design and build her own curriculum from scratch that focuses on teaching kids proper form when lifting, how to gauge what is an adequate amount of cardiovascular exercise each day and other preventative care that can help prevent some diseases and injuries as they grow to adulthood. Katura also spends a significant amount of time attending all home and away games as well as all practices for the sports program in Gilpin County Schools. She will be earning her alternative teaching license through ASPIRE to Teach at CU Denver this school year.

With so much talent adding to an already wonderful and dedicated staff, our students are bound to succeed!

(Originally published in the September 13, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)