Staff News and Announcements

Comet Shout Outs (Sunday October 27, 2019)

Christy Hemphill, for being a great co teacher, and wonderful person to work along side with our ESL students.

Phoebe Chaiken has been an awesome teammate! She has introduced me to numerous tools that are making me better in the classroom!

Shout Out to Colleen Everett. She is always putting up with my "out of the box" ideas and is such a great teacher to work with.

Robyn Jordan is doing a great job assisting all of our staff. Her passion for teaching and learning is helping move all of us in a positive direction.

Sarah Boselovic is KILLING IT this year! She takes big chances in her classroom to keep her students engaged and in control of their learning, and is a great collaborator.

Steve Prescott. Big shout out for coaching JV cross country and doing a tremendous job of showing his athletes how much he cares for them and their success. He is great at motivating the unmotivated!

Tim Molnar--HUGE Shout-Out for being a great Father-Husband-Educator and Friend. He quietly goes about helping and being kind to all !!

Julie Panyko--Pure kindness and deep caring for our students and staff. If you ever need a smile-just stop by her office !!

Nick Maffey has been a GREAT addition to the MHS Staff. He has a brand new baby and is the new head wrestling coach, so he is a very busy guy, but he brings energy to the classroom every day. He knows how to connect to students and the kids love him! MHS is lucky to have him!

Katie Goetz: Katie has taken on several new students this year as we move towards inclusion. Katie makes new things, tries new things and is always willing to include all students. In co-taught biology Katie makes all students feel welcome and works with the support department to modify work as needed. She is AWESOME!

Arlene Balczo is a beacon of positivity! She always greets her day with a smile and a heart full of gratitude. She is an inspiration to me!

Melissa Jurewicz for always popping over to my room to help when my technology is acting crazy (gee, you know it's "rarely" my fault - hee hee). Thanks, neighbor!

Angie Engen - for your positive attitude and helpfulness as we prepare for testing while adding new students to your roster daily!

Sarah Branco is one of a kind. Her willingness to step in and be flexible makes my job so much easier.

Big shout out to Katie Raszka for always helping me out with technology questions.

Dan Distel for sincerely caring about us as people and as teachers.

Shout out to Aimee Hansen who has rocked out 40+ letters of rec for her amazing students. We don't get enough credit for doing this thankless job that is in addition to all of our other job requirements. She never tells her students that she is "at her max" with letters and completes them in time for scholarships and applications. She's a rock star!!!

Katie Post - She has a student teacher this fall, but spends countless hours preparing her lessons, working on fine tuning what he is doing, giving feedback to him and working to better the department. She is tireless in her efforts to improve her instruction, introduce new content and try new methods. She works with AP students and College prep and does a great job at encouraging them to learn the most by way of new and innovative strategies.

Tina Leder- Thank you for always being so quick to communicate and problem-solve for our students! You are a joy to work with!

For Paul Reedy for his willingness to compliment a colleague when they need it the most and for being eager to help no matter how busy he is.

Stacy Van Erp - She goes above and beyond daily! She connects with students and makes sure to understand their story. She always has the best interest of kids at heart.

Megan Pay - Thanks for hosting a fabulous New Student Group!! The students really enjoyed and appreciated the information, and the Counseling Department thanks you!!!!

Martha Murphy volunteered to switch her plan bell in order to help me out in my very large Applied English class. I'm extremely grateful for her help!!! She did not have to do this, but saw a need and offered to help.

Betsy Carras is such a pleasure to work with!!! This is my first year entering the co-teaching world- Betsy has a very calming demeanor and is not rattled by the high demands of her classes. She has a sweet, peaceful demeanor and creates a learning environment where all feel valued

DC provides incredible personalized learning opportunities to his students with The Chronicle, MBC, and IMI... and keeps all of us informed and entertained in the process!

Amy Emmert is amazing! She is so flexible and adapts what we are doing in the classroom to make the learning experience the best for her student.

Lori Roth for her tireless, admirable, and inspirational work with Hope Squad and mental health awareness in the building. She has put in countless time and care into running that group to ensure their work runs with student voice at its core. She always runs it so smoothly and so purposefully. She Mary-Ellen Theisen for her endless kindness and her endless dedication to the Hope Squad and its members. She's an absolutely amazing human; the school would be less bright without her.

Caryn Jenkins is an amazing friend and colleague. She is a wonderful listener and truly cares about other teachers. I appreciate being able to go to her for advice because she genuinely wants to help. Caryn is an awesome woman!

Laura Spitzmueller - for her advice, assistance, and advocacy in helping one of our kiddos!

Coffey-Her Psych students had a wonderful time exploring the destress stations she set up for lesson on Stress. Card making, homemade stress balls, coloring pages, board games etc. Awesome!!

Wilcox--She is an awesome Govt teacher and leader! She keeps things fresh and relevant & goes the extra mile to engage her students. She is whip smart and super organized! All while being a great mama to her beautiful baby boy : )

Huge Shout Out to Christy Hemphill - Christy is always going above and beyond for our ELL students and our colleagues in the building. Her perseverance does not go unnoticed and is much appreciated!

Robyn Jordan has hit the ground running by showing great respect for me and my colleagues and working with us to best serve our students. I appreciate her commitment to the challenges ahead.

Pete Rudowski arranged for our students to hear from world-renowned speaker Harris the Third on "Impacting Your Story" during Connect Time. He saw a connection to our Big Rock work and made the appearance happen. Thanks Pete!

Thank you Diana Williams for supporting every student! Your organization and follow through is amazing!!!!!

Danny Mullins for being flexible and encouraging the Comet Connections kids.

Debbie Huff and Mary Steed - Not just for their hard work every day, but on certain days when things go wrong - like Test Day - they handle and deal with it. Thank you ladies!

Sally Clark

Angie Engen and the ENTIRE guidance staff: they make testing easy on us and always deal with our stress with a smile. They are controlling their R making great outcomes for our school.

Angie Engen - As always, for your hard work and organization. Even when things are crazy, you take it in stride and remain calm.

Tony Affatato, Phyllis Bell, and Katie Hicks for keeping us updated on students with immediate personal issues.

Vance Reid - He always has something kind to say and always makes me smile.

Angie Engen is amazing!

Carol Huesing-She gives the students the push they need every single day. Her diligence, reliability, honesty, and sense of humor helps keeps everyone going!

Huge shout out to Laura Spitzmueller for always striving to make us staff feel appreciated and comfortable with what we are doing in our rooms each and every day.

Stacy Van Erp-She is so dedicated to each student. She is caring, considerate, and kind to all. Lucky to have her!

Katie Raszka -- She is ALWAYS available for me to go to and I'm so glad to have her back next door to me this year!

I could not live without my best friends, who I am fortunate enough to work with. They help talk me off the ledge when I am frustrated, they make me laugh daily, they support me when I am overwhelmed, and they inspire me to be the best teacher I can be. I always look forward to our TTTAAL (-:

Sharon King--She was a rock star testing buddy!!! : )

Nikki Wilson for her excellent guidance and her positive energy each and every day.

Mel Wynn

Comet Shout-Out to Mel Wynn! Leads by example ALWAYS!!! He's the best!

Testing Coordinators - What you accomplish on testing day is nothing short of a miracle. Thank you for investing so much time in making the day go smoothly, for keeping a smile on your face, and for not losing your patience. I don't know how you all do it but truly appreciate everything you do!

Mel - Setup 200 Tables, "no problem", please add and set up desks throughout the building, "no problem"... I've said it many times, but another huge "Shout out!" to Mel and his team for being people of excellence and helping pull the testing logistics together. MHS Super-team!!!

Mark Wyatt, Diana Williams, Bonnie White, Johnothon Sauer, Mark McCormick-Thank you for guiding, supporting and encouraging me through these past couple of months. It has been a joy working with you all!

Thank you Angie for your smile and positive attitude during testing! It is very much appreciated during a stressful time for all. You always go above and beyond expectations, we are all very lucky to have you.

Sara Burkhart - Big "Shout Out" to Sara and the kitchen staff for their flexibility and patience with changing lunch schedules due to testing and special events. Sara's organization, operational efficiency, and kindness shows in her work and is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Aaryn O'Dell for volunteering to take over Torch testing so I could go teach my 3rd bell class.

A special thank you to Amy Gobble, my "neighbor" for always stopping in and checking in on me throughout the day. Thank you Amy!

Michelle Kohler who handled my fourth call to her with another question in less than 15 minutes as nicely as she did the first. I'm sure there was a lot of stress going on as people were getting their testing sessions set up, but I didn't hear any of that in her voice. Thanks for not making me feel bad for calling so many times!!

Phyllis Bell for handling 10 things at once and still smiling at me and saying hello as soon as she saw me in the room! She's awesome!!

Jim Fox always puts things in a positive perspective that truly lifts my spirits each day. He always is in a positive mindset, has a smile on his face, and is one of the most polite, professional and respectful people I have ever met. He is a role model for ALL of us.

Jen Striker is an amazing teacher and person! At school, she makes fantastic connections with students and is always challenging them to do their best. She takes care of the teachers around her with positivity and occasionally fun school supplies! She never stops trying to improve herself and others.

Thank you to Laurie Brown for taking care of all the subs and teacher coverage needs in the building. It is so much to keep organized and it is always done to seamlessly and accurately.

Julie Panyko is such a wonderful asset for our staff and students. She is always willing to solve a problem or help a student regardless of what it might be.

TIM KING for sharing his effective teaching techniques! Nothing but love for TK.

COMET SHOUT OUT