New Staff at Lawrence/Nelson
We have three new teachers coming on staff at Lawrence/Nelson for the 2016-2017 school year. Kinzie Beutler will be teaching first grade, Andy Peterson will be teaching fifth grade, and Abby Hongsermeier will be teaching science to the middle school and high school students. Additionally, we have a new speech pathologist from Grand Island Physical Therapy, who has worked in our school system before, Brendell (Studnicka) Martin, who will be serving the speech and language needs of our preschool and elementary students. The new school psychologist, William Hookstra, will be serving our district this year. And most recently, Kristi Wehrman has taken on the position of school nurse for Lawrence/Nelson for the 2016-2017 school year, and will be teaching the Healthcare Pathway.
Please help me welcome our new staff members, and the following is just a little background information on each of them as it becomes available.
Mrs. Kristi (Springer) Wehrman. Mrs. Wehrman graduated from Sandy Creek High School in 2004. Following this, she majored in nursing at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, earning her Bachelors Degree in 2008. Wehrmans are fortunate to live near all of their immediate family, including grandparents, parents, and all of their siblings. Mrs. Wehrman and her husband, Doug, live in the house that her family grew up in. Doug is a physical therapist in Superior at Brodstone Memorial Hospital, where our healthcare students will be working on site-based trainings in the healthcare field. Doug and Kristi have three small children: Allison (3 years old and starting preschool this fall), Benjamin (2 years old, and the messier, the happier), and Elizabeth (4 months old and very smiley and active).
Mrs. Wehrman states that her high school teachers helped guide her into pursuing nursing as a career because they recognized that science classes not only appealed to her. They recognized that science classes appealed to her and helped her to explore different ways that she could turn into talents and interests into a job that she loves. Her parents also helped her to find her passion. She felt that her parents recognized there was a career where she could help people every day without sitting behind a desk. After putting all of the pieces together, Mrs. Wehrman and her parents came up with nursing as the perfect fit for her.
Following graduation, Mrs. Wehrman first worked at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for two years in the neurology unit. She then moved back to the area and worked at Superior Family Medical Center in the clinic for a year. The last five years, she has been working at Mary Lanning Healthcare where she worked in the critical care floor for 3 and 1/2 years and in cardia rehab for the last year and a half.
Mrs. Wehrman is looking forward to working in the area in which she lives. Because she has known many of the people in the area for a long time, she is excited to get to work with them daily to keep the kids, staff, and community healthy. As a family, the Wehrmans enjoys anything that gets them outside. Four-wheeling, helping on the farm, and swimming are a few of their favorite activities. Personally, Mrs. Wehrman really enjoys running, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.
Mrs. Brendell (Studnicka) Martin. Mrs. Martin went to school at Clay Center from K-12, and completed her undergraduate at South Carolina State University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and played for four years on the women’s volleyball team. Mrs. Martin then received her Masters in Science Education, Speech-Language Pathology, from the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Martin is married to James Martin and the daughter of David and Julie Studnicka. She has two sisters and one brother as follows: Bridget VonSpreckelsen (spouse: Eric VonSpreckelsen) who has three daughters (Anja, Myka, Emma) and live in Junction City, Kansas; Brandice Petr (spouse: Adam Petr) who has one daughter (Liv), one son (Bo) and one more on the way; and Bryson Studnicka (spouse: Madison Hoyt) who has one daughter (Sophie) and one son (Theo).
Martin says that while she had an incredible support system throughout her education made up of teachers, professors, classmates, and family, her mother had the biggest impact. Martin states that Mrs. Studnicka was the first one to introduce her to the field of speech-language pathology, and then continued to support her throughout the journey. Along the way of this journey, Martin held the position of paraeducator at Lawrence/Nelson Preschool and Elementary, before attending graduate school. During graduate school, she substitute taught preschool -12th grade for the South Central Unified District. After completing graduate school, she began working at Children’s Rehab Center and Balance and Mobility of Hastings as a Speech-Language Pathologist.
Martin states that she is looking forward to working at Lawrence/Nelson because of her past experience. While working in the community right out of college, she learned from the L/N staff as she saw firsthand their dedication to student success. She is looking forward to being a part of the hard working and welcoming staff once again in her new role as their speech pathologist. When she is not at school, Martin quotes spending time with her family, baking, running and shopping for deals, as her favorite things to do. Welcome back, Mrs. Martin!
Ms. Kinzie Beutler. Ms. Beutler graduated from Norfolk Senior High in 2011 before attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where she received her bachelor of arts in early childhood education in December of 2014. Since that time, Ms. Beutler has been a substitute teacher for Raymond Central Elementary, Malcolm Public Schools, Kearney, Overton, and Amherst Public Schools, and was a paraprofessional at Windy Hills Elementary in Kearney. Ms. Beutler is the daughter of Jeff and Konnie Beutler from Norfolk, NE, and considers herself the luckies aunt on earth to her nephew, Kyler, the son of Karisa and Jared Roberts from Lincoln.
Ms. Beutler is quoted as saying "There were two people who had the biggest impact on me [going into education]...my kindergarten and sixth grade teachers." Ms. Beutler remains in contact with these ladies, and continues to use their support in her teaching career.
Ms. Beutler is looking forward to meeting new staff, students and parents at Lawrence/Nelson, and can already sense it is a close-knit community. She can't wait to create her own Lawrence/Nelson "family" upon starting this fall. She would like to encourage the community members to approach her and introduce yourself, as she loves meeting people, running, and doing crafts. So if she is not at the elementary, you can look for her in the gym or at Hobby Lobby!
Mr. William Hookstra. Mr. Hookstra attended high school at Spalding Public Schools in Spalding, NE. Following this, he attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and double-majored in Psychology and Sociology. After graduating from UNL, he attended graduate school at Alliant International University-San Francisco. The decision to attend graduate school in San Francisco was made after a few visits and realizing that being able to live in such a dynamic and diverse area would help Hookstra grow as a person exponentially. Educationally, the experience provided Hookstra with the chance to learn from and work with amazing educators, professionals, and mentors that were, and continue to be, on the forefront of the newest and best practices within his field.
Hookstra has a wife (Jill) and son (Hudson) who is six years old. Pets include Sneaky, the Beta fish. Hookstra attributes his parents to having an impact on him choosing the education field. His mother was an elementary school teacher until retirement, and his father was a Superintendent in Nebraska for many years, and continues to be an Assistant Superintendent in Arizona.
In regards to the psychology aspect, Hookstra has always been fascinated by the entire field, but specifically the cognitive system and how it governs one’s behavior, learning, decision-making, etc. School psychology was the "perfect marriage" of what Hookstra was interested in, and continues to be extremely passionate about. He looks forward to working with the district staff and the Lawrence/Nelson community, and hopes to make a positive impact with the staff and students here.
In his spare time, you can find Hookstra with his wife and son, doing what they enjoy: swimming; fishing; playing baseball, football, and basketball; building Lego creations of epic proportions; watching movies; and visiting places that will allow family adventures and memories.
Mr. Peterson completed his student teaching at Meadowlark Elementary in Kearney, where he taught fifth grade. Graduating in May of 2015, in the last year, Mr. Peterson has substitute taught in the Kearney area during the first semester of 2015-2016 and in the Hastings area in the second semester of 2015-2016. Subbing in nearly every grade, this experience really helped Mr. Peterson decide that the upper elementary grade was the best fit for him. As a high school athlete and an avid sports enthusiast, Mr. Peterson looks forward to helping coach the girls' high school basketball team this upcoming school year. Through helping out in a variety of sports and his work at the YMCA, as well as refereeing, Mr. Peterson came to realize how tough being a ref can be. Since this experience, Mr. Peterson feels like playing the role of ref is one to be respected.
Because Lawrence/Nelson is Peterson's hometown, he is excited to "come back home." He has missed the small town life and its comradery, and while he has been visiting weekly for the slow pitch softball league on Wednesday nights, he looks forward to this being a part of his daily life. Mr. Peterson enjoys being with friends and family, going to the lake, and taking parts in both watching and playing sports whenever possible. Welcome back to the area, Mr. Peterson, and as you stated in your interview and we agree, "I couldn't have picked a better place to start my teaching career!"
Ms Hongsermeier grew up in a family with three older sisters and a younger brother. Her father was a farmer, but now works maintenance at manufacturing plants. Her mother is a grain inspector at AGP of Hastings. Her daughter, Kari, is eight years old and will be a third grader this fall at Sandy Creek. She currently has eight nephews, one niece, and a significant other, Eric (who works for Pioneer) that are also close family members. Together, her family has a husky (Kane), a tabby cat (Ella), and a bearded dragon (Mr. Petonias).
Why education for Ms. Hongsermeier? She did not hesitate to say that her daughter has had the biggest impact on her decision to be in education. While at UNL, Ms. Hongsermeier worked at the Parasitology Lab while at UNL, teaching others how to use microscopes and the basics of data collection, as well as at the YMCA, where she was an after-school program teacher, a summer camp counselor and worked in the child care center. She has spent her summers working as a detasseling supervisor, in the Ravenna Public Library Summer Reading Program, and many other community educational programs. As a Daisy Girl Scout Leader for her daughter's troop, she counts her most important job as that of a mom, which means that she is "a teacher, coach and sponsor every day."
Ms. Hongsermeier is looking forward to doing science with rural kids. The small-town agricultural community is the perfect place to do progressive science education, in her opinion. She noted that she was "impressed at the level of commitment, compassion and energy she has seen from the staff at Lawrence/Nelson." In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, hiking, camping, volleyball, crafting, traveling, live music, spending time with friends and family, reading, and continuing my education...in other words, she does not really like to have spare time!
Advice that Ms. Hongsermeier has for her future students: "Be curious, ask questions, solve problems. That's what science is all about! Go Raiders!"