By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Moapa Valley Rotary Club helped teachers start the new school year off right with a great breakfast last week. Rotary members gathered early Wednesday morning to prepare a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit, and a variety of milk and juices for local educators both old and new. The breakfast was served before teachers and administrators got down to the bustle and busy-ness of the new school year.
Rotarian Karen Alsum explained that the breakfast is a labor of love. “The teachers are here every year,” she said. “They are vital to our community and we want to make sure they have a great start to the year.”
The breakfast was hosted by Moapa Valley High School. New MVHS principal Hal Mortensen used the gathering to introduce this year’s new teachers to the assembled crowd.
This year will see three new teachers joining the MVHS staff, three new teachers and a new principal coming to Perkins elementary, and 5 new teachers taking their places at Mack Lyon Middle School.
MVHS welcomes Hilary Coburn in Special Education in the self-contained unit. She will be joined by her husband Gavin Coburn and Mark Cottle, who will both be teaching in the math department. The Coburns said they are very excited to be coming to Moapa Valley. Gavin is from Murray, UT, and Hilary is from St. George.
“We are very excited,” Hilary Coburn said. “We think it will be a great year. This seems like a really great community with good kids.”
Perkins Elementary welcomes a new principal this year as Holly Lee steps in to fill the position left vacant by Hal Mortensen’s move to the high school earlier this summer. Lee hails from St. George, UT, and is very excited for the new year.
She will be joined by fellow new-hires Michelle McConnell, Angela Crouch, and Leslie Logue. McConnell will be teaching first grade, Crouch will be teaching 3rd grade, and Logue will be taking over the Early Childhood Education position.
“I am really excited to join the staff at Perkins,” Logue said.
“I love being part of this valley.” McConnell said, “I love 1st grade. I’m so excited to get to know the kids and to get a foot in the community. I’m really excited to be closer to home.”
Mack Lyon Middle School also has several changes announced. Their new teachers include Jerilyn Heiselbetz teaching 6th grade English Language Arts, Cheryl Jack in 7th grade ELA, Lori Ozaki in 6th grade math, and Nicholas Waters as the band teacher. One more teaching position has also been filled but not yet officially announced.
One exciting change at Bowler Elementary is the addition of a new art teacher to fill the space left by the retirement of long-time Bowler art teacher Clint Brill. The new art teacher, Shawn Hudgell, started his career in Nashville, TN, where he taught for 7 years.
After that time he wanted a change and answered an ad for an English teacher at a school in South Korea. He got the job and spent the next 8 years teaching English in the South Korean public school system.
While there he found a wife and family and is eagerly waiting for them to join him in Logandale in November. Hudgell has a BA in Fine Arts and a Masters in Curriculum Instruction. He is very happy to be at Bowler.
“Art literacy is very important to me,” he said. “I’m excited to meet and work with these great kids.”
Assistant Chief Student Academic Achievement Officer for CCSD and former Bowler principal Jeff Hybarger also attended the breakfast and was full of praise and optimism for the new teachers and principals.
“I think it is a new beginning and new beginnings are exciting,” he said. “There is not a better work than to serve children and youth in our community. Hal (Mortensen) and Holly (Lee) both bring seasoned leadership and enthusiasm to their positions and are both thrilled to serve this community. They have a love for children and are very committed to their work and will make a great difference in this community as they continue to grow.”