Rock Port Elementary staff for 2020-21 include, from left to right: front row – Stephen Gaines, Kelli Holstine, Rachel Stanton, Kari Amthor, Dixie Teten, and Steve Waigand; second row – Kaitlea Hastert, Sydney Rains, Jennifer Geib, Tabitha Waigand, and Kymm Bredensteiner; third row – Ciara Hunter, Tawni Ellis, Jill Gilson, Shelby Garst, Tisha Jackson, and Cindie Gaines; fourth row – Lisa Weber, Georgia Criger, Leigh Ann Lawrence, Wendy Hays, Stacy Hughes, and Tricia Crawford; and back row – Megan Rainey, Sheena Roup, Michelle Garst, Teresa Mertens, Lynn Hunter, and Stephanie Pankau.

Rock Port High School staff for the 2020-21 school year include, from left to right: front row – Ethan Sickels, Valeria Grossman, Emily Graham, Rachel Jenkins, and Thomas Herron; second row – Michelle Hogue, Mary Hale, Jennifer Rueckert, Jennifer Vogler, Shauna Farmer, and Donnie Parsons; third row – Megan Bebb, Kerri Acton, Amy Skillen, Crystal Goins, Jackie Miller, Debbie Young, and Mark McMahon; and fourth row – Wayne Moore, Richard Fentiman, Jacob Erdman, Alec Hendrickson, Tiffanie Gaines, Trudy Herron, Kristi Herron, and Shawn Shineman.

New staff in the Rock Port Elementary, from left to right, are Megan Rainey, Stephanie Pankau, Kelli Holstine and Sydney Rains.

Fairfax Elementary staff members for the 2020-21 school year include, from left to right: front row – Karen Burke,  Jennifer Blakeman,  Marisa Hedlund, Twilla Clark, Amy Fast, and Shelby Hurst; second row – Crystal Schieffer, Betsy Larson, Loryanne Daugherty, Lexi Heck, Melanie Lucas, and Suzanne Fentiman; third row – Laurie Yocum, Tammy Grossman, Lauren Clark, and Dustin Barnes.

Fairfax High School staff members for the 2020-21 school year include, from left to right: front row – Marisa Hedlund, Kristi Duering, Debra Wyatt, Donna Million, Sandy Umbarger, and Kriston Wheeler; second row – Madison Hagey, Patty Bredensteiner, Jayme Koop, Nancy Harrington, Aleesha Lemar, and Starla Livengood; third row – Kerry Baker, Calvin Nichols, Kameron Schieffer, Jonnie Kemerling, and Jeremy Burright.

Kristi Duering, left, is the new math and business teacher at Fairfax R-3. Starla Livengood, right, is the new head cook.

Tarkio Elementary staff members for the 2020-21 school year include, from left to right: first row – Courtney Meyerkorth, Meghan Romines, Dallas Prather, and Marie Joesting; second row – Diana Parra, Brooke Walton, Amanda Powell, Blu Dow, Erica Taylor, and Susie Jones; third row – Melissa White, Courtney Driskell, Sandi Riley, Barb Tubbs, Bobbi Poppa, and Jerri Harbin; fourth row – Mary Beth Bredensteiner, Kaitlyn Dunkin, Renee Hull, and Tabitha Gibson; fifth row – Crissy Drummond, Carrie Driskell, Jennifer Peregrine, and Laura Forehand; sixth row – Kari Taylor, Cindy Rolf, Maria Spire, Melody Barnett, Shannon Bruns, and Karma Coleman; and seventh row – Courtney Harms, Markie Sundermann, Lesley Graves, Lisa Clement, and Jayme Wood.

Tarkio Junior High and High School staff members for the 2020-21 school year include, from left to right: first row – Courtney Meyerkorth, Casey Martin, Nate Jeter, Kevin Dodson, Joe Unternahrer, Aaron Behrens, and Carrie Livengood; second row – Dara Whipple, Eric Walker, Terry Wooten, Lori Staten, Mark Staten, and Tracy Cooper; third row – Ellie Graves, Michelle Henry, Stephanie Parsons, Tammy Aksamit, Heidi Unternahrer, and Megan Calfee; fourth row – Melody Barnett, Jayme Wood, Susie Jones, Marilyn Brandenburg, Deyton Thomson, and Lanette Hogue; and fifth row – Dustin Lambertsen, Karma Coleman, Bill Joesting, Amy Haddock, Suzanne Brought, and Josh Taylor.

Josh Taylor, left, is a new coach and paraprofessional at Tarkio R-I. Courtney Meyerkorth, right, is the new art teacher.

Atchison County students return to school this week. They were (or will be) greeted by many familiar faces, and a few new ones at school. Those joining the schools this year are:

ROCK PORT

Kelli Holstine of Mound City, Missouri, is the new fourth grade teacher at Rock Port R-II. She married her husband, Hunter Holstine, this past summer. She  has an older brother who lives in Chicago and an older sister who is a vet in Maryville. Her parents live on the family farm in Conception and Hunter’s family lives on their farm in Mound City.

Kelli attended Jefferson High School in Conception Junction, Missouri. She earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education with concentration in Math at Northwest and will earn her graduate degree in Curriculum and Instruction this December. She worked at St. Gregory Barbarigo Elementary as a third grade teacher. She enjoys exploring new places and crafting in her free time.

Mrs. Holstine is looking forward to building relationships with her students, their families, and the community, as well as grow alongside the students and staff at Rock Port Elementary.

Stephanie Pankau is a new paraprofessional at Rock Port R-II. Stephanie lives in Rock Port with her husband, Greg. They have three children, Emma (attending Northwest and majoring in Ag Ed), Trulin (who is a sophomore at Rock Port High School), and Lilly (who is an eighth grader at Rock Port).

Stephanie lived in El Paso and attended Irvin High School. She earned her BA in Music Education at the University of Texas – El Paso. She has worked as a teacher in San Antonio, Texas, and at West Nodaway and Hamburg. She is also the manager/co-owner of Farm2Fork Ranch. In her spare time, Stephanie enjoys photography.

Mrs. Pankau’s goals for the school year are to help each child she encounters learn to the best of their ability and to help them meet their full potential!

Megan Rainey is the new preschool paraprofessional at Rock Port R-II. Mrs. Rainey lives in Shenandoah, Iowa, with her husband of 14 years, Chris. She has three children and two grandchildren, including Mackenzie (24) who has Maggie (4) and Finn (2), Maddison (22), and Lance (5).

Megan attended Anita High School and earned her Early Childhood Education and Special Education degree from Grand Canyon University. She worked at Eaton Corporation from 2003 to 2017 and at Shenandoah School District from 2019 to 2020. Megan and her husband own a few classic cars and in her free time, she enjoys taking drives in them. Her goals for this school year are to get more experience in the classroom with her students and to not only teach her students, but also learn from them as well.

Sydney Rains of Maryville, Missouri, is the new elementary special education teacher at Rock Port R-II. She attended Holden, Missouri, high school. She earned her Associate’s Degree at MECKC in Arts/Teaching and is finishing her double major at Northwest for Elementary Education and Special Education. This will be her first year of teaching.

Sydney enjoys spending time with her parents, sisters, and cat in her free time, as well as listening to music. Her goals for this school year are to put herself out there and make herself a true member of the Rock Port family, as well as to ensure all her students leave every day knowing how loved and important they are to the entire school.

FAIRFAX

Kristi Duering is the new business and math teacher at Fairfax R-3. Kristi lives in Fairfax (past 10 years) with her husband, Dee; daughter, KayDee, 13, who is an eighth grader at Fairfax R-3; and son, Tyler, 10, who is a fifth grader at Fairfax R-3. Kristi received a Bachelor’s degree from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia. She has served on the Fairfax City Council for the past five years, as well as worked as a para at Fairfax R-3 for the past two years.

Starla Livengood is the new head cook at Fairfax R-3. She was born and raised mostly in Omaha, Nebraska, but has lived in Tarkio for 35 years. Her father’s roots are here, as well as many family members, and it is what brought her back.

Starla has worked at some fast food restaurants, as a CNA, as Northside Saloon management, but her passion was and is children, so she’s worked with special needs children and provided transportation for Tarkio R-I for 23 years.

In her spare time, Starla enjoys cooking, spending time with family and friends at gatherings, and traveling. She’s a mom to six sons and a daughter so they all keep her busy, along with husband, Brent Livengood.

Starla said she’s very excited to have been given the opportunity to be head cook with the Fairfax school.

TARKIO

Courtney Meyerkorth of Rock Port, Missouri, is the new art teacher at Tarkio R-I. Courtney is married to Adam Meyerkorth and they have three children, Archer, Bertie, and Mason.

Courtney is originally from Kirksville, Missouri. Her education includes the NWMSU art program in Maryville,  majoring in graphic design; MACC in Kirksville; UCM as an interior design major; and Truman State University as an art education major and then later Truman’s Master of Arts in Education with a focus in Art Ed. She worked at Rock Port R-II School as a K-12 Art teacher and earned her certification and her Masters in Educational Leadership at NWMSU.

Mrs. Meyerkorth is very excited about teaching at Tarkio and is committed to providing challenging yet enjoyable projects tailored to each grade level she works with. She teaches Sunday school with junior high students at First Baptist Church in Tarkio, enjoys all the seasons, and is usually wearing tennis shoes because life is too short to be uncomfortable.

Josh Taylor of Tarkio is a new coach and paraprofessional at Tarkio R-I. Josh is married to Kari, Tarkio Elementary Principal, and they have a daughter, Teagan, who is going into fourth grade at Tarkio Elementary.

Josh was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Vashon High School. He attended Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri, and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Recreation Adminstration. Josh has worked as the director of the YMCA in St. Joseph and Bolivar, Missouri. He was a group leader and counselor at State Missouri Youth Services at the Springfield Community Learning Center and Riverbend Treatment Facility. Most recently, he was a para and coached basketball at Clarinda Academy in Clarinda, Iowa.

Josh said he is looking forward to working in Tarkio school district. His goals this year are to give as much support to students as possible so they are able to achieve their own goals in the classroom and on the playing field.