The new staff members at Fairfax R-3 include, from left to right: Amy Fast, Shelley Eaton, Dana Tracy, Alyssa Brink, Jenna Rafe, and Daniel Umbarger. Nick Kemerling and April Clark are not pictured.
Fairfax R-3 School welcomed the following new personnel at the start of the new school year:
April Clark
April Clark is the new Fairfax R-3 Elementary custodian. She attended Fairfax R-3 Schools and majored in psychology at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. She previously worked at Hy-Vee in Maryville.
April’s family has lived in Fairfax for a long time. Her father, Danny Clark, graduated from Fairfax in 1987 and his mother, Sharon Clark, taught English at the school as well. April lives in Fairfax and enjoys reading, writing, and painting.
Dana Tracy
Dana Tracy is the new 7-12 math teacher at Fairfax R-3. She majored in business management at NWMSU.
Dana has been running MDT Woodworks. She is married to Mike and they live south of Fairfax. She has a stepson, Wyatt, and cockapoo, Lucy.
Dana enjoys doing DIY projects and spending time with her family. Her goals for the school year are to provide knowledge and skills to her students to help prepare them for the real world.
Amy Fast
Amy Fast is the new first grade teacher at Fairfax R-3. She attended Lathrop High School in Lathrop, Missouri, college at Northwest Missouri State University and obtained her undergraduate degree in Child and Family Studies with a minor in Deaf Studies. She also attended Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas, and obtained a Master of Arts in Education degree.
She taught at Pawnee City Public Schools, Pawnee City, Nebraska.
Amy and her husband, David Fast, live life on the farm on Highway 46 in western Nodaway County. They have two daughters, Avery and Aspyn, and mini-Aussie Oaklee. Avery is in seventh grade, Aspyn is in fourth grade, and David is the Radiology Director at Clarinda Regional Health Center in Clarinda, Iowa.
Amy loves to cook and bake when she has time.
Her goals for the school year are to be flexible, learn and grow, be open-minded, and to give students a fun quality learning experience.
Alyssa Brink
Alyssa Brink is the new second grade teacher at Fairfax R-3. She will also help coach junior high girls’ basketball and junior high track.
Alyssa attended high school at Riverside High School in Oakland, Iowa. She attended college at Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska, majoring in Elementary Education and a minor in coaching.
She worked at Sidney Elementary as a 1-1 paraprofessional and part-time at the grocery store in Rock Port, Missouri.
Alyssa has three siblings: an older brother and two younger sisters. She lives an hour away from family, but family means a lot to her so she talks to them a lot and goes up to see them every chance that she gets. She lives in Rock Port with her boyfriend, Nick, and their cat Dj.
She enjoys running, and every day after school she tries to go for a run. She also spends a lot of time with the cows that they have.
One of her goals this year is to build positive relationships with her students, making sure that they know if they need something that they’re able to come to her.
Jenna Rafe
Jenna Rafe is the new third grade teacher at Fairfax Elementary School. She graduated high school from Papillion La Vista High School. Jenna attended Northwest Missouri State University and received her Bachelor’s Degree in education. She is currently attending NWMSU to get her Master’s in curriculum and instruction: teaching technology. She will graduate in December.
Mrs. Rafe started her teaching journey in Craig, Missouri, where she taught second and third grades. She then spent the last three years in the St. Joseph School District where she taught first and sixth grades at the Virtual Academy, second grade at Coleman Elementary, and 3rd at Pershing Elementary.
Jenna is married to her husband, Nicholas, and they live in Maryville, Missouri. They have been together for 10 years and married for seven. They have two beautiful kids: three-year-old Addison is a wild child (she’s as wild as her curls, and her orange hair is the best part); and a 2.5-month-old Dawson, who she gave birth to three days after the last school year ended. Their summer has been busy! They also have a husky blue heeler mix named Boots and he’s the most loving pup!
When not teaching, Jenna enjoys shopping and buying things for her classroom.
Her goals for the school year is to create a classroom that is migraine friendly without using overhead lighting. She also has a goal to build strong relationships and show her students that she cares about them as people, not just students!
Mrs. Rife remarked, “I am very excited and have felt so welcomed in Fairfax. I am so excited for the school year!”
Daniel Umbarger
Daniel Umbarger is the science teacher at Fairfax R-3.
Nick Kemerling
Nick Kemerling is the new Fairfax R-3 Superintendent.
Shelley Eaton
Shelley Eaton is the new Fairfax R-3 counselor.
