Series of Personnel Moves by Unit 40 Board Monday

Effingham Unit 40 school board members acted on a series of personnel moves Monday night.

The Board hired:

--Whitney Duncan--5th grade girls basketball coach

--Peyton Rueter--two hour cashier at the high school

--Joshua Morton--4th grade teacher at Central School

--Kristine Seiler--cafeteria monitor at Early Learning Center

--Aleyda Munoz--District Family Liaison

--Christen Brown--payroll assistant

--Irene Gibson--paraprofessional

--Grace Kroenlein--teacher's assistant at Little Hearts

--Allen Lavengood--four hour bus driver

--Donna Gadd and Gayle Golden--cafeteria monitors at South Side School

The Board transferred:

--Kelsi Geltz--flex teacher at Central School, beginning in January 2025

--Julie Wortman--paymaster

The Board appointed:

--Britt Wendling--junior high yearbook advisor

The Board granted leaves to:

--Lisa Lauritzen, Josaphine Westendorf, John Westendorf, Emily Wolff, Christy Jones

The Board approved these volunteers:

--Mallory Walls, Jill Jones, Isabella Munoz, and Jay Macklin for the 24-25 junior high musical, "Sister Act Jr."

--Riley Crain--competitive cheer coach

The Board accepted these resignations:

--Patricia Day and Kim Tegeler as paraprofessionals

--Don Brown--maintenance

--Christen Brown--PFA paraprofessional

--Kristin Harvey--transportation director

The Board accepted this retirement:

--Diane Claar--bus driver as of the end of the school year

The Board terminated:

--Isabella Rogers--paraprofessional

Board members were also updated by Career and Technical Education Program Director Laura Sullivan on her work since her hiring in May. Sullivan, who also is director of the Pathways program for the district, spoke about her work regardless of whether a student is headed for college, the military, or the work world once out of high school. She said, "I'm here to help students graduate with a plan and a purpose."

Sullivan said she has met with some 20 businesses to develop partnerships, is working with ESL students and is pursuing dual credit opportunities to earn both high school and college credits. She's also promoting awareness of Schoollinks, where students can go online for ideas to pursue career ideas.

Unit 40 Board President Jill Wendling was pleased when Sullivan mentioned her work with younger students to make them aware of career options.