Staley Originals: 15 Stick Around For Year 15

     Business and Marketing teacher Kelly Rule is one of the 15 staff members that’s been at the school since the beginning. Rule said the majority of her career has been here, which is something she said people don’t see often. Rule said she enjoyed coming to work because of two main things. The first is her students.      Rule said she gets bored easily, so the cons...

 Counselor James McNeely has supported students throughout his time at the school. McNeely was the School Resource Specialist for the first three years and has been a counselor for 12.       For McNeely, the most rewarding part of his role was seeing the achievements of students.       “I like seeing our students be successful,” McNee...

     Science teacher Shane Taylor has mainly taught Physics throughout his teaching career. Though Taylor has been teaching for 28 years, the subject has been a constant during his 15 years at the school too.       “I’m kind of a physics guy,” Taylor said. “I really taught that for most of 28 years. It’s what makes the world go round...

  Gifted Resource Specialist Carol Toney was one of the people who helped organize the opening day of the school. Toney said the first day was a vivid memory from her time at the school.      “I’ll never forget Mr. Anderson standing out there screeching with his voice,” Toney said. “We had blocked off the student entrance with these green ribbons. Mr. ...

    Mathematics teacher Kristina Francis said the growing support for the school’s extracurriculars was exciting to see over the years.       “One of my favorite things is seeing the school become a school,” Francis said. “Traditions that did not exist and incredible programs, clubs and activities grow, and students get behind that.”   &...

   Administrative assistant Kate Strahl has held the same position at the school since it opened 15 years ago. While Strahl said that in the field of education everything will adapt to some extent, her role has remained mostly the same over time.       “It's really neat when I’ve been here so long in this same place that people are just expecting th...

   Science teacher and Emeralds coach Andrea Holmes has grown alongside the school for more than a decade.      “Fifteen years has actually gone by pretty quickly,” Holmes said. “When I started I had no kids of my own, and now I have five kids. Staley has been part of that growth.”      While her life outside of the school has changed, he...

      Social studies teacher Bob Buck, J.D., started his first year of teaching during the school’s first year, after leaving his 10-year role as a lawyer. Buck said that while his former job was a decent profession, it didn’t compare to the classroom environment.       “I feel very fortunate to teach here,” Buck said. “I think I have the grea...

     Since the school opened, choir director Tracy Resseguie has been building the program. Despite the challenges that came with creating a new program, Resseguie found the recognition his choirs received on a large scale rewarding.      “It was the opportunity to build a program that was highly respected from around the world,” Resseguie said. “Different countries, not jus...

     Art teacher Chelle Cox is another of the Staley Originals who helped create the school community that exists today. While the school is established in many ways, it looked very different in the beginning.       “The first year was difficult because we didn’t have any traditions or set procedures yet,” Cox said. “We were building everything fro...

     Physical Education teacher and head baseball coach David Wilson has been with the school for each step of its journey.      “Over the course of 15 years, you see a lot of change,” Wilson said. “Every milestone or everything that’s happened at the school, I’ve been there.”       Similar to the growth Wilson saw in the school itself, Wilson had also seen progress from many of his students and players....

     Spanish teacher Anna Maki-Birchler has taught language classes at the school since the beginning. Spanish III, IV and V have been her classes since the start.      Though the proficiency levels of each class are different, Maki-Birchler said she loved each of the classes for different reasons.      “I love Spanish III s...

     Attendance office assistant Jeanine Felten worked for seven years in the nurse’s office as an assistant before filling a role in the attendance office. Felten said the past 15 years had been mixed for her.      “In some ways it's gone by quickly, and in some ways its gone by very slowly,” Felten said.      Felten said she appreciated the fi...

     Chris Carey, M.Ed., taught Spanish classes as well as AVID for multiple years. While Carey was unable to teach AVID this year, he said he valued what the program taught, such as organization and college preparation.      Carey said he also enjoyed teaching Spanish I, as it showed students their communication capabilities.       “It gets them going into Spanish co...