Ronan School District welcomes new teachers
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(Editor’s note: These are the corrected teacher’s biographies and photos for Ronan School District that ran in the Aug. 28 edition of the Valley Journal.)
Noelle Decker is a Mission Valley native. She served as the secretary at Pablo Elementary for 23 years. This is her first year teaching. She attended Salish and Kootenai College and Western Governor’s University.
She has a grown son and daughter and a granddaughter.
She enjoys coaching cross-country, running, visiting new places, and spending time with family and friends.
Her favorite aspect of teaching is getter to know her students and their families.
Her teaching philosophy is that all students are unique and their learning styles can be very different.
“My task is to get to know and understand each individual child and how they learn best,” Decker said.
Her favorite teaching memory is when her Ronan students were taught a unit on the Olympics and got to complete a “marathon” that incorporated science, social studies, math and English.
Ciara Everett is originally from Anaconda, where her parents, brother, sister, and four nephews still live. She graduated from the University of Montana in Missoula. She previously taught fourth and fifth grades in Fernwood, Idaho.
She enjoys the outdoors and is a metal smith jeweler and an Oula fitness instructor. She loves working with children.
“They never cease to amaze me,” she said.
She looks forward to becoming part of the community.
Molly Fisher grew up in Kalispell, where she was taught in a one-room schoolhouse before attending Flathead High School. She graduated from Montana State University in Bozeman before teaching in a one-room school in Pleasant Valley and another school in White Sulphur Springs.
Fisher is an only child whose parents live in Kalispell. She enjoys barrel racing, horses, the outdoors, learning new things, reading, and exploring new places.
Fisher said her teaching philosophy is to be a “facilitator of knowledge to students, but each student should have the time and tools to be able to come to a conclusion on his/her own. Critical thinking skills are so important to build from a young age. I believe every student deserves the opportunity to succeed in life.”
Julie Janssen is a fourth grade teacher for Ronan School District. This is Janssen’s first year of teaching, but she has previously worked in the school system as a secretary, 21st Century grant coordinator, deputy business manager and paraprofessional.
She graduated from the University of Montana with a business degree in 1993, and from Salish Kootenai College with an elementary education degree in 2011. She and her husband, Rich, have two children, Jake and Janna.
She enjoys running and spending time with her family.
Her teaching philosophy is: “Each student has a story — know it and teach to it.”
Makenzy Kelch graduated from Ronan High School in 2008 and from the University of Montana Western. This is his first year teaching. Kelch’s hobbies include sports and spending time with family and friends.
His teaching philosophy is that “every child can achieve success in their own way.”
