New Charles City School District teacher profiles, 2020-21 school year

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Ten new teachers and staff members join the Charles City Community School District this year. The new staff members were asked to briefly tell Press readers a little about themselves.

Get to know your students’ teachers here as the year starts:

Sam Naumann
5-12 Orchestra Director

Professional background: This is my first year teaching. I did student-teach high school orchestra at Muscatine High School in Muscatine. I have also played with both the Clinton Symphony and Dubuque Symphony, where I worked on my craft as a performer.

Education: B.A. in music and music education from Luther College in December 2019.

Hometown: Dubuque.

Family: I grew up with my two parents and my three younger brothers.

Favorite thing about teaching: I enjoy getting to know students on a personal level. When I get to know students, I can relate with them and help them grow even more, both within the class and in general as a human being. Seeing students become better people gives me as much joy as seeing students become better musicians

Why Charles City: It is rare to find a school similar in size to Charles City that has an orchestra program in the state of Iowa. This must mean that a lot of students, staff and community members care about the orchestra program. I knew when I chose to accept this position that I would be supported and welcomed to create masterful concerts and great connections with my students, colleagues and families that I meet.

First year goals: My goal is to continue the growth that this program has seen in the past few years. I will work to build skills and techniques in every single student. I plan on programming music that challenges students but is also enjoyable for both the students and the audiences in concerts.

Lexis Wiegmann
Secondary Mathematics

Professional background: I had the opportunity of doing one of my student teaching placements in Charles City and the other in Mason City. I have had experiences in high schools and middle schools. After student teaching, I was a long-term substitute teacher in the middle school at Mason City.

Education: My first two years of college were at NIACC in Mason City. After that, I went to UNI and got my Bachelor of Arts Degree in secondary education in mathematics.

Hometown: Mason City.

Family: My mom, April, and dad, Troy, are both teachers. My sister/twin, Mercedes, graduated from the University of Iowa, and my brother, Trey, is at Iowa State University. I also have a cat, dog and tortoise.

Favorite thing about teaching: My favorite things about teaching are the students. They, as well as my colleagues, make it a wonderful place to come to work everyday. I love being able to help others and I hope to make a difference in their lives.

Why Charles City: From the start of my student teaching here, everyone was so friendly. I met so many people and made great relationships with them. They really made me feel like I was a part of their family. I am really excited and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

First year goals: My goals for my first year of teaching are to be better than I was the day before and to make a difference in my students’ lives. Teaching is a subject that we are always learning. I want to be able to learn something new and make myself better for my students. I also want to help and lead them through life.

Abigail Wolf
High School Special Education

Professional background: I previously worked as a para-educator, substitute teacher, and as the Jr./Sr. High Nashua-Plainfield librarian.

Education: Bachelor of Special Studies in historical research from Cornell College. Bachelor degree in teaching, 5-12 social studies from UNI.

Hometown: Charles City.

Family: My husband, Matt, and I have a dog, Charlie and a cat, Molly.

Favorite thing about teaching: My favorite part of education is learning from my students. The creative ways that students engage with the issues or problems they face is inspiring and makes school a new experience each day.

Why Charles City: Returning to the Charles City Schools family as a teacher is an exciting next step in my life as an educator. The sense of family and community that Charles City has, both inside and outside of the schools, is a unique experience that I am happy to be a part of.

First year goals: My goal as a first year teacher is to build meaningful relationships with students, my co-workers, and the community of Charles City.

Meredith Hamm
K-6 Art

Professional background: I previously taught kindergarten to 12th grade at West Central Community Schools in Maynard. Currently, I am teaching art classes at the Charles City Art Center for children kindergarten age to 6th grade.

Education: I graduated with a BA in art education from the University of Northern Iowa with an emphasis in ceramics.

Hometown: Westbrook, Connecticut.

Family: Both of my parents live in Connecticut with my younger brother. But I have a mass quantity of family that live here in Charles City.

Favorite thing about teaching: My favorite thing about teaching is being able to make meaningful and lasting connections with my students.

Why Charles City: Charles City has always been my “home away from home,” so I feel extremely blessed to now be a permanent part of the family.

First year goals: My goal for this year is to encourage students to be brave in everything they do, because even if they fail, they are learning with each mistake, and I will be there cheering them on every step of the way.

Ray Cole Sr.
Middle School Counselor

Professional background: Started in education as a professional school counselor with the Waterloo Community School District. Worked as a community based counselor serving the juvenile court system in Waterloo for 2 years. Also worked as an behavioral interventionist for the Waterloo Community School District for 2 years.

Education: Received my BA degree in education from Wartburg College. Also received my MA graduate degree in professional school counseling from American Public University.

Hometown: Waterloo.

Family: Married, with a 15-year-old daughter.

Favorite thing about teaching: My favorite thing about counseling is when you least expect it, students will show you how much they appreciate all you have done for them.

Why Charles City: Coming from a school that was family, I was searching for a school that had that same mentality of “We Are Family.” That’s the feeling I got from Charles City staff.

First year goals: My goals for my first year is to take it one day at a time, to get to know the students and staff and continue to grow as a school counselor.

Rachel Page
Third Grade

Professional background: My first teaching job was at Lovejoy Elementary in Des Moines, where I taught third grade for two years. I am very grateful for my experience in Des Moines and am excited to continue my teaching journey in my hometown.

Education: I attended the University of Northern Iowa for my undergrad and majored in elementary education with minors in literacy and math. I am currently working on my masters through UNI as well.

Hometown: Charles City.

Family: I am married to Jacob Page and we have our daughter, Lauren. Jacob works for the DOT and will be a volunteer wrestling coach for Charles City.

Favorite thing about teaching: My favorite thing about teaching is getting to learn from students. Every student brings a uniqueness to the classroom and I get the joy of getting to know each child and learn how to best help them succeed. They teach me how to be a better teacher.

Why Charles City: I chose to be a part of the Charles City Family because it is where I call home. Charles City Schools gave me many opportunities throughout my years as a student and now I get to help create those experiences for the next generations.

First year goals: My goal for this year is to focus on establishing relationships with students and their families to help build a foundation of trust. This will help me meet each student’s needs socially, emotionally and academically.

Katelyn Shultz
7th-8th Grade ELA Special Education

Professional background: This is my first year teaching and I am excited to be a Comet!

Education: Graduated from UNI in the spring 2020 with bachelor’s degree in elementary education with minors in instructional strategist I & II.

Hometown: Greene.

Family: My parents are Chad and Janice Shultz. I also have four younger brothers: Clay, Alex, Derek and Grant.

Favorite thing about teaching: I am excited for building new relationships with my students and staff.

Why Charles City: I have worked in the community and I decided that I didn’t want to leave.

First year goals: My goal for the year is help students grow and be the best version of themselves.

Ross Chettinger
3rd-4th Special Education

Professional background: I worked for Waverly-Shell Rock Community School District at the LIED Center as a behavioral interventionist from 2016-19.

Education: Graduated with a bachelors degree in criminology from the University of Northern Iowa in 2014. Graduated with a bachelors degree as an instructional strategist II K-12 from Upper Iowa University in 2019.

Hometown: Sergeant Bluff.

Family: Son of Jerry and Cindy Chettinger.

Favorite thing about teaching: Observing a student have an “ah ha” moment of understanding after struggling on a topic.

Why Charles City: I knew I needed to be in Charles City after student teaching and long-term subbing in the district last year. I was able to observe and be a part of the regardless mission that they have embedded across the district. That all-welcoming feeling along with the hard work each employee puts into every detail for everyone to be successful made it an easy decision to choose Charles City Community School District as the place to start my teaching career.

First year goals: To grow my abilities and knowledge to impact my students and coworkers by inspiring joy, creativity, community and a sense of direction.

Noah Dettmer
Special Education

Professional background: Two years as a para-educator at the Lied Education Center.

Education: Instructional strategist: BD/LD/ID from Upper Iowa University.

Hometown: Waverly.

Family: Father farmed in Waverly on the family farm for more than 30 years, mother worked in education for almost 35 years as a teacher and administrator, two older brothers.

Favorite thing about teaching: Helping students to become lifelong learners and problem-solvers.

Why Charles City: I heard that it was a great place to work and help me grow as I start my career in education.

First year goals: To build trust and strong positive relationships with students, help students achieve their IEP goals, help students set new high achieving goals for themselves, create a classroom environment that encourages compassion and problem solving.

Jacke Groesbeck
Special Education at Lincoln Elementary

Professional background: This will be my third year of teaching. The last two years I had the pleasure of working with Northwood-Kensett Schools. During that time I taught 5th-8th grade special education.

Education: I attended UNI (Go Panthers!) and currently hold a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with minors in special education and literacy.

Hometown: Charles City.

Family: My parents, Russ and Cathie Groesbeck, continue to live here. I have four siblings, two of which are still in Charles City. My other two siblings live in Anamosa and Cedar Rapids.

Favorite thing about teaching: I love the relationships you build with students. If you have a solid relationship built on understanding and trust as a foundation for learning, it makes all the difference.

Why Charles City: I am a native of Charles City and although I loved working with my N-K family and will miss them greatly, it is great to be back home.

First year goals: My first goal of any school year is to build positive relationships with my students, their families and my colleagues. It is also one of my favorite parts as you get to hear your students’ likes, dislikes, stories and goals.This will be even more important this year as we transition into the different styles of learning and teaching that we are going to have.