wednesday, october 3, 2012
The
Evergreen
news
7
Lower School and Early Childhood
Mary Bourgeois - First Grade
Tara Wettreich - Second Grade
Heather Haas - Third Grade
Greg Krauss - Fourth Grade
Mary Ellen Bourgeois, a graduate of Louisiana State University, is a new first grade teacher at Greenhill. One interesting quirk about Ms. Bourgeois is that she loves the Wizard of Oz and has a collection of Wizard of Oz themed trinkets. “I love everything about it,” Ms. Bourgeois said. “I love Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion and the theme ‘there’s no place like home.’” She says she hopes that Greenhill will become home for her in the same way that Kansas is home to Dorothy.
Tara Wettreich, new second grade teacher, has firm family roots in the school. Her husband Mark ’98 was in Forever Club, and her brother-in-law is Joel Garza, Upper School English teacher. “Between the two of them, I learned so much about Greenhill’s culture,” Mrs. Wettreich said. She loves rooting for the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team. “I told my husband, Mark, that my willingness to get married during March Madness should be all the proof he needs that I love him,” she said.
Heather Haas, the new third grade math teacher, is a true Texan. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Ms. Haas attended Texas A&M University and has taught for the past 14 years in Navasota, Bryan, Houston, Lewisville, and Dallas. “Every year I want to grow as a learner and be a better teacher than the year before,” Ms. Haas said. In her free time, Ms. Haas enjoys competing in triathlons. She completed her first one this summer and says she can’t wait to compete in the next one.
Previously a kindergarten teacher here, Greg Krauss returned to Greenhill after an unexpected phone call this summer to teach fourth grade. He had wanted to move grade levels for some time, but because no positions were available at the time, he resigned. “I knew Greenhill is a fantastic place to teach, so when presented with an opportunity to return in a new position that would be challenging, but rewarding as well, it was a fairly easy decision to accept,” he said. When he isn’t teaching, Mr. Krauss loves to coach soccer, whether it’s for the Varsity Boys team or for the Lower and Middle School skills program he created last fall.
Donna Ferebee - LS Learning Specialist
Nikole Swize -Early Childhood Art
Carrie Martin - LS Librarian
Christine Hagen - LS Library Asst.
A world traveler, Lower School Learning Specialist Donna Ferebee is back in Texas. She first came to Texas to pursue her master’s degree from Texas A&M University and has returned to be closer to her family. Her first excursion abroad was to Melbourne, Australia. “We roamed the Land Down Under and learned about Koalas, wombats, didgeridoos, and dingoes,” she said. Ms. Ferebee returned to Texas for a few years to work at Houston high schools. However, soon another overseas opportunity arose, this time in Saudi Arabia. “Having survived many Texas summers, I thought I knew about hot summer days,” she said. “But I had never seen temperatures reach 120+ degrees as it did in Saudi.”
An instructor at kids’ art studio A Little Artsy in Dallas and former kindergarten art teacher for Highland Park Independent School District, Nikole Swize has come to Greenhill as the Early Childhood Art teacher.
Carrie Martin will also be joining the Hornet family as Lower School Librarian. Ms. Martin earned her teaching degree from University of Texas in Austin and her Masters in Library Science from Texas Woman’s University. She has been teaching for the past nine years at Lakewood Elementary. Her two-month-old daughter Camilla is joining some of the youngest Hornets on campus in the Child Development Center. “We couldn’t be happier that she is also part of the Greenhill family now,” Ms. Martin said.
Christine Hagen, Lower School Library Assistant, comes to Greenhill with a plethora of ideas— from arts-and-crafts projects to puppet shows— to spice up the library experience for Greenhill’s youngest students. “My hopes are that these students learn to love and respect the library, books, and creative ideas,” she said. Currently enrolled at the University of North Texas, Ms. Hagen is also a writer at heart. She has published a short story and is currently working on documentaries. When she isn’t writing, Ms. Hagen loves to watch old movies. “Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong time period,” she said.
“I hope all of my students learn to love art and believe they are artists,” Ms. Swize said. She has already made herself at home on campus. “I love that the peacocks come peek inside my window almost every day,” she said. Ms. Swize loves to spend time with her husband and her two sons, ages 6 and 7. The four enjoy camping, biking, going to the beach, and dancing together.
For More Faculty Features Assistant News Editor Sera Tuz listens in as Laura Ross, current Head of Upper School, chats with Jackie Conlee, Greenhill’s first female Head of Upper School. For more information, see page 10.
Photos by Rachel Diebner and Shelby Beauchamp; stories by Rachel Diebner