In addition to the new staff at Mineral Point Schools this fall, there has been some internal shifting of employees to new positions.
Instructional Assistant Marcia Blackbourn has moved from the elementary to the middle/high.
Instructional Assistant Linda Hubbard has moved from Pre K to the elementary library to cover library encore time and shares limited time in the afternoons at Pre K.
Sue Gollon has moved from an Instructional Assistant to support the middle/high library.
McKenzy Brown has moved from middle school special education to 6th grade teacher.
“I have worked as an elementary instructional assistant for 26 years,” said Marcia. “I have worked in many different capacities in a variety of classrooms as well as supervised breakfast and in the lunchroom, supervising at recess, bus duty and helping students at the parking lot at the end of the day. A little bit of everything and it has made the years go by fast! I am looking forward to the challenge of working with older students (although I knew them at the elementary) and being in a whole different building learning a new routine. What I will miss at the elementary are the little kids’ hugs and their stories and the day to day camaraderie with the staff.”
“After two and a half years, the thing I will miss the most is the swimming field trip,” said Sue. “The sheer joy the students feel when getting into the water was emotional for me. I look forward to the library as I will have an opportunity to learn new things and see a lot more students.”
“My journey with Mineral Point started the 2011-12 school year,” said McKenzy. “I was hired as a special education teacher and was split between the middle school and elementary school. I had the split position for two years and then for the 2013-14 school year I moved to just being in the middle school full time for special education. Working in special education was very rewarding to me and I loved working with the students and developing relationships with all of the families. I am certainly going to miss all the families I worked with, as some I had worked with the whole time I’ve been teaching at Mineral Point! I am very excited to be joining the 6th grade team this year! In this new role I know I will learn so much and that excites me. I’m looking forward to working with larger groups of students, but I’m a little worried about learning all of the names! My 5th year, here at Mineral Point, is sure to be a memorable one!”
Also worth mentioning is Taher has hired a new Head Chef for the food service program at Mineral Point Schools.
Ginnie Richardson comes to Mineral Point after working for the University of Wisconsin Athletics department as a cook since 2013. Her prior work history includes Williamson Street Co-Op in Middleton, and before that, she was in Kentucky with various gigs in the Lexington area. Her education background includes Wisconsin, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, and Maryland training.
In speaking to the staff at their welcome back luncheon, Ginnie stated she is passionate about the whole farm to table movement and believes Taher and Mineral Point are pointed in the right direction in making this idea a success.