Knox County R-I Welcomes New Teachers

Knox County R-I Welcomes New Teachers

The Knox County R-I School District will start the new school year with the first day of student attendance on Wednesday, August 20. Teachers new to the district attended two days of orientation to the district on August 12 and August 13.

Following is a brief introduction of new teachers employed for the 2008-2009 school year.

Rhonda Easley will be teaching high school Communication Arts. Ms. Easley is a graduate of Knox County R-I. She received a B.S., B.A. and M.A. in English from Truman State University. She lists her hobbies as reading, running, playing tennis, and scrabble and enjoys spending time with nieces, nephews and friends in the area. She stated that as a Knox County R-I graduate she is looking forward to being back home and working with students, parents, and the community.

Daylene Hudnut will be teaching middle school and high school Special Education. Mrs. Hudnut is a graduate of Culver Stockton. She and her husband, Curtis, and two children, Paisley and Cooper, live on a farm near Canton. She is looking forward to getting to know all of the students, parents, faculty, and staff at Knox County.

Allen Garrett will be teaching elementary Physical Education. Mr. Garrett is a graduate of Indian Hills and Buena Vista. He has two children, Andy and Grace. Mr. Garrett states he is looking forward to working with all the staff and coaching the softball team.

Doug Kerr is the new high school Social Studies teacher. He is a graduate of Truman State University and Northwest Missouri State University with a Masters in Secondary Administration and lists politics and government, sports, antiques, and sightseeing among his interests. Mr. Kerr is looking forward to getting to know the school, students, and people of the community.

Elisabeth (Betsy) Parrish will be teaching Kindergarten. Mrs. Parrish is a graduate of Missouri State University and is married to Justin Parrish and they have two children, Blake and Hannah. She lists spending time with family, fishing, reading and being outdoors as her interests. Mrs. Parrish is looking forward to the small town, family atmosphere of Knox County and being closer to family.

Karen Scoggin will be teaching high school Communication Arts. Mrs. Scoggin has a BSE in Mass Communication/English from Northeast Missouri (Truman), Masters in Education from William Woods and is presently working on a doctorate in higher education. Mrs. Scoggin and husband, Randy, have four sons, Gabriel, Jameson, Isaac, and Alexander. She lists her interests to include gardening, working with cattle, landscaping, and motocross. Mrs. Scoggin is excited about focusing on teaching with the objective to give students the opportunity to obtain the information, skills, and understanding they need to reach their goals.

Sally Shoults will be teaching Technology Literacy for grade K-8. Mrs. Shoults graduated from the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in Education and taught in North Carolina for 18 years. Mrs. Shoults has one daughter and lists her interests as gardening, traveling, and talking to people. Mrs. Shoults states that what she looks forward to the most every year about teaching is what she can give as a teacher and her sincere desire to instill the love of learning to last a lifetime.

Terri Slaughter will be teaching Physical Science and Chemistry. Ms. Slaughter is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and Western Governor’s University. Ms. Slaughter has two children, Randi and Ryan, and stays busy with their sports and activities and lists gardening, landscaping and all sports as interests. Ms. Slaughter is looking forward to getting to know the students and helping them become successful in and out of the classroom.

Jami Zinn is the new high school Counselor/A+ Coordinator. Ms. Zinn is a graduate of Culver Stockton and is completing a Master’s Program at Quincy University. Ms. Zinn lists golfing, shopping, being outside, boating, camping, and spending time with family and friends as interests and is looking forward to meeting all of the teachers, staff, students and parents in the district.