New teachers coming to the CB Community School

CBCS enrollment flat at about 650

One sure sign that summer is coming to a close is the start of the school year. And Crested Butte Community School students will head back to the halls of learning on Monday morning, August 25. They will be greeted by 45 teachers this year which is one less than in 2013-14. While there was a reduction of two positions in the elementary side of the school, there was one addition to the secondary side as the large classes moved up.

There are nine new hires in the building, ranging from math to music teachers to administrative assistants.
Secondary school principal Stephanie Niemi explains there were various reasons for the high number of vacancies, including the fact that some employees took a leave of absence or resigned, as well as reallocations of teachers across the district.
“We’ve hired a high caliber of staff, so I’m very excited about that,” Niemi said. “The students are walking into a really terrific group of teachers and amazing people.”
A surge in student enrollment within the secondary school over the years is another explanation for the increased number of new teachers, said Niemi. Large sixth and eighth grade classes especially require additional staff. However, overall enrollment numbers for the upcoming school year have leveled off at the CBCS.
“Our enrollment is looking somewhere around 650. We’re going to be flat this year, which is a first for us in a long time. We have had a number of families who have moved away, largely for employment reasons,” Niemi explained.
New hires include Krista Drendel, teaching Spanish; Rebecca Gorrell, teaching math; Amy Hammermeister, teaching math and science; Lauren Ryals, teaching music; and Amy Debnam, Julie Behrens and Adrienne Edmunds Weil, teaching special education.
Corrie White and Pam Mahoney were hired in the administrative realm and Nicole Dickerson is returning from a leave of absence.
Gorrell is a veteran teacher with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Vermont and a master’s degree in education from Lesley University. Niemi is confident that, with 21 years of experience under her belt, Gorrell will make a valuable addition to the staff, teaching math to seventh, ninth and 10th graders.
“Rebecca Gorrell is a seasoned math teacher, she is nationally certified and quite accomplished. We were very fortunate to get her,” Niemi said.
Gorrell is equally thrilled to have relocated from Lakewood to Crested Butte, a community she describes as unlike any other. “For the last 15 years I’ve been at the exact same school doing the exact same thing, so I’m really excited to start something new, and to go back to working with high-schoolers some, which I haven’t done in 17 years. I’m really excited to be here,” she said.
Newly hired math and science teacher Amy Hammermeister has an extensive background in physics and engineering, as well as a master’s degree in education.
“Amy Hammermeister has a very interesting background in terms of working for the Bureau of Land Management and so forth. I sent her to some Project Lead the Way trainings, which are a STEM program, so that’s really exciting,” Niemi said.
Hammermeister will be teaching a STEM course called Design and Modeling to sixth and seventh graders, integrating the use of classic and cutting-edge technologies.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. There is some old-fashioned drafting and then we have a really cool 3D modeling software that the students get to learn. So we’ve got some old timey stuff and some really new, exciting computer-aided design stuff,” Hammermeister said.
The Crested Butte Community School will open its doors for the school year this Monday morning, August 25.