Summer Bridge Class Notes

1960s

Bill Huntoon ’64, Marion, Iowa, currently serves on the school board for the Marion Independent School District. He is the longest-serving member of the board at 46 years, which is longest board tenure in the state of Iowa.

Robert Sanger ’68, Britt, Iowa, won his third title in Class 1A football. Sanger has been coaching at West Hancock for 53 years.

1970s

Tim Bell ’76, Westside, Iowa, was inducted into the Iowa Basketball Hall of Fame on March 13, 2020. He won 527 games over 40 seasons at Ar-We-Va Community School in Westside, Iowa.

Bill Neal ’72, Iowa City, Iowa, was selected as the high school track starter for the 2020 Drake Relays. He has served as the starter for eight consecutive Iowa state high school track meets and five NCAA national cross country and track and field championships.

Jann (Schellhammer) Henkes ’78, Saint Paul, Minnesota, accepted a job at Northern Technologies LLC, an engineering firm. She leads the administration department in the office.

Denice Vandersee ’79, Fayette, Iowa, retired from teaching at North Fayette Valley (NFV) in West Union, Iowa. She taught middle school and high school special education from 2001 to 2020 while also serving as the NFV Special Olympic Coach.

1980s

Mark Scott ’82, Lawler, Iowa, coached the Turkey Valley Trojans to the Class A football playoffs. The Trojans were undefeated Class A District Champs but lost in the semifinals.

Karrie (O’Hare) Gericke ’83, Fort Worth, Texas, was named Workforce Professional of the Year at the 2019 Annual Workforce Solutions of Central Texas Awards Luncheon.

Marty McKowen ’83, Fairbank, Iowa, coached the Wapsie Valley Warriors to the 2020 IHSAA Boys 1A Basketball State
Championship. The team was the eighth seed in the tournament and finished as state champions.

Dan Hovden ’87, West Union, Iowa, was selected as head coach of the Small East All-Star Series Team in the IHSBCA in 2019. Hovden is the head baseball coach for North Fayette Valley.

Brian Reed ’87, Bellevue, Iowa, retired from Northeast Community Schools after 32 years of teaching. The previous 19 years were spent teaching secondary mathematics and coaching various sports.

1990s

Timothy Reisch ’94, Howard, South Dakota, was appointed to represent South Dakota as a new civilian aid to the secretary of the Army.

Dan Livengood ’98, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota, was named vice president of sales and marketing at Seven Corners Print and Promo in St. Paul.

Matt Miller ’98, Knoxville, Iowa, returned to his hometown and was hired as the Independence High School baseball coach. He previously taught in Texas and southern Iowa.

Chad Thurm ’98, Williamsburg, Iowa, was awarded the Outstanding Educator Award. Thurm currently teaches in the Williamsburg Community School District.

Kali (White) VanBaale ’98, Bondurant, Iowa, released her third novel, “The Monsters We Make,” on June 9. The book was inspired by the real-life Des Moines paperboy abductions and was released as hardcover, ebook and an audio.

2000s

Dan Anderson ’00, McGregor, Iowa, was named The Gazette’s 2019 Coach of the Year. Anderson is the head football coach for the MFL Mar Mac Bulldogs.

Jesse Montalto ’04, Iowa Falls, Iowa, was named ICCAC Conference Coach of the Year in football.

Shayla Nelson ’06, Hopewell, Virginia, was named the chief of police for the Maxton Police Department in Maxton.

Russell “Doc” ’08 and Jennifer (Nevins) ’19 Saffell, Ankeny, Iowa, are pictured (below) with their winter edition of The Bridge magazine. They visited the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., after attending the National Legislative Conference for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Russell was recently installed as the 99th state commander of Iowa for the VFW.

Tia (Williams) Shaffer ’05, Arlington, Iowa, was named Iowa’s 2020 American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year. Tia currently teaches in the Independence Community School District.

John Bennett ’09, Woodbridge, Virginia, completed his doctoral degree from California Southern University.

2010s

Senada (Aibasic) Agic ’10, ’15, Waukee, Iowa, was promoted to manager at Access Systems. She has been at Access System as a recruiter for four years.

Fashawn (Meeks) Jones ’11, ’13, completed her doctorate in educational leadership from DePaul University. Fashawn is the accounts payable manager at Mechanical Services Industries in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Kari (Cammack) Yauk ’11 Fayette, Iowa, has taken a position at Luther College as coordinator of Student Services and administrative assistant for Student Life.

Emily (Reinert) Boge ’12, Farley, Iowa, was awarded the 2020 Excellence in Dental Hygiene from the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.

Deborah (McCollum) Graham ’12, Alexandria, Louisiana, was selected by the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers as the 2020 School Social Worker of the Year.

Locksley Knibbs ’12, Fort Myers, Florida, was hired as the new advising administrative division committee chair for the Inclusion and Engagement Committee of the National Academic Advising Association.

Christina (Hanson) Christensen ’13, Elk Run Heights, Iowa, was promoted to manager of account resolution with Veridian Credit Union. She has worked at Veridian for seven years.

Billie Tuvshinbayar ’13, Arlington, Virginia, is set to publish her first book, “Almost American.” This work is her firsthand experiences as an American immigrant.

Hadeel Osman ’14, Abu Dhabi, (pictured left) was named to the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list. She has been in the arts industry as a creative director, stylist and founder of DAVU Studio and has over seven years of experience in the media and fashion industries.

Chris Barren ’15, Oelwein, Iowa, was sworn in as reserve deputy for the Fayette County Sheriff ’s Office.

Zach Carlyle ’15, Fayette, Iowa, is currently working as a play-by-play television announcer on ESPN for Abilene Christian University’s home football and men’s and women’s basketball games. Carlyle was the voice of the Peacocks during many athletic events from 2011 to 2018.

Earl Lewis ’15, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earned his Master of Science degree, with an emphasis in information technology and project management, from Colorado Technical University on May 9, 2020.

Sydney Michael ’15, Osage, Iowa, joined Fayette County law enforcement in June 2020. She was sworn in as a deputy. She started her career in Worth County and later moved to Mitchell County.

Whitney (Pflughaupt) Nosbisch ’15, Vinton, Iowa, joined CBE Companies as a manager of client relationships.

Sanda (Muminovic) Abdic ’16, Waterloo, Iowa, was promoted to account resolution team lead at Veridian Credit Union. She has been with the company for 10 years and also serves as a board member at Grin & Grow Child Care.

Jacob Greco ’16, ’18, Kearney, Nebraska, was named director of Facilities and Operations for University of Nebraska-Kearney athletics.

Megan (Neelans) Young ’16, Cedar Falls, Iowa, was promoted to manager of payroll and benefits at Veridian Credit Union. She has been an employee of Veridian for nine years and previously worked as its learning and development specialist.

Chelsea Berry, PA ’17, Arlington, Iowa, accepted a position with Medical Associates Clinic & Health Plans as a member of its Orthopedic team. Berry will assist outpatient treatment of disorders related to muscles, joints and bones, as well as injuries caused by trauma, sports or chronic disease.

Vinny Otdoefer ’17, Strawberry Point, Iowa, took ownership of the gym in Strawberry Point, Iowa. It has been renamed to Vinny’s Gym.

Alexis (Barth) Volker ’17, Cedar Falls, Iowa, joined CBE Companies as a contract and licensing administrator.

Sam Broome ’18, Grundy Center, Iowa, was accepted into the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. He began in June 2020 and is continuing to work for the Grundy Center Police Department.

Josi Baker ’19, Clermont, Iowa, was hired as a family development specialist for Northeast Iowa Community Action.

Mike Brosenne ’19, Forest City, Iowa, began as the area coordinator and intramural program director at Waldorf University after completing his master΄s degree in sports administration.

Teresa Hageman ’19, Lawler, Iowa, is the new graphic/digital designer for the Office of Communications and Marketing at Upper Iowa University.

Ryan Mulligan ’19, Rockford, Illinois, was hired as the sanitation specialist for Smithfield Foods.

Jake Van Besien ’19, Waterloo, Iowa, joined the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier as an advertising consultant. The Courier is a daily newspaper serving Northeast Iowa.

2020s

Destiny Benson ’20, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was hired at NRG Media as the promotions director for four local radio stations (105.7 KOKZ, ROCK 108, KXEL and HANKFM) across the Cedar Valley area in Iowa.

Jeffrey Hughes ’20, Oelwein, Iowa, had “A Tale of Love and Adventure” published in the Why I Came Back to Iowa section of Our Iowa magazine in March 2020.

Sarah (Tovar) Miller ’20, Waterloo, Iowa, has been promoted to senior administrative assistant at the Reinbeck branch of Lincoln Savings Bank.

Alumni in Education

2010s

Mitzi Rasmussen ’17, Milo, Iowa, was hired to teach third grade at Irving Elementary in Indianola. She will begin teaching in July for the 2020-21 school year.

Jordan Stewart ’17, West Des Moines, Iowa, was hired to teach sixth grade at Adair-Casey Elementary School in Adair, Iowa.

Gage Harden ’19, Redfield, Iowa, was hired to teach business, coding, programming and computer technology at Hoyt Middle School with Des Moines Public Schools. He started his position in January 2020.

Paul Alsted ’19, Delta Junction, Alaska, was hired to teach grades K-5 at Gerstle River School, Delta Greely School District, in Delta Junction, Alaska.

Taylor Dubois ’19, Marshalltown, Iowa, was hired to teach special education at Franklin Elementary in Marshalltown starting in January 2020.

Meghan (Nelson) Guiter ’19, Des Moines, Iowa, will be teaching fifth grade at St. Joseph’s school in Des Moines in the fall of 2020.

Casey (Bacon) Hope ’19, Mitchellville, Iowa, was hired to teach preschool at Fisher Elementary in Marshalltown.

Robert “RJ” Howard ’19, Clinton, Iowa, accepted a position as a special educator in the Clinton Community School District.

Seth Hundley ’19, Cedar Falls, Iowa, began teaching special education at Waterloo East High School following student teaching in December 2019.

Kayla Lancaster ’19, De Witt, Iowa, accepted a position with Davenport Community Schools. She will work with students with behavior disorders at Wood Jr High School.

Kimberly (Teno) Poe ’19, Urbandale, Iowa, was hired to teach English at Saydel High School starting in January 2020.

Travis Rigdon ’19, Dunkerton, Iowa, accepted a position as a secondary special educator in the Center Point–Urbana School District.

Jill (Leistikow) Schwickerath ’19, Readlyn, Iowa, began teaching fourth grade at Tripoli Elementary following student teaching in December.

Abby Smith Woods ’19, Evansdale, Iowa, was hired for a special education Instructional Strategist I position at East High School in Waterloo.

2020s

Sarah (Martens) Becker ’20, Atlantic, Iowa, accepted a position with CAM Community School District at CAM South in Massena, Iowa. She will be teaching middle school English and language arts.

Shawna (Cleghorn) Cooper ’20, Colfax, Iowa, was hired to teach inclusive preschool at Mitchell Early Learning Center with Des Moines Public Schools.

Caitlyn Freese ’20, Dumont, Iowa, accepted a teaching position with the Ruthven-Ayrshire School District for the upcoming school year. Caitlyn will teach grades 8-12 language arts.

Megan Gavin ’20, Fayette, Iowa, will begin teaching math at Pocahontas High School in Pocahontas, Iowa, starting fall 2020.

Meghan (Mclaughlin) Gillespie ’20, Johnston, Iowa, was hired to teach second grade at Cattell Elementary with Des Moines Public Schools.

Meghan Kleitsch ’20, Fairbank, Iowa, has accepted a position with the North Butler Schools as the 7-12 art teacher, varsity football cheer coach and yearbook advisor.

Madison Lombard ’20, Ankeny, Iowa, was hired to teach fifth grade at Studebaker Elementary with Des Moines Public Schools.

Julie (Phillips) Parnau ’20, West Des Moines, Iowa, was hired to teach special education at Dallas-Center Grimes Community School District at South Prairie Elementary School in Grimes, Iowa.

Wendy Pint-McGill ’20, Independence, Iowa, accepted the early childhood special education teacher position at the Little Husky Learning Center in Oelwein, Iowa.

Rieley Rodman ’20, Fayette, Iowa, has accepted a first grade position at Starmont Elementary School.

Jordan Rommes ’20, Calmar, Iowa, accepted a job as the K-8 PE teacher at New Hampton Elementary/Middle School.

Autumn Weaver ’20, Garner, Iowa, accepted a science teaching position at West Hancock High School in Britt, Iowa, and will begin fall 2020.

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