On Aug. 26 Powell students will be welcomed by some new faces. The following staff have joined Park County School District 1 for the 2024-2025 school year:

Drew Murray

Drew Murray will be Powell Middle and Powell High School’s new choir teacher. She has a bachelor’s in music education from the University of Wyoming and her master’s from Montana State University Billings.  Before coming to Park County School District 1 she directed the Cody High School drama club and taught music at the Cody Center for the Performing Arts. Murray previously taught K-8 music in Luther, Montana, for two years. 

Nancy Cooley

Nancy Cooley will be Powell High School’s new learning center teacher. She has a master’s and bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in business education with minors in information technology and marketing education. Cooley has been a substitute teacher at Powell High School and Powell Middle School for the past three years. Before that Cooley taught high school business classes for 27 years at West Side High School in Dayton, Idaho, Sky View High School in Smithfield, Utah and 15 years at Briar Woods High School in Ashburn, Virginia. She was also an instructor at Utah State University for eight years where she taught business courses through distance education.

Christa Munari

Christa Munari will be Park County School District 1’s new Adapted Physical Education teacher. She has a master’s in exercise science from the University of Wyoming as well as 18 credit hours in a doctorate program at the University of New Mexico. She has seven years of teaching experience as a physical education teacher in Laramie, Wyoming and one year of teaching undergraduates at the University of New Mexico. 

Ashley Teten 

Ashley Teten will be stepping into the role of special education teacher at Parkside Elementary School. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education for kindergarten through sixth grade and special education K-12 from Western Governors University. Prior to moving to Park County School District 1, Teten worked in the Johnson County School District for 10 years as a special education paraeducator, special education teacher and reading/ math interventionist for third through fifth grade students.

Ashley Russell

Ashley Russell will be joining Teten as a special education teacher at Parkside Elementary School. She recently graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Mayville State University where she double majored in elementary and special education. This is Russell’s second year of teaching; last year she was the special education teacher at Joliet Public Schools in Montana.

Jessica Purdum

Jessica Purdum will be teaching eighth grade English language arts at Powell Middle School. Purdum has a Master of Education from Montana State University and Bachelor of Arts in English Rhetoric and French from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Prior to coming to Powell, Purdum taught French at Cody High School and is a Special Olympics coach. 

Shelby Allen

Shelby Allen will be joining Powell High School as a special education teacher for life skills students. She has an Associate of Arts in Communications from Northwest College and a Bachelor of Science in Professional Studies. Allen is completing her master’s in K-12 education at Western Governor’s University. She has spent the past several years working as a substitute teacher and paraprofessional in Burlington. 

Michelle Daniels

Michelle Daniels will be the district English Language Learner coordinator for PCSD1. Daniels has her Bachelor of Arts in French and Spanish from Pittsburg State University in Kansas as well as a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Wichita State University and a Master of Science in Education Administration from Fort Hays State University. For the past 23 years she has taught foreign language, geography and health in rural Kansas. She has also worked as an English Language Director and teacher and has previous experience in Cody. 

Michele Park

Michele Park will be the K-second grade special education teacher at Westside Elementary School. She has a bachelor’s in communication disorders and early childhood special education. She is currently completing her master’s in K-12 special education. Prior to teaching at Westside Michele worked at the Children’s Resource Center for 15 years as an early childhood special education teacher and case manager. 

Lisa McKinney

Lisa McKinney will be teaching third grade at Parkside Elementary School. She graduated from Western Oregon University with a Bachelor of Science in Education. McKinney taught first grade in Oregon for two years and has worked the past two years in Park County School District 1 as a substitute teacher and then as a paraprofessional. 

Kabrie Franks

Kabrie Franks will be teaching third grade at Westside Elementary School. She has a bachelor’s in elementary education from Western Governors University. This will be Franks’ first year of teaching; she previously student taught at Southside Elementary School.

Christin Shorma

Christin Shorma will be the environmental and natural resource science teacher at Powell High School. Shorma has a bachelors in agricultural education from the University of Wyoming and is pursuing a master’s in secondary biology education from Western Governors University. Prior to coming to Powell High School Shorma taught at Rocky Mountain High School for 14 years where she taught biology, anatomy and physiology, agriculture and welding. She also taught at Ten Sleep High School for one year where she taught agriculture and Spanish and was an elementary and middle school paraprofessional.