Four 7-12 principal candidates being interviewed to replace Sorensen

    A team from Chase County Schools is finishing up interviews for a grade 7-12 principal.
    The candidates are vying for the job being vacated by Mike Sorensen, who submitted his resignation last month.
    Sorensen’s resignation was formally approved at Tuesday’s board of education meeting.
    Supt. Adam Lambert said the school received seven applicants for Sorensen’s job, and four are being interviewed. Three had been through the interview process by Tuesday’s meeting, with a fourth scheduled via zoom on Wednesday.
    Lambert said a board committee with him and K-6 Principal Becky Odens are interviewing the candidates.
    A closed session was held at the end of Tuesday’s board of education meeting to evaluate the candidates and discuss a contract for whomever is hired.
    A special meeting was set for Monday at 4:30 p.m. in the board room when it’s hoped a principal will be hired and an employment contract approved.
    As the board voted to approve Sorensen’s resignation Tuesday, member Jeff Olsen thanked him for coming back to CCS for the past two years to fill in when he was needed.
    Sorensen also served as 7-12 CCS  principal from 2006-2015.
    Sorensen will fill out his contract through the end of June.
New hires
    Three new teachers will be joining the CCS staff this fall, while a current CCS educator will be move to the 7-12 guidance counselor position in 2022-23.
    Beau McConnell, Emma McConnell and Misty Jaeger were hired Tuesday as new staff members in the classroom this fall.
    Beau McConnell was hired for 7-8 social studies. Emma McConnell will serve as middle school art teacher, while Jaeger accepted the 7-12 Family and Consumer Science position.
    They will assume the positions vacated or being vacated by Monte Burrell, social studies; Kaylee Gill, art; and Sheryl Curtis, FCS.
    The McConnells are married, and both are now teaching in Sidney.
    Beau McConnell earned a BS in Education-Field Endorsement in Design & Technology 7-12 from Chadron State College in 2013. Since graduation, he’s been at Sidney Public Schools as 9-12 industrial arts teacher.
    He’s also been a head and assistant wrestling coach there, as well as an assistant for track and football.
    Emma McConnell earned a BA in K-12 Art Education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
    She is now teaching 7-12 art at Sidney, but has also taught in the Ogallala Public Schools system. She served as a substitute teacher at CCS in early 2013, from January to May.
    She’s also coached as an assistant in cross country, track and volleyball, and served on Ogallala’s School Improvement Team. In Ogallala, she also was the poetry team sponsor.
    Jaeger earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science Education in 1998 from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.
    In 2013, she added a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University.
    She’s currently a 6th grade teacher at Gilbert Public Schools in Arizona and a K-8 online teacher for Laurel Springs School. She was also a secondary social studies teacher at Mesa Public Schools from 2011-16.
    From 2006-11, she was owner/operator of Star Light Quality Child Care Center.
    Her husband Dru Jaeger is an Imperial native, and recently accepted a position at Waypoint Bank.
    Supt. Lambert said Tuesday she will move to Imperial to join her husband at the end of her teaching contract in Arizona.
    Paisley, now teaching kindergarten halftime at CCS, was hired for the 7-12 guidance counselor job currently held by Trent Herbert, who resigned. Supt. Lambert said she’s already working with Herbert to transition into the job this fall.
    See next week’s issue for more on the March 8 board meeting.