One resignation accepted, two hires approved at CCS

    Staffing for the 2022-23 school year is already being addressed by the CCS board of education.
    At Tuesday’s meeting, the board approved one resignation, but hired two new staff members.
    Sheryl Curtis, who is in her third year as the grade 7-12 family consumer science teacher and FCCLA sponsor, resigned. She plans to retire at the end of the 2021-22 year.
    Board members expressed appreciation for her time at CCS.
    Jeff Olsen said she helped them out when a vacancy occurred three years ago. The board voted 7-0 to accept the resignation.
    Two new staff members were hired, one of whom, Justin Anderson, will start in January replacing high school science teacher Ashton Wasenius, who resigned mid-semester after starting at CCS this fall.
    The other teacher hired was Rebekah Urban of Lincoln as speech language pathologist. She will fill a position formerly provided by ESU 15, and most recently, through an online telehealth service.
    “This will be a great addition to Chase County Schools and our students who receive speech language pathology services,” Supt. Adam Lambert said.
    Lambert said this is the first time CCS will have its own, in-house speech language pathologist
    Urban earned a Bachelor of Science degree in audiology and speech-language sciences from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in spring 2020. She also holds minors in American Sign Language and special education.
    She expects to complete a master’s in speech language pathology in August 2022 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
    Since August 2020, Urban has worked at the UNL Barkley Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, where she evaluates people of all ages with various disabilities under the supervision of a certified speech language pathologist.
    Urban is from Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
    High School Principal Mike Sorensen said Anderson, the new science teacher, will move here from Fort Morgan, Colorado. There, he teaches science and coaches at the high school.
    Anderson also earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado, a chemistry degree with emphasis in secondary education in December 2019.
    He has been employed with Fort Morgan High School since the 2019-20 school year, where he teaches chemistry, biology, physics and earth science.
    A former pole vaulter at Northern Colorado, Anderson has also coached track and golf the past two seasons. He is also the sponsor for FMHS’s science club and coordinates its science fair.
    Supt. Lambert said Anderson had reached out to CCS the past summer about the open science positions here, but they had already been filled.
    Sorensen noted Colorado allows teachers to get out of their contracts mid-year, so he will finish the semester there Dec. 23.
    Having to move his family, Anderson won’t be able to start teaching at CCS until Jan. 10. Second semester classes at CCS begin Jan. 4 after a Jan. 3 in-service day for teachers.