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SPRING VALLEY — Hall High School has nine new teachers starting the 2012-13 school year; three of whom are Hall graduates.
The first Hall graduate returning to Hall to teach is Bettyann (Balzarine) Harrison. She is excited to return to her roots because she describes Hall “to be a place where the students matter.” She most recently was working in the DePue school district as an instructional coach in science, health, and P.E. At Hall she will be teaching biology and anatomy and physiology. She graduated from Eureka College.
Kayleen Haslam, Hall High School and St. Ambrose University graduate, remembers Hall as a place “where it was very easy to get lost.” Returning as a teacher, her first impression of Hall is that “the staff is friendly and always willing to help.” She will be teaching geometry and accelerated algebra II this year.
Adam Meyer joins the football staff at Hall where he served as football captain. His classroom assignments include psychology, sociology and geography. He received his degree from Illinois State University and has previously taught at Iroquois West High School and Herscher High School.
Two of new math teachers are recent graduates from Augustana College. Brian Green will be teaching algebra I, algebra II and statistics. He will also coach football and basketball. Josiah Martin will teach algebra I and core math. He will help with the baseball program at Hall after playing four years of baseball at Augustana.
Ann Maller is rejoining the Hall English department. In addition to teaching English II and IV, she will sponsor scholastic bowl and junior class. She received her BS from Southern Illinois University and her MS from DePaul.
Music will be taught by Jenilyn Roether. She received her BMW from Illinois Wesleyan University and is currently working towards a masters in music education at Northern. She has taught in the Morris and Caxton-Buckley-Load school districts.
Helping with the football and wrestling programs is Joseph Rue. He will be the internal learning center supervisor. He taught special education at LP High School and received his teaching degree from Culver-Stockton College.
Jessica Strauss comes to Hall after teaching at JFK Elementary School for seven years. She will teach life skills and transition special education. She received her BS from Illinois State and is an LBS II certified transition specialist.