Staff writer
Centre students will be greeted Thursday by many familiar and five unfamiliar teachers.
Ashley Coirier is the new business teacher. She has a degree in agriculture education from Kansas State University. She taught ag education for two years before working at Cottonwood Valley Bank in Cottonwood Falls and Intrust Bank in Cassoday. She has a waiver from the state to teach business classes.
Coirier and her husband, Jeff, live on Clover Cliff Ranch near Elmdale, where he is employed.
Coirier is excited about teaching students real-life skills, such as check writing and banking, especially at the junior high level.
She is the sponsor for the Future Business Leaders of America chapter. She also will oversee Centre Perk coffee shop and the concessions stand.
Coirier enjoys horseback riding with her husband and helping to move cattle. He is a member of a professional ranch rodeo team. She is looking forward to accompanying him to various summer ranch rodeos in the future.
Julie Keithline is in her 18th year of teaching. She will be teaching seventh-through-12th-grade math.
The Dalhart, Texas, native was employed by Marion County Special Education for five years. She spent the past seven years as director of the Herington Community Learning Center, which she will continue to do during evenings. She taught part-time in Hope schools.
Keithline has a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from West Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in special education from Emporia State University.
Why teach math?
“I’ve always been a math girl,” Keithline said. “I don’t consider myself a teacher of knowledge. I’m a facilitator of learning. I just want to make sure they get to their destination without crashing into the rocks.”
She and her husband, Shaun, live in Herington. They have five children between them: one is a student at Kansas State University, two attend the University of Kansas, one is a freshman, and one is an eighth-grader in Herington schools.
Keithline’s husband is a master sergeant stationed at Fort Riley. They enjoy many activities at the base. She also enjoys running and has participated in several marathons and half-marathons. Not being a native of Kansas, she said, she can support both K-State and KU.
Morgan Menefee taught English for two years at Kansas State University before coming to Centre. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Ottawa University and a master’s degree from New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, New Mexico. She is finishing her doctorate in education at Kansas State University.
Menefee will be teaching eighth grade, sophomore, and junior English as well as seniors taking college English. She also will teach creative writing and a 21st Century Journalism class that will produce a digital newsletter. She will co-sponsor the yearbook, school play, and freshman class.
Menefee is excited about getting the school newsletter up and running. The school currently has no newspaper. Her goal is to see that, by the end of their time at Centre, her students will be college- and career-ready.
Menefee was born at Lewisburg on the eastern Kansas border. She lives at Burdick. She enjoys oil painting and writing. She plays piano, accordion, and harp.
Danielle Murrell is the new music teacher at Centre. She will teach general music in elementary school, as well as fifth and sixth grade band, junior high/high school band, and high school choir. She will be the cheerleading and pep band sponsor.
Murrell graduated in May from Emporia State University with a bachelor’s degree in music education. She studied under several leading musicians and participated in numerous musical activities.
Murrell said she will try to provide good musical experiences for her students, using a variety of styles and instruments. She hopes to build the program and make sure she gets everybody interested in music.
She and her husband, Michael, live in Emporia, where he teaches math at ESU. They were married in May. Murrell said she enjoys crocheting, cooking, and spending time with her husband.
Cherie Trieb of Wamego is a new ag education instructor. In addition to being an FFA adviser, she will teach horticulture, animal science, small animal care, and agri-science.
Trieb grew up in Indiana, where she received an agriculture education degree from Purdue University and taught ag ed for one year. She also taught biology and English for a year and was a school counselor for two years.
Since then, she has been a substitute teacher. She was a 4-H leader for 35 years and coached judging teams.
She is anxious to see her students develop skills during their high school years through leadership activities and FFA. She wants to help them explore career options.
Trieb and her husband, Tom, who is a surgical nurse, have four children ages 18 and above.
They showed rabbits with their children and continue to show rabbits nationally. They raise seven breeds. Cherie judges rabbits, photography, and other entries at county fairs.