New MES resources teacher took job for values, parental involvement
Staff writer
A typical Marion commuter drives from Marion to Wichita.
Marisa Neptune is heading the opposite direction.
“I didn’t want to teach in Wichita,” Neptune said. “There are better values (here); parental involvement seems to be higher.
Neptune is the new resources teacher for third and fourth-grade students at Marion Elementary School. When a student needs extra help in math or reading, the student has a class with Neptune.
Although she works at MES, Marion County Special Education Cooperative employs Neptune. She found out about the position when she applied for a job with the Tri-County Special Education Cooperative in Larned. When Tri-County Director David Sheppard took the director position for the Marion County co-op this past spring, he asked if Neptune would like to follow him to Marion.
“I didn’t even know where Marion was,” Neptune said.
Neptune taught two years of preschool and helped teach autistic students for six years as a para-educator. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Southwestern University and is working toward a master’s in special education by taking online classes.
Neptune lives with her husband and four children in Wichita but hasn’t ruled out moving to Marion.
“It’s still a possibility,” she said.
After 30 years in Brazil, teacher comes back to Kansas
Tabor College graduate Ken Fast has returned to Marion County to teach in the Oasis program for the Marion County Special Education Cooperative after teaching the majority of the past 30 years in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Fast taught at an international, upper class Christian School in Sao Paulo. His students included the children of foreign emissaries, missionaries, and even the children of legendary soccer player Pele. He was the physical education teacher and athletics director for the school.
Fast’s specialties as a teacher are math and physical education. He taught both in Brazil, but as he became more involved with the school’s sports programs, physical education became his job.
Originally from Okeen, Okla., Fast and his wife, Marilyn, had to readjust to small town life. Sao Paulo is a city of nearly 20 million people.
“The grocery store had 85 checkout lines and at Christmas they’d be full at each one,” Fast said.
The couple returned to Kansas to be with Marilyn’s mother, Millie Freesen, whose health started to decline. The Fasts are currently living with Freesen in her house between Marion and Hillsboro near Marion Reservoir.
Before finding the teaching position with the co-op, Fast taught a semester at Berean Academy.
“Guess what they had me coach … soccer,” he said. “They thought, ‘This guy had been in Brazil that long, he most know something about soccer.’”
Fast said he taught special education students in Brazil and that the Oasis job is a good fit.
“I’m just so grateful to have this opportunity to help kids,” he said.
The Fasts have three adult children. Their oldest, a daughter, lives in Saint Edward, Neb., and has four children. Their middle child, also a daughter, lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, and also has four children. Their youngest, a son, was recently married and is living in Miami, Fla.
New teacher relates to struggling students
New Marion Elementary School fifth and sixth-grade resources teacher Marla Sheppard can relate to her students because she came from a similar situation.
“I’m compassionate with them. I can relate to them,” she said. “I was a struggling student myself when I was in elementary school.”
Sheppard has been a teacher for 20 years. She taught in Hays, Andover, Neodesha, and Larned. For the past eight years, she has been a reading and math teacher for at-risk students.
One of the techniques that Sheppard plans to use is to divide students into small groups where each student has a complementary set of skills. While one student may be the best speller, another student may be more adept at math.
“I dwell on their strengths and not on their deficiencies,” she said.
Although Sheppard works exclusively for MES, she is employed by the Marion County Special Education Cooperative. Her husband, David Sheppard, was recently hired as the director of the co-op.
David has been working in Marion since he was hired this spring; Marla just moved from Larned with their 11-year-old daughter two weeks ago. The long distance relationship was tough on the Sheppards. They only saw each other on weekends.
Still, Marla said the move was an easy one because they only have one daughter left in their home; they have two adult daughters who are living in Hays and Derby.
The Sheppards are now settled in Hillsboro.