New teachers join staffs at Marion
Several new teachers have joined staffs in Marion-Florence Unified School District.
MES Principal Stan Ploutz joined the staff in June. He and his wife, Verna, were born in Ellinwood. They have two children, Russell, a high school freshman, and Ashley, a kindergartner.
Ploutz was principal at Marquette Elementary School before coming to Marion.
He worked in private business before returning to college, earning a degree from Sterling in 1989. He taught at Ellinwood and Little River before returning to school to earn a master's degree in administration from Fort Hays State University.
Carolyn Moore has joined the high school staff as an English teacher.
"I was drawn by the opportunity to work alongside people I respect who provided excellent learning experiences for my own children," she said.
She was born and raised in Anahuac, Texas (east of Houston), and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in English. She taught English at Anahuac Junior High School before leaving the profession to raise her family.
Since completing courses in 2000 at Tabor College, Hillsboro, to earn teacher certification, Moore has taught English courses at Hope and Canton-Galva high schools, as well as college composition for Cloud County Community College.
In addition to her teaching duties, she serves as Student Council adviser.
She and her husband, Stephen, a petroleum engineer, have lived in Marion since 1977.
They have three children: Sam is a paramedic and firefighter for Lyon County; Travis lives in Manhattan, where he plays guitar with a band and works at CocoBolo's restaurant; and Meredith, a sophomore in fine arts at Kansas State University, where she works at the Beach Museum of Art. They have three grandchildren.
Though they returned to Texas twice, the Moores have made Marion their permanent home for the past 10 years.
"Kansas is home to our kids and grandkids, too," she said.
In her free time, Moore enjoys reading, playing computer games, and visiting with friends and family.
Rex Ostmeyer will teach social studies at MHS. He was born and raised in Hoxie, graduating from Cloud County Community College in 1991 and Kansas State University in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in secondary education/social studies.
For the past seven years he has taught in the Haysville school district, most recently at Campus High School.
He will serve as head boys' basketball coach at MHS. He has spent the past six years as an assistant at Campus, and also coached at Derby Junior High School, St. Xavier High School in Junction City, and as a student assistant for the women's team at Cloud County.
Ostmeyer and his wife, Paula, a nurse at Via Christi-St. Francis Regional Medical Center, Wichita, have a two-year-old daughter. They live in Marion.
In his free time, Ostmeyer enjoys golf and family activities. He once worked as a player caddie for golfers at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Wichita.
"I was carrying the bag for some of Wichita's wealthiest people," he recalled.
Susan Best will be a fifth grade teacher at MES.
She was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in Central America.
She earned her bachelor's degree from Northwestern College, St. Paul, Minn., where she taught kindergarten and sixth grade before coming to Marion County. She spent last year as a substitute in Marion, Hillsboro, and Hesston schools.
"As a substitute I had first-hand experience with the faculty, students, and building," she said. "I was impressed with Marion Elementary and enjoyed working there."
Her husband, Neil, is resident director at Tabor College. Because his job requires him to be available on campus, the Bests live in an apartment in the men's dorm.
Best's hobbies including raquetball, piano, guitar, and cross-stitch. She is a skilled runner, having served as distance track coach last season for Tabor, and is currently training to run a half-marathon.
Best worked for ACR Homes, Inc., as program coordinator in a group home for four mentally and physically disabled adults. While there, she had the memorable opportunity to reunite one of the women with her family.
"They had just started to contact each other after 30 years of separation and I was able to put a dinner together for Easter," she said.
Chris Ware will be a fifth grade teacher. She was born in Council Grove and raised in Dalhart, Texas. She graduated from White City High School.
Ware earned degrees in education and psychology from Emporia State University. She completed her student teaching in third grade at White City Elementary, and served as a long-term substitute in kindergarten at Schilling Elementary in Salina.
Her husband, Bob, is a lieutenant with the Kansas Highway Patrol. The couple lives in rural Marion County.
Ware enjoys raising and riding horses, reading, and various sports.
She came to Marion because she was impressed with the community support for the district, the facilities, and the commitment to progressive learning.
Laura Baldwin will teach fourth grade.
She doesn't really count as a new teacher, since she taught first grade at MES several years ago.
"I enjoy fourth graders' sense of humor," she said. "Their skill level enables a teacher to engage them in lots of fun learning activities."
She grew up in Wichita but had family ties to Marion: both sets of grandparents, Lysle and Faye Russell and Walter and Evelyn Rupp were longtime Marion residents.
Baldwin is a 1988 graduate of Friends University, and taught at several school districts before leaving for several years to raise a family.
She and her husband, Dan, a local attorney, live in Marion. Their children are second-grader Isaac, kindergartner Jacob, and four-year-old Nathan.
Their home is one of the more dramatic in Marion. It is a converted church at the intersection of Fifth and Santa Fe.
Amy Budke is a special education teacher at Marion Middle School.
She was raised in Chase County and graduated from Emporia State University this summer with a bachelor's degree in education with a concentration in special education. She student taught at Council Grove elementary and middle schools.
She and her husband, David, live in rural Chase County. David works at Martin Marietta in Marion. She enjoys showing and training dogs, judging 4-H dog shows, gardening, and reading.
In college she worked three years as a veterinary assistant, but that isn't the most unusual job she's had: Budke was an extra in the movie "Murder Ordained," which was shot in Emporia.
