Classes began at Wolford Schools on August 23, 2012. This year there are four new staff members: Joel Braaten, high school English teacher; Bethany Mack, teacher, grades 3 & 4; Stacy Schaan, social studies and physical education instructor; and Wanita Olson, who, in addition to being a business manager, is the facilitator of online business classes, FBLA advisor, and senior class advisor. The following information about each person comes from Wolford Public School’s September newsletter.

Joel Braaten: My name is Joel Braaten, and I am the new English teacher at Wolford High School. I have taught English for the past 30 years, and I have also been a school administrator for 15 years. I am originally from the Rugby area (Fillmore, actually) so I am quite familiar with Wolford.

I received my undergraduate and graduate degree from UND, and my administrative degree from Northern State of Aberdeen. I have taught in the following schools in North Dakota during my teaching career: Burke Central High School, (Lignite), Killdeer High School, Dickinson High School, Leeds High School, and Rugby High School. I am married to Carol (Borgen), who graduated from Wolford High School (a few years back). She is currently teaching at Ely Elementary in Rugby. We have two children: Jarl, who is finishing a degree in business economics at UND, and Denage, who is finishing her degree in psychology at UND.

In my spare time I enjoy carpentry, hunting, fishing, and generally being in the outdoors. I look forward to teaching at Wolford this year, and I hope that I can have a positive impact on the students.

Bethany Mack: I am Bethany Mack. I live in Orrin. This is my first year teaching. I graduated from Minot State University in December 2011. I graduated from high school at Border Central in a class of 4. I LOVE small schools and what they do for our youth!

My husband, Ben, and I have two children. Our son, Jadyn, is 9 and our daughter, Addi, is 6 months. In addition to us both working outside the home, we raise cattle and have a licensed meat processing plant with my father-in-law.

I enjoy spending time outdoors. Much of this time is spent with my family camping, going to car races, and hunting. My goal for this year is to make learning fun for my students.

Stacy Schaan: I am a graduate of Grenora High School and Dickinson State University. In addition to teaching Social Studies and P.E., I will be the Annual Staff Advisor, Speech Director, and Distance Ed Coordinator. Last year I coordinated Grenora’s science program through the ND Center for Distance Ed. I love to read historical non-fiction and spend time with my family whenever possible. My goal for Social Studies this year is to engage the students and get them excited to learn about the world around them. My goal for the online courses is to develop the students’ knowledge of technology and prepare them for their future academic careers.

Wanita Olson: Some of you may know me as Wanita Slaubaugh, but my official Wolford Public School name is Mrs. Olson. I have been the business manager at Wolford since January, and have now included facilitator of online business classes, FBLA advisor, and senior class advisor to my list of duties.

I graduated from Wolford as well as Minot State with a Business Management degree.

My husband Alan and I have four boys. Devon is a sophomore and Ashton is in 4th grade. Layton (4) and Logan (3) spend their days “helping” their dad and being spoiled by their grandparents.

We farm and raise beef cattle on our 5th generation family farm.

I enjoy cooking, baking, and decorating cakes in my spare time. I also like to read and spend time in the garden.

I am excited for this new adventure and hope to make online learning a smooth transition for the students.