by Tom Chillemi –
Middlesex County Public Schools welcomes 23 new teachers and staff members for the 2020-2021 school year, which started for students Monday.
New teachers and staff at Middlesex High School (MHS) include, in alphabetical order:
• Doug Armstrong — He will teach MHS music-related classes, including band, choir, guitar and percussion. He has a bachelor’s degree in Music from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in music from Radford University. Armstrong, who is moving from Richmond, has taught music for 32 years in Virginia and two years in Warsaw, Poland.
• Mary Beringer — She will teach Language Arts and Drama at MHS. Beringer has a bachelor’s degree in English from Hanover College and a master’s degree in Education from Xavier University. She is moving from Cincinnati. She enjoys volunteering at renaissance festivals.
• Maribeth Ewing — She will be a MHS student counselor. She has a bachelor’s degree in School Counseling from Niagara University. She is a native of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and is living in Richmond. She recently saw Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
• Andrew Layne — He is the new assistant principal at MHS. He has a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from College of William and Mary, and a bachelor’s degree in History and Social Science from Radford University.
Layne has lived in New Kent County for the past nine years.
He and his wife, Kristie Layne, have three children. The oldest is 14 and the twins are 9.
Layne is a descendant of the Hatfields from the infamous Hatfield and McCoy feud.
• Christine Pedersen — She will be the library media specialist at MHS.
She has a bachelor’s degree in Honors English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and a master’s degree in English and American Literature from Brandeis University. She is learning Spanish.
She is moving to the area from Flint, Mich.
She and her husband, Philip Pedersen, have been married 32 years and they have two children. Willow like the tree, 22, works for Deloitte Consulting and Wyatt, 19, is a student at Longwood University.
• Eric Schaefer — He will be a special education teacher at MHS. He has a bachelor’s degree in Government and International Relations from George Mason University, and his teaching licensure is from the University of Virginia.
Schaefer is from northern Virginia but has lived in Kilmarnock since 2015. He enjoys painting and researching American history.
• Carrie Ward — She will teach Biology. She has a bachelor’s degree from Longwood University. She and her husband, Joshua Ward, live in Gloucester. She and her mother have a vintage doll business.
• Anne Wilkins — She will teach Environmental Science. She has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a master’s degree in Education from the University of Mary Washington.
A native of Westmoreland County, she enjoys traveling.
• Hannah Zwerner — She will teach ninth grade English. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and a bachelor’s degree in Theater with a concentration in Music and Dance from Christopher Newport University.
She spent half her life in Charlottesville and then moved to West Point to attend middle and high school. She resides in West Point.
She has traveled to three different countries and even performed in England. She also spent the last year working as a literary intern at a theater company in Sarasota, Fla.
New teachers and staff at St. Clare Walker Middle School (SCW) include, in alphabetical order:
• Patricia Burchill — She will teach sixth grade Language Arts at SCW. She has a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Virginia Tech, a teaching certificate from James Madison University, a master’s degree in Education with emphasis on Curriculum and Instruction with a reading specialist certificate from Eastern Mennonite University.
Burchill also has a post master’s certificate in Educational Leadership and Administration from George Washington University.
She is from Blacksburg and now lives in Topping.
She and her husband, Dennis Burchill, have two adult children, Justin Burchill and Krista Gwilliam. She enjoys paddle boarding and competes in agility with her flat-coated retriever named Ty.
• Patina Janisko — She will teach Art at SCW. She has a bachelor’s degree in Art Education from Youngstown State University and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Phoenix. She is moving to the area from Ithaca, N.Y.
She and her husband, Bill Janisko, have two children Dylan, 13, and Tanner, 10.
She enjoys “adventures,” including hiking, biking, kayaking, cooking, traveling, art music and spending time with family and friends.
• Kimberly Parks — She will teach seventh grade Math at SCW. She has a bachelor’s degree in Middle School Education from Longwood University, a master’s degree from Virginia Tech in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialty in Instructional Technology, and an education specialist certification from the University of Virginia in Administration and Supervision.
She moved from Powhatan County to Urbanna three years ago.
She and her husband, James Parks, have three adult children, Taylor Holloway, 24, Audrey Parks, 20, and Nathan Parks, 24.
She loves to saltwater fish and she and her husband usually vacation in spots that allow them to take a fishing adventure.
• Tracy Pausic — She will teach eighth grade Language Arts and Civics at SCW. She has a bachelor’s degree in International Business with a minor in Spanish from James Madison University (JMU) and she also has a master’s of education in pre-K through eighth grade from JMU.
Pausic, who has lived in Middlesex for 19 years, is originally from Chesterfield County.
She and her husband have three children, Brett, Evan and Blair.
She has taught group exercise classes at the Middlesex Family YMCA since it first opened.
• Anthony Sgro — He will teach seventh grade Science and History at SCW. He has a bachelor’s degree in Education from Central Michigan University, and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Towson University. He most recently taught in Charles County Public Schools in Waldorf, Md.
He has a daughter, Marcie, and he is engaged to Jessica McKissick.
Sgro was born in Philadelphia and moved to Michigan when he was 6 years old. He’s still a fan of Philadelphia sports teams.
• Cindy Thompson — She will teach seventh grade Language Arts at SCW. She has a master’s degree in Teaching from Virginia Commonwealth University and a library media specialist degree from the University of Virginia. A native of Hanover County, Thompson has moved to Lancaster County.
She and her husband, Sheldon Thompson, have two adult children, four grandchildren and two dogs.
New teachers and staff at Middlesex Elementary School (MES) include, in alphabetical order:
• Pamela Booth — She is the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) teacher. Booth has a bachelor’s degree in History and Early Childhood Education from Christopher Newport University. This will be in her 15th year teaching pre-K in a VPI program. “I am so excited to join MCPS in its journey to offer quality education to our youngest learners!”
Booth grew up in Houston and has lived in Virginia since 1991.
She and her husband, Mike Booth, have a 24-year-old daughter, Melissa Guerra, and a stepdaughter, Rebecca Booth, 25.
• Kelsey Carlton — She will teach second grade at MES. She has a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts with a minor in Elementary Education from Ferrum College.
The Dinwiddie County native loves to travel.
• Brianna Fisher — She will teach kindergarten at MES. She has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Special Education from Alvernia University. The native of Gloucester Township, N.J., played softball at the collegiate level and loves playing and watching sports.
• Tracey McFarland — She will be a fourth grade special education teacher at MES.
She has a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Old Dominion University. She is a native of Gloucester.
She and her husband, Louis McFarland, have three adult children and two grandchildren with a third grandchild due in October.
She taught pre-kindergarten at Weekday Learning Center in Hayes for 14 years.
• Hailey Mitchell — She will teach fifth grade Language Arts and History at MES. Her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education is from the University of Phoenix. In September she will graduate with a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction.
She is a native of the Northern Neck and has two dogs, Lola and Harry. And, she freely admits she is “obsessed with Harry Potter.”
• Brianna Rodgers — She will teach fourth grade. She has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Slippery Rock University. She is moving to the area from Wesley, Pa. Rogers spent six months last year living in Australia
• Heather Smith — She will teach second grade at MES. She has a bachelor’s degree with a major in Liberal Arts and a minor in Elementary Education from Ferrum College. She is a native of Lancaster County.
Smith, who has been skydiving, has a 4-year-old basset hound and collects anything with a basset hound theme.
Last summer she went to Boulder, Colo., to meet and collaborate with Bitsbox founders and their team. She and four other teachers were chosen to work with Bitsbox as ambassadors to design learning environments that use Bitsbox and technology to strengthen learning in classrooms.
• Erica Webster — She will teach second grade at MES. She has a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Regent University. She is a native of Mathews and is returning to the area after living in northern Virginia for the past eight years.
She enjoys doing anything that she can do with her dog, Theodore.
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