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RANDOLPH - Lynelle Schrunk enjoys helping her daughter, a fifth-grade teacher, and her daughter-in-law, a special education teacher, each year getting ready for the new school year by helping to organize and decorate their classrooms.
This year, she had the privilege of getting her own classroom ready.
Schrunk will start the 2023-24 school year as Randolph’s new music teacher for kindergarten through second grade. “I really love working with children and music always makes me happy,” she said so the position was a natural fit and works well in her schedule. “We are going to have fun. We will learn about music through listening, singing and playing age-appropriate instruments.”
She previously worked as a paraprofessional in both kindergarten and special education.
Schrunk graduated from Dodge High School and Wayne State College with a bachelor’s degree in speech communications.
Her family is one of educators as she’s married to Randolph’s new school superintendent, Daryl. Her daughter Kayla Geelan, Emmetsburg, Iowa, is the fifth grade teacher. Her son, Matthew, lives in Norfolk and is married to Amber, the special education teacher. Matthew and Amber have a 2-year-old, Charlotte, and another baby on the way. Kayla and her husband, Andy, are expecting their first child in March.
“I love hosting family get-togethers and holidays as well as spending time with friends and loved ones,” Schrunk said. “My husband and I love to go on walks with and without our 4-year-old Shitzu, Tucker Joe.”
Since moving to Randolph this summer, Schrunk has successfully grown her first vegetable and flower garden.
But what she’s most looking forward to is growing her relationships with students and staff in her new role.
“It will be nice to get to know the staff and be a part of the school system where my husband works as the new superintendent,” she said.
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Kelli Thelen
Libraries are for everyone.
And in her new role at Randolph Public Schools, Kelli Thelen intends to engage students in a way that will keep their noses in good books all year.
Thelen will start the 2023-24 school year as the new districtwide (K-12) media specialist.
“The idea is just to create a welcoming environment and promote reading,” she said.
Some of those new ideas include featuring books recommended by students and staff on dynamic shelving similar to a bookstore. She’ll have book-related activities to lure high school students into the library to take a closer look.
She would also like for Randolph students to read Nebraska Golden Sower Award nominees throughout the year and then place their votes.
Thelen worked over the summer to rearrange the elementary library and weed out some old books. And she’ll do the same at the high school to make room for new titles.
Thelen will also be teaching digital citizenship, computer skills and typing, and STEM with her time split between the two Randolph school campuses.
She previously worked at Norfolk Public Schools as a media specialist for five years and third grade for three years. She also worked as a third-grade teacher at Wilber-Clatonia Public Schools near Lincoln.
“I had the same position in Norfolk but did not get to do as much library,” she said. “I like that I get to help build the library up.”
Thelen graduated from North Platte High School and received a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State College and a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
She is married to Ted and they are the parents of Konner, third grade, Cole, first grade, and nearly 3-year-old twins, Wyatt and Nora.
Outside of school, Thelen enjoys spending time outdoors in her garden or at the Lied Randolph Public Library, and also crafting.
Along with her duties as media specliast, Thelen will also serve as the Cardinal Craniums sponsor.
*** Jordyn Anderson
Dissecting fetal pigs, gardening in the classroom and the potential for a field trip to a college cadaver lab are all on the agenda for Randolph’s new science teacher.
Jordyn Anderson, Plainview, will be bringing those new ideas and her teaching experience to her new role as Randolph Public Schools’ 7-12 Science teacher this year.
Another field trip idea may be to Ashfall Fossil Beds in Royal and she also has several chemistry experiments planned for her students, too.
“A lot of kids think science isn’t fun,” Anderson said which she takes as a personal challenge to make her classes enjoyable.
The 2023-24 school year will be her second teaching as she spent last year teaching physical science at Bloomfield. Anderson received her degree from Concordia University in Seward.
“I’m looking forward to meeting the kids and making connections with the community since I’m not from there,” she said.
Daughter of Deon and Christy Anderson, she continues to live on the family farm in the Plainview area.
The farm has been in Anderson’s family for six generations with an 800-head cow-calf operation and traditional row crops of corn, soybeans and irrigated alfalfa.
When she’s not at school, Anderson likes to read and spend time with animals, especially horses.
She’s also athletic with a particular interest in softball - playing for 15 years and previously coaching. She also received national recognition in shot put.
Along with teaching science, she will be the assistant girls basketball coach and Junior High girls track coach.
Working at Randolph Public Schools will be like returning home for Emma Bermel.
The Randolph woman graduated from Randolph High School in 2019 and then the University of South Dakota in 2023. In her first teaching job she will return to her alma mater and teach the entire student body kindergarten through 12th - in her favorite subject matter: art. “The position at Randolph stood out to me because it was back in my hometown and close to my family,” she said, which includes her parents, Jeff and Vicki. Her oldest sister, Elle, also resides near Randolph on a farm. Her two other siblings, Eva and Elijah, are students at Randolph Public Schools.
When not at school, Bermel likes to travel and ride horses with her neighbor, Pam Thies. She’s also an artist and photographer, focusing on a western art influence.
“I love taking photos of animals and the outdoors. I have done some weddings, senior pictures, and couple pictures,” she said.
She’s won awards for her work at different art shows and that’s a world Bermel would like to expose her students to.
“I would love to do field trips to art exhibitions close to Randolph, allowing to show students that part of the art world and see different styles of artists,” she said.
Along with teaching art, Bermel will be the sophomore class sponsor and girls track coach.
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Chelsey Schmit
Chelsey Schmit is excited for the upcoming year especially since she will be working and living in the same community for the first time in her professional career.
She’ll be teaching Randolph’s fifth graders as well as science to sixth graders.
“It is such a fun age group,” Schmit said, adding Randolph is known as an excellent school with great teachers and she’s happy to be a part of it.
Along with her teaching duties, Schmit will also be the Elementary Student Council adviser.
She previously taught first and second grade at St. Mary’s in Osmond for the last four years. She also taught English as a Second Language to fifth through eighth grades in Norfolk for one year.
Schmit graduated from Laurel-Concord-Coleridge High School and Wayne State College.
When she’s not in school, she is spending time with her family: husband, Justin, and sons, Kaden, 5, and Kyson, 3. She also enjoys reading, baking and spending time outdoors.
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Keri Severson
Since Randolph and Osmond joined in a co-op for basketball, the school schedules align closely. And that’s just one of the reasons Keri Severson was interested in joining the school system.
“I like the smaller schools and wanted to get more on a schedule similar to my kids,” the Osmond woman said. Severson will be teaching social studies for fifth-, sixth- and seventhgrade students, and math to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Along with her teaching duties, she was tapped to serve as assistant high school track coach for both boys and girls, and be the eighthgrade sponsor. She has previously taught kindergarten through eighth grade in different settings including Rock County, Osmond and Norfolk Middle School.
Severson graduated from Bassett High School and the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
Severson and her husband, Matt, are parents to Owen and Ava. When not at school, she’s attending her children’s activities and she also enjoys baking, gardening, reading, fishing, and playing and watching sports.
