Washoe Country School District
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About Us
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Jump to: Where we are located, Who we are
Vision Statement
Core Values
-Learning Forward 2008
Where we are located:
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Staff Development Office 494 Poplar Street Reno, NV 89502 | |
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Matley Training Center 1150 Matley Lane, 2nd Floor Reno, NV 89502 | Plumb Lane Training Room (Title 1 Bldg.) 535 East Plumb Lane Reno, NV 89502 |
Who we are:
Toni Rader
Toni was born and raised on the Kenai Peninsula in south central Alaska. During middle school and high school, she performed in musicals and toured Europe and Asia with her high school and college choral groups. Toni graduated from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon with a degree in Elementary Education and from the University of Phoenix with a degree in Educational Administration. From 1990 to 2003, she taught kindergarten and first grade at Lincoln Park Elementary School in Sparks, Nevada. Then she transferred to Elmcrest Elementary School in Reno, Nevada where she taught first and second grade. From 2006 to 2010, she worked as a professional developer for the Assessment Division. Toni is the district coordinator for the Education Support Professional Staff Development Division. She enjoys facilitating on-line classes. Toni is married to Curt, her husband of 18 years, and has a daughter, three step-sons, and four grandchildren. In her spare time, she works through dog obedience classes with her Dogue de Bordeaux and her Beagle.
Maria Chavez
Maria has worked for the Washoe County School District for 16 years, mainly in the ESL Department. She has two beautiful children, daughter Alexis, 17, and son Adrian, 10. As a hobby, Maria beads and participates in craft fairs. This is her first year working with the Staff Development Department. Dorthy Devencenzi
Dorthy has worked for the WCSD for twelve years. She started as a clinical aide and then moved to secretarial positions at Galena High School and Hunsberger Elementary School. Dorthy worked in Human Resources as a technician and licensing analyst, in PPA&A as an assessment technician, and now for the Department of School Performance. With the positions Dorthy has held, she has become very knowledgeable in regard to the Microsoft Office Suite and the applications that work well for various projects and for day-to-day work within the district. Dorthy gained most of her Microsoft Office skills by using the programs on a daily basis. She has taken several classes through Fred Pryor Seminars and Truckee Meadows Community College. She has been an instructor for the Education Support Professional Technology Program classes since the program started in 2008. She enjoys sharing her experience and knowledge of Microsoft Suite and giving class participants ideas on how these programs and applications can benefit them in their positions.
Fran has worked for the WCSD for over 25 years. She started out as a parent volunteer in the classroom and served as Parent Faculty Association president when her four children were in elementary school. She served as president of WESP (Washoe Education Support Professional) Association and is currently a board member. She has also held several positions as an Educational Support Professional, from teacher’s assistant to school secretary. Currently, Fran works as an assessment technician in the ESL office.
Salvador is originally from Washington State. He works as a Parent Involvement Facilitator at Hug High School, where he serves on the PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Supports) team. Prior to that, he worked at Traner Middle School for five years as a Parent Involvement Facilitator and a member of the PBIS team. Salvador is married to his wonderful wife, Ana, who works at Sparks High School. His interests include watching movies and dancing with his wife.
Being part of the ESP Staff Development Team for the last three years has provided Michelle the opportunity to learn and grow. In addition to facilitating the Microsoft Office Suite classes for fellow district employees, Michelle is also involved with the new e-Learning pr ogram which enables employees to take part in self-paced, distance learning. Michelle enjoys working for the WCSD Information Technology Department. Working with computers comes naturally to Michelle and her siblings. Michelle's sister is a computer programmer for the Irvine Unified School District, and Michelle's brother is the network manager in charge of Homeland Security. Michelle enjoys the varied activities that Reno has to offer. She has been an avid snow skier from the age of four and was introduced to snow-boarding by her two daughters. Michelle looks forward to the opportunity to meeting new people and to seeing returning faces in the upcoming courses being taught by the ESP Staff Development Team.
Molly Hum
Molly Hum has been with the WCSD for over 20 years. She started out as a parent volunteer in the classroom when her two daughters were in grade school and the rest is history. She joined the PTA and became a PTA State Board Member. When her girls were old enough, she became a special education paraprofessional in the classroom. As she continued to explore her professional options, she worked with Title I at Sun Valley Elementary as a classroom assistant, became the Parent Involvement Coordinator and 21st Century Site Coordinator, and then became the Sun Valley Elementary School Secretary. She had a big role in leading the school from single track 45/15 to a MTYR status. Molly then tried the secondary world and became a school bookkeeper at Sparks HS which then led to her positions as the Administrative Secretary for the Textbooks and Standards Program and the Education Support Professionals Training Program. She now enjoys being the Administrative Assistant for the Curriculum and Instruction Department where she is able to share her knowledge and continue to learn and grow. In 2003 Molly received the WCSD/NCSEA Secretarial Employee of the Year award and has also received the WCSD Employee of the Month award for March of 2008. She has given presentations about professional development at the NEA/ESP Conferences in Las Vegas and Washington D.C. Molly looks forward to her continued learning and enjoys sharing best practices with others.
Michele Jones
For nearly five years Michele has been the Educational Technology Specialist (computer teacher) at Lemmon Valley Elementary, a Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) school. Before that, she volunteered at Lemmon Valley for approximately four years. She knows the school population very well since both of her children attended there. She has two children, Austin 15 and Taylor 12. She is originally from Southern California where she worked primarily in the secretarial field. Her interests include camping, hiking, fishing, and, of course, her family; they keep her very busy. Michele loves her job and can’t think of anything else she would rather be doing.
Toni was born and raised in Santa Barbara, CA where she graduated from nursing school. When Toni and her husband moved to Reno many years ago, Toni worked at Mount Rose Ski Area and at Reno/Sparks Convention Authority. Those jobs were so different from nursing but so much fun! When her oldest son started school, she volunteered in the classroom and in the school library. She continued volunteering at each school her sons attended. Toni has worked for WCSD for twenty years as an assistant in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Mamie Towles ES, Clayton MS, and currently at Vaughn MS. She is the secretary for the WESP (Washoe Eduction Support Professional) Association and she serves on the NSEA (Nevada State Education Association) Board of Directors as the WESP representative. Toni and her husband have two sons and a wonderful daughter-in-law. In her spare time she enjoys reading, walking her three dogs, and getting together with family and friends.Marnie Sheffield
Native Nevadan and mother of four, Marnie Sheffield has enjoyed being part of the WCSD for more than 26 years. Whether a parent volunteer in classrooms or working in the schools and departments, she has always shown pleasantness and professionalism. In the positions Marnie has held she has become knowledgeable in Microsoft Office. She has continued to learn and grow in her position with the ESP Staff Development Team. Over the years, Marnie has served as a volunteer with community programs such as American Heart Association, the Reno Junior Ski Program, Truckee Meadows Community College, and the Reno Rodeo Association, enjoying and sharing her love of the Reno/Sparks area with family and friends. Sharing technology information and knowledge with you, the employees of the WCSD, is one of Marnie’s greatest pleasures.
Classes Marnie teaches include:
Microsoft Office
e-Learning Lab
Ellen Thomas
A new addition to the ESP Staff Development Team, Ellen has worked for the WCSD for 6 years – four with the Staff Development Department, one at Hug High School, and one at Reed High School. She is currently the Inservice Secretary located at the Brown Center. She has taught Microsoft Office courses for Productivity Point International and Truckee Meadows Community College and loves learning new computer programs. Ellen is married to Bob, her husband of 28 years, and has three children and one grandchild. Outside of the workplace, she is very involved in the Walk to Emmaus and Chrysalis programs through her church.
Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, Kit Urbani is a second-generation Nevadan. Her grandparents worked for Washoe County School District in the 1940’s and 1950’s, and Kit’s parents, Kit, and her son all attended Washoe County schools. After attending UNR, Reno Business College and Argonaut Court Reporting School in Sacramento, she went to work as a court reporter, then for the City of Reno Human Resources and Planning Department. She took time off to raise her son and volunteered at his many activities and at Lenz Elementary School. She also was a volunteer at West Coast Tae Kwon Do and the Neil Road Community Center teaching young children the discipline and focus of martial arts from 1993-2003. Kit began work with Washoe County School District in 1990 – spending 2 years with the Gifted and Talented Program as a Teacher Aide, 8 years at Swope Middle School as the Bookkeeper/ Registrar, and 11 years with the Inservice Department as the Department Secretary where she received the Classified Employee of the Month for November 2003. She began her current position of Administrative Secretary for the Staff Development Department and Education Support Professionals Department in August of 2011, and after 11 years of working with certified employees’ inservice needs, Kit looks forward to working with the Education Support Professionals Administrator and cadre as well as assisting ESP’s with their personal and professional growth.
