Meet the new teachers in Fairfield

Fairfield Community School District has hired a number of new teachers who are preparing their classrooms for the first day of school on Aug. 24. Each one had an opportunity to write about their background, education, hobbies, what attracted them to Fairfield, and what they'll be teaching this year.

Leslee Hansen

High School Special Education Teacher

She is from Oskaloosa, Iowa. She graduated from Grinnell High in 1986, IHCC graduating 1990, graduated from Buena Vista with at BA in 1993 and graduated from Drake University in 2003.

She enjoys reading, camping, bike riding, games and roller skating. She participates in RAGRAII. She had a teacher who encouraged to follow her dream of being a teacher so she could make a difference in life.

She had visited Fairfield during RAGRAII and when her children were in sports and was impressed with the town's beauty and hospitality.

Natalie Jones

Middle School Title Reading Teacher

She grew up on a farm outside of Fairfield and graduated from FHS in 2016. She graduated with a major in Elementary Education from Central College in 2020. She is excited to be back in Fairfield and on her family farm. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing with her dogs and helping on the farm.

Rebecca Moore

Washington 1st Grade Teacher

She is from Kimberling City, Missouri and Peotone, Illinois. She graduated from Peotone High School and Central College in Pella, with a BA in Elementary Education. She enjoyed Math and Social Studies while in school, and participated in dancing and soccer. She enjoys TikTok, creating Cricut projects and Netflix. She enjoys seeing the moment when the students finally understand a concept and the relationships she has established with past students. She stopped for coffee on her way back to Pella and thought Fairfield was a pretty town.

Hollie Mathews

Washington Elementary 1st Grade Teacher

She is from Salem, Iowa. She graduated from Mt. Pleasant High, Kirkwood Community College and the University of Northern Iowa. While in school, she enjoyed Science and Social Studies because they were hands on and allowed her to explore. She was active in softball, cheerleading, swimming and art as a child. Today she enjoys being outdoors, photography and farming with her fiancé. Tutoring and mentoring in high school and college inspired her to become a teacher. She loves the cozy hometown feeling she gets in Fairfield.

Skylar Bennett

Pence Elementary 2nd Grade Special Education

Skylar is from Fairfield, graduating from FHS in 2010. She graduated from Kirkwood Community College and Iowa Wesleyan College in 2015. This will be her fifth year teaching. She enjoyed ELA classes in school and loves to read and write. She enjoyed swimming, baton twirling, cheerleading and riding four wheelers as a child. She is married and a mom to two sons, 3.5-year-old Oliver and 10-month-old Finn. She enjoys going on outdoor adventures, crafts and reading together. She decided to become a teacher to provide the kind of support and inspiration that her elementary teachers showed her.

Kristina Gelfand

High School English Teacher

Kristina is originally from Elsinore, Denmark. Kristina attended university in Washington, DC, and graduated from Maharishi International University in Fairfield with a BA in Literature, and a minor in Education. She is currently completing a Master's degree from the University of Northern Iowa in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). As a teacher, Kristina's goal is to provide activities that stimulate students to engage with the literature they read and the stories they write. She feels that gaining the ability to express ideas clearly, and creatively, will help all students regardless of what profession they choose to pursue in life.

Kristina has made Fairfield her home for decades. She is the mother of Joseph, a graduate of Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, and Raphael, who is completing his Bachelor's degree at the University of Iowa.

During her teenage years, Kristina traveled extensively throughout Europe as a member of the Danish Junior Orienteering Team, and during the winter months, she trained at a Junior level cross-country skiing training facility in Telemark, Norway. When she is not teaching, you will find her clad in bright yellow bicycle clothes dodging potholes on rural roads in Southeast Iowa, chasing a furry yellow ball around a tennis court, swimming laps at the pool, or riding Icelandic horses.

Katelyn May

Pence Elementary Math Support

Katelyn taught in the Fairfield Community School District previously from 2016-2018. She graduated from Central College in 2016 with a degree in Elementary Education and endorsements in middle school mathematics and language arts. Katelyn graduated from Morningside College with her Masters of Education in 2020.

Alexandria Thompson

Washington Elementary Kindergarten Teacher

Alexandria has a Bachelors Degree from the University of Northern Iowa in elementary education. Her passion has always been teaching, and she cannot wait to begin teaching her kindergarteners.

She has two dogs, Remmy and Sammy, and two cats. She loves being outside and going on hikes. Spending time with my family is one of her favorite things to do.

Brady Schmidt

Middle School Fifth Grade Teacher

Brady is originally from Lake Mills, Iowa. While in school he was in wrestling, played football and ran track. After he graduated high school, he attended the University of Northern Iowa and majored in Elementary and Middle Level Education. GO PANTHERS! This is his first-year teaching. He enjoys fishing, hunting, hanging out with friends, and watching the Vikings and Twins. He is really excited to be a Trojan and can't wait to grow in the community. He decided to become a teacher to help make a positive difference in children's lives. He had visited the Fairfield area and was impressed with the area's beauty and variety of outdoors activities.

Lauren Gaddie-Johnson

Middle School 7th and 8th English Teacher

Lauren has lived in nine different states, including Iowa. She attended high school in Oklahoma and Colorado. English was and is her favorite subject because she loves writing. As a child, she loved roller skating, tap, ballet and jazz dance classes. She walks her dog and does Les Mills classes online. She was a newspaper journalist and decided to switch careers, because she wanted to teach young people to write and enjoy writing. She visited Fairfield and liked that it was a small pretty, quiet town and the people were friendly.

Addison Schrader

Washington Elementary Kindergarten Teacher

She grew up in Manchester, Iowa, and attended college at The University of Iowa, where she studied Elementary Education. Becoming a teacher has always been a dream of hers since she was a little girl. When not in the classroom, she is usually with her husband, Jake and her dog, Finn. The couple love to be outdoors, visiting with friends and family, and finding new restaurants to eat at. She looks forward to learning and creating a positive impact while teaching.

Alex Rebling

Middle School 7th Grade Language Arts

Alex was born and raised in Fairfield and graduated from high school in 2010. He graduated from UNI in 2015 with a BA in Secondary Education. He has taught in Cedar Rapids and then in Pekin for the last four years. He is very excited to be teaching in his home district. He is in the Iowa Army National Guard and has been a guitarist and vocalist for the 34th Army Band for the past 11 years. He also enjoys baseball, football, reading, video games, hunting and spending time with his family.

Evan Hammans

Washington Elementary Principal

Evan grew up in Des Moines and graduated from Iowa State University with an Elementary Education degree with an English Second Language endorsement. He received his master's degree from Morningside College as a Professional Educator. He just received his principal licensure from Viterbo University. He has taught for seven years, teaching first grade, second grade, and K-5 ESL. In his free time, he enjoys being with family and friends, playing and watching sports, and being outside.