Colfax school district has 2 new teachers
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NEW TEACHERS — Cristina Bommarito (on left) and Kathleen Thorn introduced themselves to the Colfax Board of Education at the September 16 meeting. Bommarito is teaching second grade at Colfax Elementary, and Thorn is teaching business education at Colfax High School. —photo by LeAnn R. Ralph
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax school district has two new teachers this year: Cristina Bommarito is a second grade teacher at Colfax Elementary, and Kathleen Thorn is the business education teacher at Colfax High School.
Bommarito has taken the second grade teaching position that opened following the resignation of Kristina Winings at the end of the 2018-2019 school year.
“I’m happy to be here. I went to college at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire. I got my bachelor’s degree in General Education, and I earned a double minor in Language Arts and Studio Arts,” Bommarito told the Colfax Board of Education at the September 16 meeting.
“I student taught here last fall, a year ago in fifth grade, with Sarah Yingst. And it was a really great experience. Then I returned in the spring to do some substitute teaching as well. I’m pretty familiar with a lot of the staff, which has been awesome,” she said.
Bommarito graduated from Hudson High School in 2014.
She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education from UW-Eau Claire in December of 2018 and is licensed to teach first through fifth grade (Elementary General Education) and sixth through eighth grade Language Arts.
“My goal this year is to form strong relationships with my students, and I want them to know I care about them and I care about their learning, and I ultimately want to guide them through their year and help them have a successful year,” Bommarito said.
“I do love to paint and draw. Like I said, I have a double minor in studio arts. I considered doing Art Education, but I really felt like if I was in the classroom teaching, I wanted it to be a little bit more of the general curriculum and have more of a traditional classroom,” she said.
“Outside of school, I like to stay active: running, biking, pacing, and drawing as well,” Bommarito noted.
Thorn
Kathleen Thorn has taken over the position that opened at the end of the 2018-2019 school year when Kara Zutter retired.
Thorn is originally from West Salem and is a graduate of UW-Stout, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in May in Marketing and Business Education.
Thorn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in December of 2016 from UW-Stout in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and Sales and a minor in Spanish.
“I am from West Salem, Wisconsin, and before you ask, yes, I know Troy Gunderson, and yes, I know Mr. Krall’s dad, LeRoy,” Thorn said.
“I graduated from high school and went to UW-Stout for business administration and graduated in the summer of 2016. I got out into the workforce and wasn’t personally fulfilled with what I was doing, so I went back for my bachelor’s in marketing and business education,” she said.
“Outside of school, I like to run and stay active. You may have seen me running around before the game Friday night,” Thorn said.
“My goal by the end of the year is to have all of my students who are enrolled in my CVTC college classes to earn their college credits and have a great showing at state FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America),” she said.
William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, said he has been working with Thorn and Jamie Buchholtz, Colfax High School technology education teacher, on a manufacturing project.
“One thing I’d like to add with Kathleen is that when we interviewed, and we spoke numerous times, with everything we’ve done, and everything the board agreed with in supporting the referendum in the shop area with the tech ed side, the plasma table and the (wood) router and our laser engravers and 3-d printers, now that Kathleen is new here, we’re working with Mr. Buchholtz to get a manufacturing model set up where we are producing some products,” Yingst said.
“And of course, Kathleen would be on the business side of this and teaching the students about how to set up a business and what goes into that side of it … We are in the infant stages,” Yingst said.
