Staff of American Horse School

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Hello, my name is Jerilyn Fast Wolf I am the kindergarten-1 teacher I am from Allen; I have 2 daughters. I hope this school year brings much Blessings and good health to all the students and parents.

Contact: jerilynfastwolf@americanhorse.us (605) - 455 - 1209

Hello, My name is Mrs. Roxanne and I teach Kindergarten at American Horse School.

This is my 7th year at AHS and I am

absolutely loving it. Just a little about myself; I have my Bachelors Degree in Early childhood and I live in Martin with my hubby of 19 years Will Clifford and our 4 children; Logan, Ember, Bryce and Chase. Some of my favorite things are watching Denver Broncos football, spending time with my kiddos, and traveling the country.

Contact: roxannecottier@americanhorse.us (605) - 455 - 1209

I am Shelby DuBray Poor Thunder, the Falcons 2nd grade teacher. I have worked at American Horse School for 6 years. I started working here in August of 2015. I started in middle school and worked in 2nd grade and have been back and forth over the years and am excited to hit a consecutive year in 2nd grade. 

     I am originally from Gordon, Nebraska. My family is from here in Allen and Martin, SD. I grew up in between these places.  

     I married Michael Poor Thunder earlier this year and we have 5 kids. Braydon -12 , Samuel -11, Violet -9, Tillie-7, and Lolynn- 1.

     I am very excited about the upcoming school year.  I miss teaching, but I am super anxious about teaching in hybrid mode. I honestly just can’t wait to see you everyday in person and on screen.

Contact: shelbydubray@americanhorse.us   455-1209

Dear Falcons This year I will encourage you to always do your best and take pride in your hard work and all the exciting things you will learn . We will see old friends and make new friends and help each other every day. You will become a stronger reader and writer by the end of this year. We will be learning about reading and writing in complete sentences. Understanding Parts of speech and understanding and retelling stories. In Math we will practice addition, subtraction, geometry, fractions, time, measurement, multiplication concepts, and problem solving. We will explore interesting hands-on activities in Science and learn about the world around us. 

What do you need to begin your new school year? First of all, bring your best smile and positive attitude! Pencils, crayons, pencil cases, and other school supplies will be provided for you. 

Parents please call the school (455-1209) and get your school email address.  This will be our main form of communication this school year due to the remote learning situation.  Also please  remember to be checking the school website and the school Facebook page for any new information and updates on things that will be happening.

Mabuhay, everyone! I am Miss Maria, delighted to be part of the AHS family since 2017.  As a Filipino, I am always excited to share our culture with my fellow workers and students. Learning and working with a community that highly values culture, family, and education have made me more passionate about this profession.

Teaching second graders is a lot of fun, but because of COVID, we were held back with many things for the past school year and a half. However, despite the drastic changes that this pandemic has impacted our routines and lifestyles, the American Horse School Faculty and Staff will still give their utmost effort and dedication in providing quality education to all students. We are also looking forward to building more healthy relationships with the parents and guardians in this new chapter. We know most of you are excited to be back in school, and we really can’t wait to see you! Let’s help and learn together as we unlock new skills in learning with this hybrid classroom setup. Feel free to reach me through my school email: malourdescanlas@americanhorse.us and school number: 455-1209 ext 1041

Best of luck to all of us! ❤️

Hi! My name is Lauren Iozzio and I will be the 3rd - 5th Grade Language Arts Teacher for the 2021-2022 school year! I am so excited and honored to teach your child this year and cannot wait to meet you! 

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas and I graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Anthropology and Sociology in 2018.  I taught 2nd grade at American Horse School for 2 years and loved it! I recently started my Master’s Degree and will graduate in May 2022 with a Master’s of Science in Social Justice and Criminology. I love education and can’t wait to get back into teaching.

I am excited to be back at AHS and I am eager to start this school year. I want to offer any support for you and your child. I know this school year may seem a little hectic, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!

Contact Information:

Email: Laureniozzio@americanhorse.us

Hi everyone, I am Miss Jasmine Faye S. Zapanta. You can call me Miss Jas for short. I am the 4th Grade Wolves’ homeroom teacher and their teacher in Language Arts for this school year. I have been teaching for 4 years. This is my first year of teaching at American Horse School.   

I am originally from the Philippines. I graduated college at De La Salle University-Dasmarinas, one of the top-performing schools in the Philippines. The reason why I moved to South Dakota to teach is that I am an adventurous and outgoing person. I love learning about new cultures and meeting new people.  

I am very excited for this upcoming school year and I will do my best to teach you both online or onsite. We are going to do and learn so many things. 

I am very happy to see you this week. Hopefully, we will get to know each other more. Let’s make our class fun and exciting. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to message me or post on our google classroom. 

Parent/Guardian(s):

Parents please call the school (455-1209) and get your school email address.  This will be our main form of communication this school year due to the remote learning situation.  Also please remember to be checking the school website and the school Facebook page for any new information and updates on things that will be happening.

Teacher:

Hello! My name is Jessi Bean and I am the homeroom teacher for the 3rd-grade tȟáȟča (deer). I will also be teaching social studies this year. This is my third year teaching at American Horse and I previously worked for the Vermillion School District as their Title VI Teacher.

I grew up in Arrowsmith, Illinois, and moved to South Dakota 6 years ago. I graduated from the University of South Dakota where I received my Bachelor of Arts in Native American Studies and my Bachelor of Science in Social Work. I am currently working on my Masters in Education from Sinte Gleska University.

I am very excited to teach in person this year, I’ve missed having students in the classroom. It will take some time to get used to our new schedule and way of learning. Let’s be patient with each other and we will figure it all out.

Contact: jessilynnbean@americanhorse.us or call the school at: 455-1209

Student: 

I am excited to have you all in class this year. We will be doing a hybrid model this school year so you will spend some days at school and other days you will be learning from home. A schedule was sent home with your computer that tells you which days you come to school and which days you learn online. In your folder is also a username and password sheet for all your different school programs. Please do not lose this paper, it is very important! When you are online learning, be sure to check in every day on Google Classroom. I will post announcements daily. It will be a great year, we just need to be sure to work together and be patient with each other. See you soon!

Parent/Guardian(s):

Parents please call the school (455-1209) if you need your school email address. This will be one of our main forms of communication this school year for hybrid learning. Also please remember to be checking the school website and the school Facebook page for any new information and updates on school.

Betty A. (Wounded Head) Robertson, Ema’c’iyapi. Mother of six children, one deceased,  seventeen -- 17 grandchildren and four--4 great-grandchildren. I graduated from Black Hills State College, Brookings, SD with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Teaching and a Master’ Education Degree in Administration. I have been in education since 1978. I have been with the Lakota Language Department at American Horse School, Allen, SD going on five-5 years this coming school year. It’s going to be another Challenging School year for all of us. I encourage all of our parents, community members, and students to work closely with each other and we will have a Successful 2021-2022 School year. I can be reached at 605-455-1209. Wopila (Thank - you).

Teacher: I am Thomiscena Fast Wolf aka TR, the para for the middle school homeroom Eagles/Math. I have been working with students at American Horse for the past 14 years. I also have been the volleyball coach for the last 5 years. I was born and raised here in Allen, I have one niece that lives with me and 2 dogs whose names are Jasper Wayne, who is a corgi-blue heeler, and Buster Brown, who is a Weiner dog-red heeler. I graduated with an Associate of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from OLC and plan to finish and earn my Bachelors of Art in Education.

I am very excited for the students to come back into the classroom and more excited we are going to try and have sports. I know we are going to have hybrid classes so we will have 2 days in school learning and 3 days of online learning. With the help from home, I know we are going to do just fine!!

Contact: thomiscenafastwolf@americanhorse.us 455-1209 ext 1010
Student: We already started school in person and we got to meet groups A and B. In the next couple of days, we will start our classes along with our online groups. We have passed out all the information paper which included: schedules, usernames, and passwords, backpacks, list of rules that need to be signed and returned and chrome books along with computer agreements,
Parent/Guardian(s) Parents please check your school email if you forgot to look in your students information folder. They have your email address on the top of the page but if you need more information please call the school 455-1209. Also please remember to be checking the school website and the school Facebook page for any new information and updates on things that will be happening.

About Me: Hi there! I’m Ms. Gabrielle Curran, but I go by Ms. Gabby. I am the Hawks’ (6/7) homeroom teacher and the reading teacher for grades 6–8. I was born and raised in Spanish Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City. I come from a French mother and an Irish-American father, and I have two younger brothers, James (age 21) and Marc (age 9). From 2016 to 2021 I attended Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, where I obtained my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English. 

I am passionate about stories, literature, writing, and language arts, and can’t wait to share that passion with my students. This is my first year teaching at American Horse School, and I’m thrilled to be here and excited to see what this school year holds! Contact: gabriellecurran@americanhorse.us 

A Note to Students: I’m so excited to be your reading teacher this year! Together, we’ll be diving into lots of different texts and novels and exploring the many ways that reading can add to our lives, whether it be through appreciating a line of poetry or being able to relate to a character in a book. Reading is such an important part of our lives –– without it, there would be very little we could do! I know that reading can be a challenging subject, so please let me know if there’s anything I can do to make the class more interesting and enjoyable for you. This coming school year will undoubtedly have challenges, but our time together in reading class doesn’t have to be one of them.

A Note to Parents: Please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email if you have any questions! You can get your school email address from the school by calling 455-1209 if you don’t have one already. Please also remember to check the school’s website and the American Horse School Facebook page for any updates.

Teacher:  Hello there! Hope all is fine! Let me introduce myself, I am Mrs. Mary Kaye M. Bentain, the 7th Grade Eagles homeroom teacher and the Middle School Math teacher this school year, 2021-2022.  I am from Cebu, Philippines, and I have been teaching in my country for nine good years. I graduated at our local college, the Talisay City College and got a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. I got my Master’s Degree in another University in the Philippines.

I am married and was blessed with a one-year old baby girl. We call her Kassie. I am hoping that I can be with my family soon as I ventured here in South Dakota.

This year is a challenge for me as I endeavor this new experience. I will work hard and we’ll be working hand in hand in this journey of learning. You will be learning from me as I am also going to learn from you.

Parents: It’s a pleasure to have your child in our class. Communication is an integral part of our education nowadays especially with the situation we are in right now. Please feel free to email me at marybentain@americanhorse.us if you have questions, or anything important to relay to me.I will be working with Tamika Cottier and Thomiscena Fast Wolf as our paraprofessionals this year. You can also contact them if you have queries. Or you can also contact the school with this line 455-1209.

I am so excited to see you all and I know that you are ready to get back in the classroom so you can LEARN despite the situation of our world today. This is my first year in American Horse School and to teach in Life Science for 6th to 8th grade.

I have been in the teaching field for almost 18 years now, from 2001 – 2015 I have handled Grade 8 Science in the Philippines, and in 2015 I went to Saudi Arabia to teach second-grade students in an international school. I was born in Manila, Philippines. I graduated at Philippine Normal University, the Center for Teacher Excellence in 2001 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education.

To my dear students, I am thrilled and a bit nervous because of the new norms and classroom setup, however, I will make sure that no one will be left behind. We will become tech-savvy because we will be using chrome books for our daily lessons and during our online classes. I am very much willing to help each of you, we will have fun the whole year that we will be together.

To our dear parents, I will be very glad to meet you one day. For now, we will be using our emails as means of communication, and this is my email address – jelisaadula@americanhorse.us so we can talk the progress of our kids. You may also reach me through the school’s contact number 605-455-1209. I just want to ask for your cooperation and work hand in hand for the success of our children in learning.

"Let respect be the language in our classroom, and let excellence be our torch in this journey."
Dear students, It is with joy and pleasure that I am welcoming everyone in this School Year 2021-2022!  For almost two years now, the world has been exponentially affected by the pandemic caused by the destructive virus, but with our aspiration to provide continuous and quality education, there is no any kind of hurdle that can surmount our quest for excellence. For this year, we are accommodating the Hybrid setup of learning where students will both experience coming to school and staying at home while learning. True enough, this can post a different kind of challenge for all of us but what matters is, you keep your heads on the game by keeping in mind the class schedule, submitting the requirements, and fulfilling the entrusted responsibilities. This is a new school year, a new beginning, and -new hope. May this year be one of the best ones and may it prepare you for the tougher battles that are in store for you outside its walls. For now, I am wishing you the best and sweetest good luck, my dear students! See you around and may the best opportunities knock on our doors!