New USD 234 Teachers: Page, Coen, Williams

Loretta George

5 months ago

This is part of a series of new teachers in USD 234 School District, Fort Scott. There are 24 new teachers and two new administrators in the district.

School starts for students on August 16.

There are five campuses in the district:

Fort Scott Preschool Center (serving pre-kindergarten students ages 3+)
Winfield Scott Elementary School (serving kindergarten through through second-grade students)
Eugene Ware Elementary School (serving third through fifth-grade students)
Fort Scott Middle School (serving sixth through eighth-grade students)
Fort Scott High School (serving ninth through twelfth-grade students)

According to its website, the district has nearly two thousand students enrolled within the district and over 350+ staff members.

Marcus Page and family. Submitted photo.

Marcus Page, 31, is a new biology teacher at Fort Scott High School.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Pittsburg State University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from P.S.U.

He has been a middle school science teacher in Kansas City, KS for two years, a school science teacher in Olathe for one year, and the Director of Admissions at Fort Scott Community College since Spring of 2022.

“While at FSCC, I had the privilege of being a part of LEAD Bourbon County, allowing me the opportunity to meet many people within our community.”

His family attends Fort Scott Nazarene Church.

His wife is the communication instructor at FSCC and they have two children, Carter, age 6, who attends Fort Scott Christian Heights, and Ellie, age 1, who attends Happy Kids Daycare.

“By far the best part of teaching is getting to know the students and building a relationship with them to encourage them throughout their education.

“A challenge in education is having a healthy work/life balance. Now that I have two children at home it will be important to utilize my time at work to its fullest.”

Jessica Coen, 35, is the district- Early Childhood Special Education teacher at Fort Scott Preschool Center.

She earned a Masters In Art of Teaching, K-6th grade and undergrad in Unified Early Childhood from Kansas State University, has a bachelor’s in accounting through the University of Phoenix, and completed Applied Behavior Analysis training in 2023.

This is her second year teaching ECSE.

She has one year of experience in ECSE teaching at Paola Cottonwood Elementary and 6 1/2 years of experience working with Headstart and Early Headstart in Linn County.

“I have a busy house with five children Serenity,17, Kyle, 15, Bella,12, Jensen, 9, and Marek, 6 years old. ” My husband, Michael, and I just celebrated our 18th anniversary. We also have 6 dogs and 6 cats.”

The best thing about being an educator for her is “being a part of a team (family, teachers, paras, etc.) to be part of their growth and success of reaching goals and development. It’s an awesome perk to get some great smiles, hugs, and ‘I love you’ from the students. I love the laughs and the dancing while we learn and grow.

A challenge as an educator, I think is… to make sure all needs are met. But we can always do our best each day.”

Courtney Williams, 24, is a new 5th Grade Math/Science Teacher at Eugene Ware Elementary School.

She earned a Bachelor of Science, in Elementary Education from Pittsburg State University.

This is her second year of teaching, last year she taught first-grade rat R.V. Haderlein in Girard.

“I would love to find some ways to involve myself in the community since I have returned to Fort Scott!,” she said.

“I love meeting my students for the first time. To watch them come into the room and explore the space and introduce myself to them. I want to make a fun, exciting first impression so they know they will always be welcome into my classroom and I will be available when they need help.”

A challenge for her will be learning how to handle older students. “But I have confidence in myself and my new team to help me continue to grow my knowledge in the pursuit of education.”