A Taste of
Kindergarten
2019/20 Kindergarten Students & Parents
- Meet the Kindergarten Teachers & Principals
- Tour the Building
- Participate in an Activity in Each Kindergarten Classroom
- Learn How You Can be Involved
- Enjoy Pizza!
Thursday March 7th, 2019 at Lincoln from 5:30-6:30pm
Charisse Purchatzke
Mrs. Purchatzke | Kindergarten Teacher
Mrs. Purchatzke is from Waucousta, Wisconsin. She graduated from Western Illinois University with her Masters in Elementary Education. Mrs. Purchatzke started her teaching career with FMCSD 33 years ago and has been a bloodhound every since. She has stuck with kindergarten throughout her career, because she loves this age! No two days are the same and the physical, emotional and educational growth from August-June still amazes her! Even after 33 years, Mrs. Purchatzke is still impressed while watching kids learn how to read, write, and figure out how to manipulate numbers.
Mrs. Purchatzke will be retiring next school year, so she is looking forward to spending more time with her husband and doing whatever they want together, whenever they want! She still plans to sub when it fits into her schedule, but is excited about spending more time with her family. Her husband is a retired PE teacher and coach from the Nauvoo-Colusa School District. Her and her husband have two adult sons and two grandchildren.
Mrs. Purchatzke feels very blessed to have a career, from start to finish, in Fort Madison. She works with people who love their jobs and it shows. She says, “although teaching is a career you can’t just walk away from at the end of each day, it is very fulfilling knowing you were a part of a young child’s education. We spend lots of hours at home, weekends, early morning and late nights preparing for this year’s class. That’s what I love about it. Doing the exact same thing year after year with each class isn’t the way teachers roll. The fun (challenge) is to figure out what each class and individual student needs to succeed. It has been a great ride!”
Favorites:
Hobby: Walking, especially outdoors. I walk along the Mississippi River whenever she can. She does not like treadmills!
Snack: Popcorn
Animal: Not a huge animal person, but if she had to pick she would say other people’s’ dogs
Color: Green
Fun Fact: I don’t need an alarm clock. I wake up every day of the week at 5:00 a.m. I can accomplish a lot by 7:30!
You will be dearly missed Mrs. Purchatzke!!
Elizabeth McClellan
Mrs. McClellan | Kindergarten Teacher
Mrs. McClellan was born in Fort Madison, Iowa. She is a 3rd generation teacher, living out her dream that started in 1960 when she attended Lincoln Elementary. Today Mrs. McClellan teaches Kindergarten in the same room she was in as a kindergartener at Lincoln Elementary. Mrs. McClellan received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from UNI in 1977. She has taught a total of 15 years at FMCSD and 37 years total! Throughout her years of teaching, Mrs. McClellan has found that finding joy, hope, and developing intellectual potential is so important for every student. Mrs. McClellan loves being around the pure joy children spread. She also loves being around their excitement of learning. Mrs. McClellan looks forward to meeting new children and families. She finds it rewarding to bond with them and teach children to love to read.
Another love that Mrs. McClellan holds is the love for her family. Her and her husband, Curt, have been married for 40 years. He is a local pediatrician and she is a teacher, so their professional lives revolve around the children of their community. They themselves have 4 adult children who they are extremely proud of. They are a close-knit family who love spending quality time together. Mrs. McClellan and her husband have one furry family member, a bulldog named Mac.
Favorites:
Hobby: Collecting antiques
Snack: Caramel popcorn
Animal: Owl
Color: Turquoise
Fun Fact: Mrs. McClellan was a member of the FIRST Girls Track team at FMHS. Her 4×4 relay team held the school 4×4 relay record for 10 years!
Mary Hellige
Mrs. Hellige | Kindergarten Teacher
Mrs. Hellige is a native of Fort Madison, Iowa. She attended Richardson Elementary as a child and grew up in the Fort Madison Community School District. She then went on to pursue her Bachelors in Education from Iowa Wesleyan where she also was endorsed in reading and special education. Mrs. Hellige later achieved her master’s in behavior from Morningside College. Mrs. Hellige started her teaching career at FMCSD and has taught for 10 years now.
Mrs. Hellige loves how excited students get when they learn new information. She looks forward to making learning fun and getting her students excited about learning!
Outside of her teaching career, Mrs. Hellige and her husband own Hellige Lawn Care and Madison Turf & Timber. They also have three boys, Connor (7), Tanner (5), and Wesley (3). Their family doesn’t stop there. The Hellige’s also have their furry family which includes their dog Duke, 2 rabbits and a hamster.
Favorites:
Hobby: Driving in Demolition Derbies
Snack: Peanuts
Animal: Narwhal
Color: Blue
Fun Fact: Mrs. Hellige loves St. Louis Cardinals baseball.
Shannon Martin
Ms. Martin | Kindergarten Teacher
Mrs. Martin is a native of Fort Madison, Iowa. She attended kindergarten at Lincoln which is where she now teaches today! Mrs. Martin obtained her bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a reading endorsement from Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, IA. After she graduated from college, she had an internship in Germany at the Rose Barracks U.S. Army Post in Vilseck working with infants at the child development center. While there, Mrs. Martin also enjoyed traveling through Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. After returning to the states, she worked for awhile in Cedar Rapids as a substitute teacher and a before and after school teacher for preschoolers.
Mrs. Martin was happy to return to Fort Madison and have her kids grow up in the same town she grew up in and be near to some of my family. Mrs. Martin has been married for almost 10 years to her husband, Kenny. Together, they have two children. Tyler is 4 and Aubrey is almost 2. As a family they love reading books, playing in the backyard, going to the park and visiting zoos.
Mrs. Martin has been with the FMCSD for 7 years. She loves helping kids learn to read. Her favorite part is seeing how proud students are of themselves when they finish a book. Mrs. Martin looks forward to meeting new children and their families every year.
Favorites:
Hobby: Traveling, spending time with her kids, & making Shutterfly books
Snack: Ice Cream from Hall’s
Animal: Dolphins and Horses
Color: Teal
Fun Fact: She loves musicals!
If you live east of 18th Street your child will attend Lincoln, if you live west of 18th Street your child will attend Richardson. Richardson’s Taste of Kindergarten will be on Tuesday, March 5th from 5:30-6:30pm at Richardson. Lincoln’s Taste of Kindergarten will be on Thursday, March 7th from 5:30-6:30pm at Lincoln. We ask that you go to the school your child will attend.
Lincoln Elementary School Principal
TRACY KING | tracy.king@fmcsd.org
Ms. King is from Wever, Iowa. She attended Denmark Elementary and received her teaching degree from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. She later achieved a Masters of Arts in Education from the University of Northern Iowa. Ms. King has taught for 19 years and has been an administrator for 7 years. Ms. King taught at Jefferson/Richardson for 3 years and has been an administrator at FMCSD for 5 years.
Ms. King loves working with students whether that be in an administrator role or as a teacher. She gets most excited about the new students coming every year. Ms. King has been a valued employee at FMCSD. She is a passionate leader who loves her staff and students.
Tracy has a daughter, Haley, and one dog, Nadia, who is a mini Australian Shepard. She also has a barrel horse named Ricky and a mini horse, used for therapy, named Ruby.
Favorites:
Hobby: Barrel racing & Cubs baseball
Snack: Pizza
Animal: Horse
Color: Blue
Fun Fact: Ms. King has barrel raced at the Tri-State Rodeo as a child in the pee wee barrels and as and adult in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association.
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