Ten employees with a combined 280.5 years of educational experience retired this year from Park County School District 1.

“So there is a list of people who are certainly important people. They’ve been with the district for a lot of years, they have a lot of experience, we’re going to miss them. I think it’ll be hard to replace these folks,” School Board Chairman Kim Dillivan said at the board’s May 9 meeting. 

After being individually honored by their direct supervisors the members shook the school board members’ hand and were given gifts for their many years of service.

See a future edition for profiles on Dori Trustem and Denise Laursen, the two retirees with the longest tenures at the district.

Dori Trustem

Trustem worked at Park County School District 1 for the past 40 years and began working for the district immediately after graduating college. Trustem has held a variety of roles in the district and is retiring as a district case manager and parent liaison for the special education department.

“You’ve given a face and love to the word teacher, educator and leader here on Earth,” Special Services Director Ginger Sleep said. “How fortunate and blessed we’ve been to know you in all of these roles as we are forever and positively changed because of your service and love.”

Denise Laursen

Denise Laursen taught Family and Consumer Science at PCSD1 for 37 years. At Powell High Laursen also has been an advocate for career technical education programs.

“Denise, we’re absolutely going to miss you in that corner in the green pod,” Powell High School Principal Tim Wormald said. “It is going to be different without you there. Your absence will definitely be felt, so thank you for everything.”

T. J. Bell

Bell worked in PCSD1 for the past 30 years in different capacities. He started as a bus driver, became building custodian for Southside Elementary School, worked as a maintenance technician and ended his career as grounds supervisor.

“He always used students as his barometer. What would be the best thing for students? If he’s talking about lighting in a classroom, what lighting is the best for students’ learning? If we could have plants in here would it improve our students’ attitudes? Do we need to change our filters more often so we have cleaner air for our students?” Support Services Coordinator Rob McCray said. “So we always use them as a barometer.”

Cathy McKenzie

Cathy McKenzie served 33 years at PCSD1 alongside her husband, first as a teacher at Parkside Elementary School and then as a math teacher at Powell High, where Wormald said she has been an asset to the schools Professional Learning Community work.

“Cathy has a huge heart for kids and has been a great advocate for them for many years. In my mind, she is the quintessential educator; she just does what needs to get done so that our students can be successful,” Wormald said. “We’re gonna miss Cathy and I’m glad to have spent the last few years of her career with her. Thank you Cathy for everything.”

Scott McKenzie

Scott McKenzie, also known as Mac, served 33 years at PCSD1. McKenzie was formerly an English teacher at Powell High School before moving into a new role as activities and athletics director. He is also a Hall of Fame coach.

“Coming in as an [athletic director] and the new assistant principal, to have him there to give me advice and guidance along the way was invaluable, I probably wouldn’t have lasted very long if it weren’t for Mac,” Wormald said. “So I very much appreciate who he is and what he’s done for me. It’s gonna be hard for me to think of PHS without Mac because that’s all I know. I know PHS is a better place because of his leadership. And I know I’m a better person because of his friendship.”

Bonny Rouse

Rouse was a paraeducator in PCSD1 for 31 years. Wormald said Rouse’s job had changed in the last few years and she would occasionally be assigned “to students who were stuck.”

“We didn’t have any other answers for these students and so we said, let’s put them with Bonnie. When we had students who were making little progress, once they started working with Bonnie, we would pretty quickly see some progress,” Wormald said. “She would work her magic, and before long, those students’ grades would be coming up, and they would be earning credits for graduation. Bonnie has a special way of helping those struggling students I think it is because they know she cares about them and does not hold their past or their shortcomings against them. Each of the students Bonnie has worked with over the years is better off for having worked with her.”

Linda Straub

Straub served 20 years as a clerical assistant and paraeductaor at Clark Elementary School. 

“… She’s been with the district for 20 years. So congratulations,” Dillivan said.

Clark Elementary School is outside of Powell city limits but is overseen by Park County School District 1.

Marla Barngrover

Barngrover served as a paraeducator in PCSD1 for 16 years and for the last several years she served as a special education paraeducator at Powell High School. Wormald described Barngrover as the “kind of person who can lift your spirits with her positive demeanor and her kind words.

“She’s a great fit, as a special education paraeducator her patience has served her well in a job in which progress is sometimes hard to see,” Wormald said. “However, Marla approaches every student with positivity and works hard to help them succeed. She’s conscientious and takes her job very seriously. She has done a great job at PHS for the last several years and is a real asset to our students and staff.”

Lorraine Griffith

Griffith served Southside Elementary School as a food service employee for 19 years, four and half of those years were served when her children were young and the last 15.5 years (what was recognized by the board at its meeting) were served consecutively. Griffith retired as Southside Elementary’s head cook. This year she was awarded the title of Wyoming’s Food Services Employee of the year for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Schiller said that based on his math she has served roughly 250 meals daily for the past 15 years which means that she has served about 656,000 meals to Powell students. 

“I really enjoyed her sense of humor. She has really made our school shine with her bulletin boards and different things,” Schiller said. “She’s really a joy to have at the school so we’re going to miss her too.” 

Lynette Anderson

Anderson worked at Park County School District 1 for 13 years as the middle school Family Consumer Science teacher and she has worked in education for a total of 31 years, Powell Middle School Principal Kyle Rohrer said.

“If you ever went into her room, you would see probably the best structure I’ve ever seen in a classroom. She runs a tight ship,” Rohrer said. “And she says there’s a reason why, there’s sharp knives in there and everything else. She is explicitly clear with everything she expects out of you and with that, the kids, I think they reap the rewards of having a highly structured environment that’s very predictable and safe.”

Eric Laursen

Laursen served Southside Elementary School as the building custodian for the past 12 years. Principal Scott Schiller said that this means he has set up for a rough total of 108 assemblies for 300 students every year and has kept the school clean and safe. Schiller called Laursen Southside Elementary’s Mr. Fix-It and said he “made sure Southside Elementary School was ready each and every day for our kids.”

“We really will miss that he has a wealth of knowledge in repairs, custom cabinet building and being able to do those things. And he just made sure Southside Elementary School was ready each and every day for our kids,” Schiller said.