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Wendy Hunsaker
5th Grade
Wendy Hunsaker is a Wyoming native and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. She has a Bachelors degree from the University of Wyoming in Elementary Education. She has been teaching for 5 years, both in Laramie and Cheyenne. She loves working at PODER and is constantly amazed by the hard work ethic of the students, staff and administrators.
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Wendy Consoliver
4th Grade
Before becoming a teacher, Wendy practiced law for a few years in a variety of civil and criminal justice fields with a law degree from the University of El Salvador. She was born and raised in El Salvador, but came to the United States of America in 2012 and shortly thereafter began studying at the University of Wyoming to become a teacher. Her first teaching job following the completion of her studies was in the 2016-2017 school year as the fifth grade teacher at PODER Academy. She moved to her current role as the fourth grade teacher in the 2019-2020 school year. In her personal time, she loves to travel, spend time with her husband and son, and do Zumba. She is very proud to be a teacher at PODER Academy and is enthusiastic about the high expectations and vision. The staff works hard at PODER Academy and she believes the school is an example for helping all students learn and achieve academic proficiency.
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Brady Cathcart
1st Grade
Brady Cathcart is the first grade teacher at PODER. She is from Cheyenne, Wyoming and graduated from the University of Wyoming. She enjoys spending time outdoors and being with friends and family (including four-legged family)! Her favorite team of all time is the Wyoming Cowboys as she had the honor of being a cheerleader at the University - Go Pokes!
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Virginia Johnson
Kindergarten
Prior to becoming a Kindergarten teacher at PODER Academy in 2018, Virginia was a Center-Based Special Education Paraprofessional and then taught Kindergarten for a bit. She was born and raised in Wisconsin (Go Pack Go!) and moved out to Colorado in 2015. She has a Bachelors in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a Masters in Teaching and Learning.
She loves to be outdoors as much as possible! Whether she is camping, ATVing, boating, playing tennis, skiing or simply sitting out on the porch, she craves the nature that surrounds her. Some of her favorite things are peach green iced tea, fruity candy, anything to do with cheese, The Green Bay Packers, Target, spending time with her family/friends and teaching our future generations! Teaching is a huge part of her life and she wouldn’t change it for anything! :)
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Corina Higgins
PARA
Corina has been working as a paraprofessional at PODER Academy since 2018. She studied psychology at LCCC. She loves being able to work with and get to know a lot of students on a one-on-one basis. In her spare time she enjoys reading, baking and working on craft projects of all sorts.
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Sarah Benefield
SPED Director
Sarah attended Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky - Go Knights! She is from Louisville and just moved here to Cheyenne with her husband, Blake, who is a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. She is grateful to be here in Cheyenne to work with the incredible staff and students here at PODER.
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Antonia Becker
SLP
Toni Becker, Speech Pathology-Assistant, is excited to return to the academic setting and whatever adventures this 2020-21 school year brings. She maintains Wyoming certification with her B.S. degree in Elementary Education and K-8 Special Education from Concordia University-Nebraska and holds a Speech Language Pathology-Assistant certificate from Colorado University-Boulder. She comes to us with 20+ years of education and clinical experience. Her interests include reading, gardening, home repair projects, aquatics/exercise, online tutoring, church volunteer activities, and spending time with a large extended family in the Wyo-Braska area. -
Michelle Andersen
Nurse
Michelle is a SE Idaho Native that made a 6 year detour in Southern Utah before moving to Cheyenne. She has a Bachelors in Nursing with a main focus in Public Health and Women’s services, including Labor/Delivery and Newborn Nursery. She loves to fly fish with her husband and spend time with family and friends. -
Austin Fermilia
Tennis Director
Austin Fermelia is the Tennis Director at PODER Academy. Tennis, teaching and coaching have always been huge passions of his and luckily he gets to do all three at PODER. Some of his other passions are running his general contracting business during the summers, staying fit, and hanging out with his two Shih Tzu's Atlas and Ellie.
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Jessica Rader
Social Worker
Jessica is a Cheyenne, Wyoming native who attended the University of Wyoming for both her undergrad and graduate degrees. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who has experience in various areas of mental health including family therapy; substance abuse; social and emotional disabilities; suicidality and self-harm. She loves spending time with her pets, reading, and traveling the world. She is very passionate about working at PODER and hopes to help in any way she can!
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Lillian Nowell
ELL Director
Lillian came from Laramie, Wyoming and is new to Cheyenne. She grew up around horses, cows, chickens, goats, ducks, you name it! She loves baking, hiking with her Australian Shepard Beau, and spending time with her family. She is so excited to be working at both PODER and PASS this year and she's looking forward to getting to know your Idealistas better!
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Steve Donker
Facility Management
Steve is a 1990 graduate from Chadron State College with a Bachelors in Commercial Music and an endorsement in Education. Over the years, he worked many jobs that include a water tech for Culligan, music teacher, radio DJ, carpenter, upholsterer, custodian, and maintenance person, just to name a few. In his personal life, he enjoys woodworking, mountain man rendezvous, and spending time with his wife of 28 years.
