Colleen O'Munneke-Physical Education
Colleen received her BS from Lynchburg College in 1999. She then went on to teach one year of high school then discovered her love of teaching elementaary school. In 2005, she received her Master's in Kinesiology from the University of Virginia. She is now in her 8th year of teaching elementary school. She taught for 8 years in Virginia at Little River Elementary School in South Riding, Virginia. She moved to Boulder in August of 2007 without ever having to visit, she knew it was the palce for her. After school, she likes to run, mountain bike, ski, hike, and camp. Her passion is coaching soccer to all ages.
Click HERE for the 2nd-5th Grade PE Curriculum
Click HERE for the PE Daily Schedule
Jason LaMere - Physical Education
Jason LaMere is originally from Rochester New York. He attended SUNY Cortland where he received a degree in education with a focus in Physical Education. Jason has been working in BVSD for 3 years as a traveling P.E. Teacher. Two of those three years have included Columbine.
As well as teaching Jason has been very involved in coaching and playing soccer in the Boulder area. He especially enjoys getting Columbine students involved in the club that he coaches for. It has been a particular privilege to have some Columbine students on the team that he coaches.
As one would expect from a P.E. Teacher Jason enjoys participating in many different activities. His favorites include skiing, fishing, rock climbing, and camping.
Michelle DuBois – Music/Tag
Michelle has been employed by BVSD for 5 years and has had the pleasure of working at Columbine Elementary all five years. Currently, Michelle teaches half-time as a Music Specialist and the other half as a Gifted and Talented Teacher. She received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Hardin-Simmons University in Texas and a double Masters of Arts in Piano Pedagogy and Piano Performance from the University of Denver in Colorado. Recently, Michelle has been working with a BVSD graduate cohort in pursuit of a Masters in Gifted and Talented Education through the University of Denver.This program will be completed in May of 2008. In her spare time, she loves to read and play with her 3 ½ year old son, Cameron.
Shirene Provenza - Music
Shirene grew up in sunny Naples, Florida before making the move to Colorado. She instantly fell in love with the state when auditioning for the University of Colorado's College of Music, and knew that she was now home. She was studying Opera Performance at CU when she realized that she also wanted to pursue her love of teaching! After adding a major in Music Education, Shirene received her Bachelor's Degree in 2007 and taught at Sacred Heart of Jesus private school.
This is Shirene's first year working for Boulder Valley Public School's and she is beyond excited to be sharing her love of music with everyone at Columbine! She believes that music should be fun and hopes to make music come alive in the classroom. Most importantly she wants students to learn that EVERYONE can make music!
When not teaching, Shirene enjoys studying and performing opera, seeing movies, reading, crocheting, drinking coffee, dancing, and spending time with family and friends!
Shirene has many things in store for this upcoming school year (musicals, concerts, and even a after school choir!) and can't wait to enjoy it all with Columbine's students, parent's, and staff! Stay posted for more information!
For the Music Curriculum by Grade click HERE
For Shirene's Schedule click HERE
For the schedule of Musica Performances for the year click HERE
Kate Guthrie - SSL (Spanish as a second language)
Kate Guthrie
MA, Anthropology
MA, Social and Multicultural Foundations of Education
Endorsement: Linguistically Different/Bilingual
I’ve been part of the Columbine teaching community since 2001. My current position as Columbine’s Spanish as a Second Language (SSL) teacher provides me the unique opportunity to work with students in grades K-5, incorporating my training in second language acquisition with my passion for music, art, and children’s literature. I also work with a Newcomers’ Group of students to help them with basic English skills in the school environment. When I’m not at Columbine, I’m singing with the Resonance Chorus in Boulder, gardening, taking care of all my animals (including ducks!), reading for my Book Club, or traveling all over the world.
click HERE for the 2007-08 SSL schedule
Melissa Oviatt - Media Specialist
Melissa Oviatt has been teaching in Boulder Valley School District for 21 years. She taught for 15 years at Columbine as a classroom teacher. She received her masters in Literacy at C.U. and taught as a literacy teacher for four years. She received an endorsement in Education Technology at UNC, Greeley, CO, and has worked as a media specialist for three years. She is happy to be back at Columbine working in the library. She enjoys reading, music and enjoying the outdoors with her family.
Check out the Columbine library site HERE
Jen Sfalcin - Art
Jen Sfalcin is excited to be a part of Columbine Elementary. She moved to Boulder from Canada five years ago and has enjoyed every minute of it. She attended college in Canada and received her degrees in Fine Arts and Education from the University of Western Ontario. Right now she is wrapping up her Masters in Integrated Teaching through the Arts. For fun she loves to hike Colorado’s beautiful trerrain, make jewelry, do all kinds of art projects, rock climb, spend time with family and friends, and of course…teach art! She is looking forward to a great year with students, staff, and parents!
To see the 2008-09 Art Schedule click HERE
For the Fine Arts Curriculum by click HERE
Check out our Art Gallery HERE
Carrie Evans - Social Worker
Lucky me! I am the school social worker for Columbine 4 days of the week. I landed at Columbine after being a teacher, principal, native language tutor and court jester at many schools in many places over the years. Along the way, I received a Bachelor of Studio Art degree, Masters in Alternative/ Experiential Education and a Masters in Social Work. I just like being in the school environment with all that good productive energy, I guess. I especially like my job at Columbine because it braids my background and interests together for the purpose of helping kids, teachers and families communicate, play fair, and solve problems creatively and with integrity. I can sometimes be seen working with my assistant, Jackson Brownspot, a 14 year old mutt, certified through the Delta Society as a therapy dog. He is gentle and dependable working with children but he will get distracted by your lunch!!
Lisa Hassin - Counselor
To see our Community Building Curriclulm for 2008-09, check HERE
Here is Lisa's schedule