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Meet Our TeachersTeri Appell -- 5th grade
Jennifer Benson -- Special Education
Bridget Connelly -- 4th GradeBridget graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BS in Outdoor Education. She then earned her teaching degree from Metropolitan State College. She has seven years teaching experience in Denver and Fort Collins, CO. Bridget works to create a learning environment where all students can be successful and reach their goals. In her spare time, she enjoys mountain biking and snowboarding. Bridget is looking forward to meeting her new students and families.
Lisa Freedberg -- Art
Judith Malouf -- Facilitator
Anne O'Sullivan -- 2nd grade
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Zach Bastoky -- 1st/2nd grade:Zachary Bastoky graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio with a B.S. in Early Childhood Education. Since then, he has spent two years teaching for the Bering Strait School District in rural Alaska and two years teaching for the Culver City Unifed School District in Los Angeles. This is his second year at Southmoor and he is very excited to be part of this wonderful learning community! In his free time, Zach enjoys spending time with his wife Heidi, a law school student at the University of Denver, and his cat Grover.
Joseph Bazzanella --Physical and Wellness Education: Joseph graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1989 with a B.S. in Kinesiology and in 1990 with a K-12 certificate in Physical Education. In 1995, he earned his M.A. in Education from Colorado Christian University. His main objective in teaching is for your child to learn a variety of skills that will lead to a lifetime of choosing to be active. Outside of the school day, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Mary, traveling, reading, exercising, and playing golf. 
Lee Betz -- Kindergarten : Lee earned a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and a Masters from Lesley College. She has been with DPS for over 20 years teaching grades 5, 2, 1, K, and ECE. She enjoys the enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge that young children possess. Lee has participated in the Early Collaboration Literacy Project and has served as a coach for other ECE and Head Start teachers. Music is an important element in her classroom. She plays guitar, piano, autoharp and has a song for just about everything. She is the proud mother of two. 
Kristy Collins -- HGT Third Grade: Kristy has been teaching in the Denver Public Schools for over 20 years. She graduated with a B.S. in elementary Education from University of Colorado and was awarded her Master’s of Arts from University of Colorado Denver. Kristy is highly involved in professional development and served for two years as a Literacy Coach helping to implement the DPS Literacy Program. She is excited about her job working with such great kids and hopes to be involved with professional development at Southmoor. Kristy is a real homebody and loves to read, garden and “fix-things”. 
Lindsay Datko -- 1st Grade
Jasmin Divine -- ESL : Jasmin earned her BA from the University of Northern Colorado and is currently working on her Masters in ESL and Special Education at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She has taught ESL for over ten years in a variety of settings including abroad in Australia and Chile. She enjoys working with children from around the world at Southmoor and is always impressed at how quickly they learn in their new environment. 
Leslie Draper-Roy -- Music : Mrs. Roy earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Audio Engineering and Music Performance from CU at Denver. She is a multi-instrumentalist and has performed virtually every genre of music from jazz to classical to reggae. She is an alumna of the prestigious Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corp, the CU Jazz Combo, The Rock-O-Fellas’, and Scarlet, to name a few. Before teaching elementary music, Mrs. Roy was the Arts Infusion Music Specialist for DPS Middle Schools. She enjoys sports, fishing, and her children.
Kim Esbenshade -- 5th Grade: A native Nebraskan, Kim Esbenshade graduated from the University of Nebraska with a BS in Elementary Education/Deaf Education. She has taught since 1995, in California and Colorado, and enjoys the intermediate grades. Kim believes in lifelong learning and has continued to focus her career in the area of literacy. She feels all students deserve the opportunity to reach their highest potential and uses teaching to empower children. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, cooking, and gardening. 
Tom Fell -- HGT 4th/5th Grades: Tom Fell has been a public educational professional for over 34 years. During that time, he has taught elementary, middle school, high school, and university classes. Tom was a teacher in Southern California for 18 years. In 1992, Tom and his family moved to the beautiful state of Colorado. This move enabled Tom and his family to extend their love of camping and the great outdoors. Tom also enjoys photography, travel, and reading. Prior to his current assignment, Tom was a technology teacher at Place Middle School. Tom holds a BS in mathematics and a MS in computer science. Tom feels very excited and privileged to be a part of the Southmoor learning community. 
Diana Fields -- Art : Diana Fields has developed a brand new art program for Southmoor this school year! This is Mrs. Fields tenth year of teaching, the fourth as an art teacher. Previously, she taught four years as a 1st and 2nd grade teacher at a private school here in Denver, then two years as a school librarian at Rosedale Elementary in DPS. She loves teaching and working with children and is excited to be at Southmoor, teaching a subject that she has loved since she was in elementary school herself! Mrs. Fields received a B.S. in Education from Concordia University in Seward, NE in 1998, and a Master's of Library and Information Science from the University of Denver in 2004 
Janet Gilbert -- HGT 1st/2nd Grades: Ms. Gilbert has 35 years teaching experience with 28 of those years in the DPS. Her objective is to teach in an environment that encourages appropriate developmental learning practices. She has special interests in poetry, balanced literacy, and child-centered classroom as well as being a certified Reading Recovery teacher. She has a BS in Elementary Education from Ohio University/Athens and a Master in Special Education/Gifted from University of Northern Colorado. Mrs. Gilbert is currently serving as a board member with the Colorado Association of Gifted and Talented; is a member of the Colorado Academy of Teachers of Gifted, Talented and Creative; and is the Chair of the Gifted and Talented Advisory Council for DPI. 
Beth Harroun -- 1st Grade: Beth Harroun, born and raised in small-town Illinois, graduated with a B.A. in English from Illinois State University. She came out West to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer and inspiring others with literature, by taking an internship at Rocky Mountain Sports Magazine. With this opportunity under her belt, she decided she was ready to inspire in a bigger way, so she joined AMERICORP and worked with homeless children in Adams District 50. Soon after, she got her license to teach at Metropolitan State College of Denver and worked as an ESL paraprofessional at Baker Elementary. She student taught in full-day kindergarten at Steele Elementary then worked as Reading Specialist for the primary grades there. She is very excited to be at Southmoor and to be working with first graders! In her spare time, she likes spending time with friends and family, singing, reading, and doing yoga. She is a writer for RMS MAG where she does write-ups for area fitness classes. 
Brenda Huynh -- 2nd Grade: Brenda graduated from Metropolitan State College of Denver with a bachelors in Behavioral Science and a minor Early Childhood Education. This is her fourth year of teaching and is very excited to be back at Southmoor. Brenda's main objective is to teach to the whole child. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. 
Grace Hopley -- HGT 4th/5th Grades: Ms. Hopley has been a Highly Gifted teacher in the DPS since 1993 at University Park and Ellis Elementary Schools. Her objective is to teach students in advanced academic rigor with the goal of enhancing their ability to be life-long learners. She has special interests in teaching hands on physics, physical science, and math. She has coached Odyssey of the Minds teams at a variety of grade levels with state and world qualifying teams. She earned a BS at the University of Colorado with Elementary Education certification from the University of Denver. 
Heather Jackson -- 5th Grade:
Kathleen Kelly -- ECE Teacher: 2003-2004 was Kathy’s first year at Southmoor and her tenth year of teaching ECE in Denver Public Schools. After receiving her degree in Early Childhood Education from Metropolitan State College in Denver, she taught first and second grade in Cherry Creek schools. She took many years off to raise her three children, volunteer in their schools and sports activities. After a few years of substituting in DPS, she taught at Rosedale for eight years and at University Park for one year. She is impressed with the enthusiasm and involvement of the parents and families here at Southmoor! When not teaching, Kathy enjoys quilting, reading and traveling. 
Nancy King -- Kindergarten : Nancy has been teaching more than 30 years. She graduated from LSU with a B.A. in Liberal Arts. She acquired her teaching certificate from Pepperdine University and her Masters of Education from Lesley College. She began her teaching career in Los Angeles and has been in Denver since 1985. She enjoys teaching young children the joys of learning. 
Kasia McManus -- 3rd grade:
Debbie Robinson -- 3rd grade: Ms. Robinson has a wealth of experience in implementing a strong, well-balanced curriculum. She has been teaching at Southmoor since its reopening in 1999. Mrs. Robinson has high expectations of all her students and motivates the children to reach for the stars. She earned her BA in Elementary Education from University of Northern Colorado and her Master’s Degree from University of Phoenix in Educational Technology.
Joyce Rosenblum -- Special Education: Joyce has over 15 years with Denver Public Schools. In 1996, she did a one year teacher exchange to Perth, Western Australia. Joyce earned a dual BA in Elementary and Special Education from the University of N. Colorado. She has a MS from the University of Colorado and additional special education certification from Denver University. Joyce has worked with children with special needs her entire career and loves the challenge and excitement of working with these kids. In her free time, she travels and enjoys outdoor sports, theatre, and music. She is very excited and proud to be at Southmoor. 
Kevin Ruskusky -- 4th Grade