Morgan Berg is a special education teacher at Mars Area Centennial School.
Berg holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood/special education from Thiel College. She previously served as a second grade teacher in Westmoreland County, Va.
Christopher Churilla is the librarian/media specialist at Mars Area Elementary School.
Churilla holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education (with a focus on Spanish and psychology) from La Roche College. He holds certifications in library science/media studies and Teaching English as a Foreign Language.
Previously, he taught Grades 3-6 for four years in Shaler Area School District; served as a fifth grade teacher and lead teacher for Grades 4-7 for three years at Bay View Academy Charter School (Monterey, Calif.); and as a visitor services information specialist at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.
He and his partner, Tim, live in Squirrel Hill.
Kenneth Cloonan is an English 9/French I teacher at Mars Area High School.
Cloonan, who holds a bachelor’s degree in French from Westminster College, previously served as a French, technology, and gifted education teacher at Moniteau School District, where he was also an academic decathlon coach.
Katie Delaney is a long-term substitute speech/language specialist at Mars Area High School, Mars Area Middle School and Mars Area Centennial School.
Delaney holds a master’s degree in speech/language pathology and a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology, both from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. She previously served as an early intervention and school age speech therapist at Tuscarora Intermediate Unit.
She lives in Lower Burrell and her husband, David and their daughter, Payton.
Emily Diani is a kindergarten teacher at Mars Area Primary Center.
Diani holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood and special education from Westminster College. She previously served as an Access teacher at Quaker Valley School District and as a long-term substitute kindergarten and first grade teacher at Mars area Primary Center.
She and her husband, Joe, live in Hampton.
Johnathan D. Emhardt is a physics teacher at Mars Area High School.
Emhardt holds a master’s degree in teaching from the State University of New York at Fredonia and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Allegheny College.
He previously served as a physics and environmental science teacher at Buffalo Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts and as a physics teacher at Pittsburgh Perry Traditional Academy.
Courtney Gallagher is a learning support teacher at Mars Area Middle School.
Gallagher holds a bachelor’s degree in middle level mathematics with a minor in instructional strategies for students with disabilities from Slippery Rock University.
She previously served as a substitute teacher at various local school districts and as an assistant varsity girls tennis coach at Butler Area Senior High School.
She is a resident of Butler.
Greta Huggins is a long-term substitute second grade teacher at Mars Area Elementary School.
Huggins, holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Ohio University (St. Clairsville, Ohio) and early childhood education certification from West Virginia State University (Institute, W.Va.), is currently seeking English as a Second Language (ESL) certification.
She previously served as a long-term substitute first grade and second grade teacher at Mars Area Elementary School and Mars Area Primary Center, respectively; and, as a pre-school teacher at Forrest Burdette Preschool (Hurricane, W.Va.)
She lives in Mars with her husband, Steve, and two children, Katie and Lucy.
Emily Mazzant is a special education teacher at Mars Area High School and Mars Area Middle School.
Mazzant holds a master’s degree in special education supervision and a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Slippery Rock University.
She previously served as a special education teacher at Bradford Area School District (Bradford, Pa.); special education coordinator at KIPP: Houston High School (Houston, Texas); special education teacher at Seneca Valley School District; and as special education director at Promise Community School District (Houston, Texas).
She lives and Cranberry Township with her husband, Jared, and two children, Rosalie and Jared Jr.
Ethan Myler is a business education teacher at Mars Area High School.
Myler, who holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education (with a concentration in mathematics) from Clarion University of Pennsylvania as well as teaching certifications in business/computer/information technology (K-12), mid-level mathematics and elementary education. He previously served as a computer teacher at Bethel Park, Quaker Valley and Moniteau school districts.
He is a Mars Area graduate.
Megan Obley is a long-term substitute mathematics teacher at Mars Area High School.
Obley holds bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics education from Grove City College and a teaching certification in 7-12 mathematics. She previously served as a mathematics teacher (8-12) at The Academy Charter School.
She is a resident of Cranberry Township.
Amanda Spoores is a paraprofessional at Mars Area High School.
Spoores holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bowling Green State University. She previously served as a substitute support staff member at Mars Area School District and as a special investigator for the U.S. government.
She lives in Mars with her husband, Josh, and two children, Isabelle and Brady.
Summer Weinheimer is a long-term substitute art teacher at Mars Area Centennial School and Mars Area Elementary School.
Weinheimer holds a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Slippery Rock University and a K-12 art teaching certification from Carlow University. She previously served as a substitute teacher with Source4Teachers and Hempfield Area School District.
Holly Wetherholt is a long-term substitute special education teacher at Mars Area High School.
Wetherholt holds a master’s degree in mental and physical disabilities from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She previously served as a learning support teacher at A.W. Beattie Career Center; a gifted education and learning support teacher at Baltimore County Public Schools (Towson, Md.); and as a learning support teacher at Pine-Richland School District.
She lives in Gibsonia with her husband, Michael, and children Brandon and Jonathan.
In addition to the above new staff members, the District has also welcomed Dr. Joseph Merhaut and Anne Rose, Keystone Educational Consultants, who will be supervising the District’s Office of Special Education and Gifted Education.
Nancy Weigand is a new secretary at Mars Area Elementary School and Kristin Karam is a new secretary in the Office of Special Education & Gifted Education.
Additional staffing changes include…
Colleen Hinrichsen will serve as a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) teacher at Mars Area Centennial School and will split the STEAM position at Mars Area Elementary School with Krista Goodzinski, Mars Area Centennial School librarian/media studies teacher. Adrianne Vandevort, Mars Area Primary Center librarian/media studies teacher, will teach STEAM at the Primary Center.
Tracey Jones, formerly the librarian/media studies teacher at Mars Area Elementary School is teaching third grade at the school. Stacey Hirth, former Mars Area High School Guidance Office secretary is now a special education paraprofessional at the school.
At Stacey Scalise, former library secretary at Mars Area Centennial School, and Rebecca Beige, former main office secretary at the school, have moved to paraprofessional positions at the Centennial School and Mars Area Elementary School, respectively.
Mandy Aiken, paraprofessional, transferred from Mars Area High School to Mars Area Centennial School. And, Faye Riley, a former secretary in the District’s Office of Special Education, is now the library secretary at Mars Area Centennial School and Mars Area Elementary School.
For more information, call (724) 625-1518.