Walking through the halls of Blue Valley this year, students may see a large amount of new faces. And not all of these are new students. The BV staff added 21 members to their staff this year, including new teachers, paraprofessionals and office staff.

Mary Glotzbach

• Mary Glotzbach is a new addition to the BV counseling staff. She got her Undergraduate degree from Kansas State University and her Master’s from Emporia State University.
• This isn’t Glotzbach’s first time working as a counselor. Before coming to BV, she worked at Turner Middle School in Kansas City, Kan. for four years.
• In her free time, Glotzbach enjoys working out and running in races. So far, Glotzbach said she has had good impressions of BV.
• “I like it,” she said. “I like the kids. They’re very friendly. Everyone I’ve met is very friendly. The staff is wonderful and very welcoming.”

Kim Coffelt

• Kim Coffelt is a new social studies teacher at BV. She teaches Contemporary Issues, U.S. History and American Government.
• Coffelt said she first became interested in teaching through the examples of her own teachers.
• “I realized that when I got passionate about [history], it was because other people were able to make it personable and interesting,” Coffelt said.
• A graduate from Emporia State University, Coffelt’s expertise is American history.
• Before joining the BV family, Coffelt taught at Wichita Southeast High School. Coffelt attended Blue Valley Northwest her junior and senior years of high school.
• Though she has already been a part of the district, Coffelt said she felt overwhelmed due to the recognition the school had received and because of the achievements of her peers.
• “I’m in a department with some really smart people and some people who are blazing a new trail for education,” Coffelt said.
• Coffelt said she wants to create passion for social studies on the high school level.
• “I thought, ‘Social studies is so ignored in high schools because it is so impersonal and so boring, and it’s the only thing that should be interesting,’” she said. “I mean, it’s a soap opera. It’s the only thing about us. And so I thought, ‘I can definitely do a better job,’ or, at least, I hoped I could.”

Kim Francis

• Kim Francis said she was excited to get an art position at BV.
• “I know it’s a really elite school, and so to be able to get the job without, maybe, 10 years of experience was really exciting,” Francis said.
• Kim attended Kansas City Christian, and then Concordia University in Nebraska. She pursued subjects like studio art as well as art education.
• Francis said she loves the art department at BV. She said people the department work well together, and that there is a “whole lot of collaboration.” Francis said she has also had a good impression of the BV students.
• “The students are just super sweet and really eager to learn,” Francis said.
• Francis said she wants to grow the art department and create more art classes.
• In addition to teaching, Francis coaches tennis at BV.
• “I love the tennis team,” Francis said. “The girls are super, super awesome.”
• Francis, who played tennis in both high school and college, said she believes this will be a good season.
• “[The tennis players are] super, super coachable, and just make it really easy to instruct, and they want to improve a lot,” Francis said.