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Friday, July 30, 2010
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MTSBA's governing board is made up of dedicated trustees from all across the state of Montana. A trustee is elected from each region to serve a two year term. In addition a municipal director is appointed from each of the AA districts by their respective local boards. Two additional positions, the Indian School Board Caucus and Montana High School Association round out the twenty member board. To find out more about your representative, or to contact them please click the appropriate director below.
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Barb Riley, MTSBA’s Past President. Barb has served as trustee to the Columbia Falls School Board since May 1995, and has held officer positions since 1999. She was elected to the Montana Schools Unemployment Insurance Program (MSUIP) board of directors in 2000, serving as Board Chair for four years. In September 2008, Barb was elected to serve at the national level on the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Policy & Resolutions Committee. She will also work with NSBA as an advisor for the Leadership Conference to be held in Washington, DC in January 2009. In October 2005, Barb was elected to the MTSBA Board of Directors.
Her service to schools started as a high school student body representative to her local district’s board. Although a non-voting member, the experience served as a catalyst for her involvement and dedication to providing and protecting public education for all students.
A native to Montana, Barb owns the real estate operations for Meadow Lake golf community in Columbia Falls, as well as her own accounting and business services company. She and her husband, Russ, have two children and one grandchild.
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Email: briley@mtsba.org |
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Charles Wilson, MTSBA’s President. Charles Wilson was elected to the Glasgow School Board in 1992 and currently serves as its chairman. He was elected to the MTSBA Board in October 2005. He grew up in Texas, served a two year mission for his church among the Spanish-speaking people of the Los Angeles area, attended the University of Texas at Austin, Brigham Young University at Provo, and UCLA. He is a dentist at The Dental Care Clinic and is active in the dental association, church, Kiwanis, Scouts and other community organizations. He and his wife have four children and three grand-children. |
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Email: cwilson@mtsba.org |
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Mary Schelle, Region 5 Director. Mary has served as a Trustee since 2000 on the Lewistown School Boards. (and currently sits as vice-chair of the Lewistown School Board). Mary was first elected to the Montana School Boards Association Board of Directors in October 2003 and was elected as Vice-President of MTSBA only a year later in October 2004. Mary currently serves as the Association's Past President.
Mary received her degree in elementary education from Truman University and taught in Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma before moving to Montana in 1993. She has been active in community and professional groups, PTA, and PTSG. She served on the Governor's Task Force for Education in Oklahoma and wrote children's programming for children in the hospital setting. Currently, she serves on the board of the Montana Alliance for Arts Education and as (a bookkeeper for a medical practice) the teacher at King Colony School. Mary and her husband Pat have two children, Michael and Christopher. |
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Email: mschelle@mtsba.org |
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Dianne Burke, Region 6 Director. Dianne has served on the Frenchtown School Board since 2004 and has held leadership positions since 2005. She was raised in Houston, Texas and received a B.A. in Biochemistry from Rice University and an M.S. in Chemistry from University of Houston. A Frenchtown resident for almost 20 years, Dianne owns a computer consulting business and is a faculty member at the University of Montana.
Dianne’s 3 children are graduates of Frenchtown schools and are pursuing degrees at Gonzaga University (Kevin), Montana State University – Billings (Caitlin), and Carroll College (Shanna). In her spare time, Dianne enjoys woodworking, running, and playing the violin.
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Email: dburke@mtsba.org |
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Lance Voegele, Region 8 Director. Lance Voegele has been a trustee in the Belgrade School District since 2003 and currently is serving as chair. He grew up in eastern Montana on the family farm until relocating to the Gallatin Valley in 1990. Lance has been in the Belgrade Booster Club since 1995 and has served two terms as the President. He is a member of the Belgrade Church of Christ. Lance owns Rocky Mountain Remodelers, Inc., a general contracting company in Belgrade. His wife, Lynesse is a secretary at the Belgrade High School, and a professional seamstress in her spare time. They have three children, Ariell, Chelsey, and Chance, who all graduated from Belgrade High School. Ariell and Chelsey have graduated from University of Montana. Lance also wonderful grandson and MTSBA future board member, Elliot Hay.
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Email: lvoegele@mtsba.org |
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Joanne Schrupp, Region 10 Director, became an officer in only her second year on the MTSBA Board of Directors. Joanne was elected to the Colstrip School Board in 1999 and is currently serving her 4th year as chairperson. Before serving on the Colstrip School Board, Joanne worked on district committees and was an active parent volunteer in her community. Joanne has been active locally in gifted & talented education and served on the Montana AGATE board of directors for one term as its eastern Montana representative. Joanne currently serves on the board of directors for the Quality of Life Corporation, a partnership between the Colstrip school district and the Colstrip Park & Recreation District, the purpose of which is improving the quality of life in Colstrip through support of youth programs, volunteer organizations, and scholarships. Joanne has also served on her local church's preschool board.
Joanne and her husband Larry have two sons, Jared and Ethan. |
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Email: jschrupp@mtsba.org |
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Mary Ruby, Kalispell Municipal Director. Mary was elected as a Trustee to Kalispell Public Schools in 2000, and is currently serving her third term. She became the Municipal Director for Kalispell in 2005, and currently chairs the External Relations Committee. She is an active volunteer and member of her community.
Mary is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and moved to Montana 30 years ago. Currently she and her husband own the Hungry Horse Liquor Store and Mary still works for a retail hearth shop in Kalispell. She & Alan have three children, Mark, Kelly and Christopher.
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Email: mruby@mtsba.org |
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Jan Cahill, MTSBA’s Vice President, Jan Cahill has served as a trustee on the Great Falls school board since 2005. He and his wife, Angela, have two children, Robert, a Senior at the University of Montana, and April is a Senior at Great Falls High. Jan currently serves as the Executive Director of the Montana Association of Community Disability Services. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Quality Life Concepts. He served as a School Superintendent for sixteen years, elementary principal for two years, and a junior high teacher for six years. Jan earned a Masters degree in Educational Administration and a Bachelors degree in Secondary Education, both from MSU-Billings. Jan currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, President of the Board for the Park Manor Retirement Center, and board member for the Humane Society of Cascade County. |
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Email: jcahill@mtsba.org |
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Don Jones, Helena Municipal Director. Don is an active citizen in the Helena community and the State of Montana. His civic activities include: Helena School Board Trustee, 2000- present, Board Chair, 2006-2007; Montana School Boards Association, Director, 2004-present; Montana Vocational Rehabilitation Council, 2003-2007; Montana Transportation Partnership, 2002-2005. Don’s volunteer activities include coaching his children’s baseball, soccer and football teams. He volunteers for a wide variety of classroom opportunities and was a reading coach for the school district's Title 1 remedial reading program. Don is active in both local and state government and regularly testifies before the legislature in support of public education.
Don is an attorney in private practice and represents many clients in the legal fields of employment, discrimination, and personal injury. He is a graduate of Washington State University and received his law degree from the University of Oregon in 1995. He has practiced law since 1995 and is a founding partner in the law firm of Hohenlohe, Jones, PLLP.
Don's wife, Sandy, is an elementary school teacher. They have three school-aged children: Lindsay, Emilee, and Bryson.
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Email: djones@mtsba.org |
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Nancy Pickhardt, Missoula Municipal Director. In May 2009, Nancy started her fourth year as an elementary trustee for the Missoula County Public Schools and also took on the roll of municipal director. She began her involvement with her children's schools as soon as they started preschool. She was an avid classroom helper and both PTA member and president before deciding to run for an open seat on the MCPS board in 2006.
Nancy grew up north of Chicago, attended Northwestern University for three years before moving to Denver to finish a degree in nursing. After working at Denver General for six years in neurosurgery ICU, she and husband, Brad, a surgeon, came to Missoula in 1990 and began raising their three children: Jack, 19; Anna, 17; and Betsy, 14. |
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Email: npickhardt@mtsba.org |
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Rich Stuker, Region 2 Director. One of seven children, Rich grew up on a cattle Ranch north of Chinook. He graduated from Chinook High School in 1972 and Montana State University in 1977 with a degree in Ag Business. Upon graduating from MSU, I worked as a loan officer for what is now the Farm Credit Services. In 1980, he returned to the family ranch
north of Chinook, where he currently resides with his wife, Rose, who is a retired elementary teacher currently serving as the technology coordinator at the Chinook Elementary School. Their daughter Elizabeth is a High School Math and Physics teacher at Alberton High School and their son, DJ, is a student at the University of Montana pursuing a major in sociology with the intent to attend law school. Rich is currently serving my seventh term on the Chinook School Board.
Rich served on the MTSBA Board of Directors from 1996 – 2002. He also serves on the Montana Independent Telecommunications Board of Directors in Helena, the Montana Association of State Grazing Districts Board of Directors in Helena, the North Blaine County State Grazing District, the Triangle Telephone Board of Directors, the MUST Board, the WCRRP Board, as well as being a member of the Citizens’ Advisory Committee for FWP in region 6. He has officiated US Swimming and the Summer Federation of Swimming for nineteen years and was a past 4-H leader.
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Email: rstuker@mtsba.org |
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Bill Ruegsegger, Region 9 Director. Bill has served on the Independent Elementary School District 52 Board of Trustees since 2004 and was elected to the MTSBA Board in 2008. Bill has also been named to the MUST Board of Directors as a representative of MTSBA.
Bill's wife Linda is a teacher. Her influence has had a profound impact on his passion for education. When asked why he is so involved he answered “I can think of no greater opportunity than to do everything I can to provide our children with a quality education. I am honored to have the opportunity to serve my community as a Trustee of School District 52 and I look forward to working with the officers, directors, staff and members of MTSBA to put our best efforts into providing our future, the children, with the best education in the country. Thank you to District 9 for the opportunity to serve as a Director. I hope I can live up to your expectations.”
Bill and Linda are both products of the Montana education system. They graduated from Outlook High School and Carroll College. They have two children, Natalie and Greg.
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Email: bruegsegger@mtsba.org |
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Peter Gesuale, Billings Municipal Director. Peter is a Montana native who attended public schools in Billings. He attended Montana State University earning a Bachelors of Science in Business Management and minors in Marketing and Economics. Peter worked for Bank of America in San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles. He met his wife, Patty, in Los Angeles and they later returned to Montana to start their family. Patty owns P. Ching Designs, a jewelry design and manufacturing company; and Peter is the Assistant Club Manager at the Yellowstone Country Club. Peter was first elected to the Billings School Board in 2001 and served three years. He returned to the board in 2007. The Gesuale’s have two children attending Billings schools, a 13-year-old daughter, Malia, and an 11-year-old son, Alika. |
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Email: pgesuale@mtsba.org |
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Rayelynn Connole, Butte Municipal Director. Rayelynn began her teaching career in 1994 working with at-risk youth in a wilderness treatment program. Her core education belief is simple: all kids can learn and achieve at a high level. She views our job as educators as crafting those experiences that will inspire and lead students in becoming all that they can be. “I have found sweet serendipity working with the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program and have been fortunate to align all of my passions, the outdoors, stewardship of this incredible earth, inspiring students to love science, and leadership all in one simple job description—CFWEP Curriculum Coordinator.” Rayelynn was elected to the Butte School Board in 2009 and became the Municipal Director for Butte in 2009. She received a B.S. in Biomedical Science from MSU, and a B.S. in Science Education from UM Western. She is married with two school-age children.
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Email: rconnole@mtsba.org |
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