New teachers join the Gulf faculty

GULF HIGH SCHOOL, Aug. 13, 2007.—Several new teachers have been added to our faculty at the start of the 2007-08 school year.

Michele Belknap will teach Spanish I and Algebra I-A. She taught Spanish at Clearwater Catholic High School and Spanish and Art History at Derenne Middle School and St. Andrews on the Marsh School, both in Savannah, Ga. She also taught English as a second language in Spain, where she lived for three years. She graduated from Clearwater Central Catholic High School in 1985 and earned a B. A. degree in Spanish and International Cultures from Georgia Southern University and an M. A. degree in Spanish Language from Middlebury College in Vermont.

Nicole Deg will teach language arts and will be the yearbook sponsor. She previously taught at a middle school in Hillsborough County. She was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., but graduated from River Ridge High school in New Port Richey in 1994. She attended Gulf High School in 1990 and was a member of Total Sound. She has a B. A. degree in Mass Communications/Broadcast News from USF. Her husband Chris is a Pinellas County deputy. They have two children, one 3 years old and the other 8 months old.

Judith Duncan is the ESOL paraprofessional. She replaces Mrs. Gateley, who has transferred to Pasco school district headquarters. Before coming to Gulf she served in a similar capacity at Gulf Highlands Elementary School for one year. She was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and earned a B. A. degree in Education from Chihuahua College. She has lived in the U. S. for eleven years. Her husband, Ron Duncan, works for Bank of America. They have three children.

Steve Franks taught graphics art last year but joins the faculty in a new capacity this year. He will teach Reading and Read 180. He also coaches football and boys and girls weightlifting. He was previously an airline captain. Mr. Franks was born in Corpus Christ, Texas. He attended high school at Northeast High School in Elizabeth City, N. C. He earned a B. S. degree in business administration from USF. He and his wife Cynthia have two daughters, Heather, who is a teacher in Atlanta, and Justine, who is a sophomore in high school.

Bob Kennedy is the new ISS instructor. We'll have biographical information about him soon. His daughter graduated from Gulf High School in 1999 and was the salutatorian.

Andrew Madeloni will teach social studies. He came to Gulf from Chasco Middle School, where he taught for one year. Before that, he taught for nine years at Hudson Middle School. He served in the U. S. Navy for 15 years. He was born in Brooklyn and attended Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station, N. Y. He earned a B. A. degree in Social Science Education from USF. One of his brothers is a principal of a school in Massachusetts; the other works for the YMCA in Long Beach, N. Y.

Steve Nesthus is the senior naval science instructor, replacing Lt. Wysocki, who has retired. He served 22 years in the U. S. Navy, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He worked as a cryptologic officer as his final duty. Before coming to Gulf, he started the NJROTC program at Charles W. Flanagan High School at Pembroke Pines, Florida. That program won first place at the 2007 National Academic, Athletic and Drill Championship, with the academic team attaining the highest score in National Championship history. The program also won first place in the Florida Athletic, Athletic, and Drill competition for the last three years in a row. Cmdr. Nesthus was born in Kankakee, Illinois. He graduated from Deerfield High School in Deerfield, Wisconsin, and earned a B. A. in business administration from Upper Iowa University. He has two adult children and three grandsons.

Chad Stoneking teaches drafting. He is a new teacher. His wife Beth is a teacher in Hernando County and their daughter attends John D. Floyd Elementary School in Spring Hill. Mr. Stoneking was born in Parkersburg, W. Va., and attended Parkersburg South High School. He has a B. F. A. degree in Art Education from Ohio University and a B. F. A. degree in Graphic Design from Marshall University in Huntington, W. Va.

Lisa Teuschler will teach 9th grade language arts for pre-IB students and 10th grade language arts. Before coming to Gulf, she taught all levels of senior English for three years at Knightstown High School in Knightstown, Indiana. She moved to Florida on July 10 with her two dogs, Skip and Kira. She was born in Cincinnati and attended Lincoln High School in Cambridge City, Ind. She has a B. A. degree in language arts with a double major in speech communication from Ball State University.

Kenneth Weightman comes to Gulf from Deer Park Elementary School. He will teach Art. About twenty years ago he taught at Hudson High School, but more recently he worked as a graphic designer. He was born in Tampa and graduated from Gulf High School in 1980. He has a B. A. degree in Journalism from the University of Mississippi and an M. F. A. degree from Yale. He is working on a master's in Art Education at Columbia.

Jim Winters is an ESE teacher. He came to Gulf from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he taught at Rutherford County Teen Learning Center for seven years. Before that, he taught P. E. at Columbia High School. He was born in Albany, N. Y., and attended high school at La Salle Institute in Troy, N. Y. He earned a B. S. degree in Special Education from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and a P. E. degree from Brockport State College.

Chris Vergnaud will teach American History and World History. He holds a B. A. degree in Political Science from Florida Gulf Coast University. He was born in New Port Richey and is a 2002 graduate of Ridgewood High School.