By Taryn Fowler
Chyanne Peay is a new US History and Economics teacher at LHS. She coaches the volleyball team here at LHS, and likes to do CrossFit and various competitions. She also expressed her love for hunting, fishing, and backpacking. “Now that I’m in more of North Idaho, there are a lot of cool places to go in Washington and Oregon,” she said. Peay explained her love for historical books, as well as TV shows. “I feel like New Girl is the best show, and everyone should watch New Girl. If you haven’t, I think that’s sad,” said Peay.
By Bee Hayward
Mareena Robbins is a new member of LHS as Lead of Professional Learning Communities (PLC), holding meetings with teachers to analyze and improve student development. She has previously worked for the Lewiston School District, but moved to Oregon to build a school program; however, her role now sparked her return. Robbins said she has always wanted to work at school because she’s loved helping people. She’s taught first to eighth grade in various subjects to see how school operates. Her favorite thing to do is read; her suggestion for students is Mindset by Carol Dweck, a short read on the psychology of processing failure.
By Willow Davis
Justin Spencer teaches English 10, 11, and 12. He was initially a student teacher for Karen Lott, and then he was asked to substitute for Brynnli Carlson as an algebra teacher last school year. When it came to teaching math, he said he didn’t know exactly what he was doing, but wanted to try it for the students.
Spencer said that this year, he feels good about being an actual teacher and way more appreciated than before. He thinks it’s cool to be a part of everything. In the future, he wishes to be an elective teacher for something like film.
Spencer likes to show people when they are successful; he likes to congratulate students and is proud when he sees success. He really wants to make an impact on the school as a whole.
His English teacher inspired him in high school because she raised people’s moods and showed respect; Spencer wanted to be like that one day. He says he has lots of interests, including sports, specifically basketball. Another inspiration for becoming a teacher was his mom and dad, who were both teachers and coaches. Spencer is excited to grow his career.
By Alyse Forcier
A new teacher at LHS is Allison Jacks, who teaches Freshman Success. She started teaching at LHS in 2025 after student teaching. When asked the weirdest thing she saw while teaching, she had a story. “Well, when I was student teaching at the middle school, I had six girls dress up as me for spirit week,” Jacks said. For her personal theme song, Jacks said it would be “Best Day Of My Life” by American Authors.
By Emily Brown
Chelsey Kinzer is a new member of the LHS staff who teaches the Certified Nursing Assistant course and leads the LHS HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America).
Kinzer received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing Education from Western Governors University in Utah. Before becoming a member of the LHS staff, she was employed as a registered nurse in Oncology/Hematology Infusion in Pullman, Washington. When asked what made her become a teacher, she responded with, “I liked teaching and education, so I combined the two.” Kinzer mentioned that she roots for the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Chargers and added that she used to play tennis in high school. She hopes to bring “A fresh new education and healthcare with a positive attitude,” she said.
By Laila Smith
Cody Meacham teaches Algebra and Geometry this year. He is originally from the valley and worked in Texas before returning home. “I love the area,” Meacham says. Mountain biking and tending to his apple trees are some of his many hobbies. As a lover of K-pop Demon Hunters, he highly recommends the movie to anyone. Meacham says that if he had a personal theme song, it would be “I Will Survive”. “I became a teacher because of the end result. I love to help people succeed,” Meacham states. If he were to be remembered for a single phrase, it would be: “All things are possible.”
By Alicia iorg
Jessica McFarland is a new teacher at LHS this school year. She teaches 10th and 11th grade Language Arts. Something that McFarland hopes to bring to LHS is helping strengthen our sense of community as a school. “I really like being involved, so I like volunteering at sports games,” said McFarland.
McFarland took a year off after graduating high school because she really struggled with what she wanted to do, she said. She originally went to college at LC State for Criminal Justice, but also tried Art, Spanish, and then Nursing before she ended up deciding to be a teacher. “I really love just literature in general, and I wanted to share that,” McFarland said. “This was the only way I kind of knew how to do that, and I’m happy I did.”
McFarland was then asked what she’d be if she wasn’t a teacher and her response was, “If I wasn’t a teacher, I would be an author.”
Some extra cool facts about McFarland include: she’s really good at video games, she practiced dance her whole life, and when she was in high school, she was in broadcasting as “the behind-the-scenes, lighting kinda person.”
By Alixandr Whitcomb
Skylar Hill is the newest addition to the LHS math hallway. He teaches Algebra 1 and enjoys spending time gaming, including titles like Doom Eternal and Hollow Knight. “If it’s a fast paced FPS, I probably play it,” Hill said. If his students made him a theme song, it would probably fall under the genre of noise, he said. It would sound like if you “give eight kindergarteners eight different instruments and record for five minutes” and make a song out of it, he said.
By Brinley Reese
This school year, Annette Province moved from a classroom to a principal’s office. She used to be a teacher at LHS, but she is now an assistant principal. She said that ever since she was a kid, she has always wanted to be in the education system because of how much she loved it. “I’ve only wanted to be in education. So I first started my career in banking, and I hated it,” she said. “And then I went into real estate, and didn’t do very well, so I thought, ‘What do I really want to do?’” Now she has been in education for 25 years.
“I love kids and I want to help them,” she said.
By Brinley Reese
Kristina Steele began teaching U.S. History and World History at LHS this year. When she was in high school, she wanted to be a dermatologist. “I took a class about what it’s really like to be a doctor. We watched a video about surgery, and I passed out on the floor. So I decided I was not going to be a doctor, she said.” She said her hidden talents include singing the presidents’ names in order. “That’s a very history teacher thing to do,” Steele said. Hobbies that Steele enjoys outside of school are hiking, camping, running, lifting weights, and reading.
By Amya Glaspie
Gabrielle Johnson started working at the LHS this year. Johnson teaches the welding classes and is one of the FFA advisors. She was inspired by her FFA advisor, she said. “When I was in high school, he told me not to go into teaching, actually, unless that was something I was willing to give time and effort into,” said Johnson. She also hopes to bring an established welding curriculum to the school. “I also plan on bringing an FFA Chapter [ . . . ] this year,” Johnson said. Outside of school, Johnson enjoys Gilmore Girls, and she recommended this series. If she weren’t a teacher, Johnson said, “I’d probably want to be a stay-at-home mom.”
By Zach Hewitt
In a recent interview, Ryan Wessels, Assistant Vice Principal, shared his views, humor, and positivity regarding his methods of relationship building and teaching. Wessels came to the job after teaching Social Studies at LHS. If he had a theme song when he entered a class, he said it would be “Regulator” by Warren G and Nate Dogg. He mentioned it’s like upholding the law, or “regulating” when it comes to students and behavior. However, he mentioned that he enjoys his casual classroom humor as well. He said the one thing he wanted to give to LHS is “to bring a positive atmosphere” and support the variety of cultures throughout the school.
By Jared Dees
David Kronemann took over as principal of Lewiston High School this summer. In an interview, Sept. 8, he shared about his changes and hopes for the school.
Kronemann wants to bring three things to LHS, he responded: “Consistency, Relationship, Community.”
Kronemann got inspired to teach after teaching an old lady to swim, he said. He’s always considered teaching because of his old high school teacher, Margaret Mikkleson.
If he had another job, he said, he would be in law enforcement or machining.
Some of his outside life includes his wife and three kids, and he is a massive fan of the Foo Fighters. He brought up the song “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters as his theme song.
Kronemann is also a massive fan of every Minnesota sports team, besides the Timberwolves, because he is a fan of Giannis Antetokounmpo on the Milwaukee Bucks.
By Samuel Huff
Kayla Freed is a freshman earth science and physics teacher here at LHS, and she also coaches the freshman volleyball team. Last school year, she worked as a student teacher for Thomas Leachman before his retirement, and she expressed a desire to continue teaching science-based subjects. Freed hopes to bring connection and a young and energetic touch to her students. “When the students are comfortable enough to say ‘67’ or ‘yo’ in my classroom, then I am making high school feel like a good and safe place for them,” she said. Freed has always wanted to help teach ever since she was in high school. She enjoyed her high school career and was inspired by her teachers, including her Honors Biology and Anatomy teacher, and volleyball coach, Mrs. Kleinberg.
