Five staff members to leave the school at the end of the 2023-2024 school year
After 13 years at Mill Valley, assistant principal and activities director Marilyn Chrisler, is retiring at the end
of the year. She will leave behind a legacy that has positively impacted thousands of students and staff members.
With the conclusion of her career approaching, Chrisler is extremely grateful for all who are involved with the school.
“I feel very blessed to have been part of this community for so long,” Chrisler said. “This school has afforded me many more good days than bad. There have been many good things. We have amazing teachers, amazing staff and, most importantly, we have amazing kids. From the bottom of my heart, I will truly miss you. Thank you, I will always be MV proud.”
Physical education teacher Debbie Fay is retiring after eight years at Mill Valley. Fay has taught Team Sports and Girls Strength and Conditioning during her time at the school. Before coming to Mill Valley she coached for two years and taught at Belmont Elementary.
In her years as a PE teacher, Fay has appreciated the community she has found at Mill Valley.
“[I’m going to miss] all the stories about the kids we share,” Fay said.
Fay hopes to focus on herself after she retires from working with high schoolers.
“I’ve spent my whole life taking care of people, it’s my turn to take care of me,” Fay said. “So I’m going to get back in good shape and live as long as I can.”
Science teacher Landra Fair is moving on to work as a Education Program Manager for the Center for Developmentally Disabled at The University of Kansas.
During her 15 years working at Mill Valley, Fair has been very involved in the science department.
“I’ve taught Biology, Chemistry, Physical Science [and] I was the coach for Scholars Bowl and I am now the sponsor for the Badminton Club,” Fair said.
Throughout her many years as a teacher, Fair has enjoyed seeing her students blossom through high school.
“[The most memorable thing has] just been getting to know all of the students and helping them grow,” Fair said.
After working as the social worker at Mill Valley for 22 years Debbie Gudenkauf is retiring after this year.
Gudenkauf has big plans for her retirement, hoping to cross some things off her bucket list. She is planning to travel, become a master gardener through Kansas State University and work for the Red Cross.
“I planned out another bucket list item: to work for the Red Cross,” Gudenkauf said. “I can join the Red Cross because I have a clinical license so I can be a mental health worker on their disaster teams. I would do trauma work with the people who live there, as well as the workers who struggle with trauma through their work.”
Although she is excited about retirement, Gudenkauf will miss everyone she has helped at Mill Valley.
“It makes me teary-eyed thinking about it,” Gudenkauf said. “It’s been a hard decision because I don’t really want to retire. I’ve been coming here every day and working with you guys because I love making sure everyone appreciates [what I do].”
Choir teacher Jessie Reimer is moving on to work as the choir teacher at Park Hill High School in Missouri. While the decision was a hard one, she made the choice to be closer to her family.
After five years as the choir director, Reimer appreciates how much work has been put into making the choir program the best it can be.
“What we’ve done over the last five years as far as growing and developing the program has been really awesome,” Reimer said. “I’m going to miss our leadership team which has really taken off in the last couple of years.”
Reimer has made many lasting memories and will miss everything Mill Valley had to offer her.
“[I’m going to miss] my students and colleagues for sure and of course the [student vs. teacher] basketball game,” Reimer said.
