By Dan Bechtold/ Editor
When students return to classes in the Colome Consolidated School District they will be greeted by a new superintendent and a new principal.Dr. Debbie O’Doan is the new superintendent. She served as the Colome principal last year.Joining the staff as the new K-12 principal is Dustin Christensen. Classes in the Colome district will start on Aug. 18 with in class face to face instruction.
O’Doan says she wants students and parents to know that the staff can’t wait to see the students. “We are excited to have them back and we are going to do everything we can to keep them safe.” The students are returning to school during the COVID-19 pandemic. The school has a reopen plan in place. O’Doan says the plan is to open the school in the best way possible, keeping everyone as safe as possible.“We will continue to monitor the situation with COVID-19 and pay attention to changes in local cases,” said the superintendent. O’Doan has 21 years in education. She has taught at every grade level. She has taught, trained teachers including graduate courses.She received her bachelor’s degree from Black Hills State University in K-8 elementary/middle school education in 1998.
In 2002, O’Doan received her master’s degree from the University of South Dakota in technology. She received her doctorate in adult and higher education administration from USD. In 2018, she received a master’s in K-12 principalship from Chadron State. The following year O’Doan received an education specialist degree in K12 superintendency from Wayne State College.In addition to teaching, O’Doan worked at the TIE office Rapid City. In this job she did a lot of training of teachers. For a couple years O’Doan was the gifted and talented coordinator for the Meade School District. Then, she moved to Gillette,Wyo., where she taught for five years prior to coming to Colome. In Wyoming, she was training teachers in technology and helped to open the new Thunder Basic High School. O’Doan loves the small school and loves the great community of Colome.
The superintendent says it is an exciting time in education. “I am excited to make sure we have a good school here,” said noted.
Christensen grew up in Arlington and graduated from Arlington High School in 2009. He went to Black Hills State University where he received his degree in K-12 special education graduating in 2013. In 2019, he received his master’s degree in educational administration from Fort Hayes State University. Christensen started teaching special education in Rapid City then moved to Cowley, Wyo., where he taught middle school special education and was the middle school and high school basketball coach. He was in Wyoming from 2014 to 2017 and then took a special education job in Edgemont for two years. Christensen was the head football coach in Edgemont.
This past year he taught high school special education in Custer and was the 8th grade girls basketball coach.He and his wife Samantha, have a 2 year olddaughter, Desirae. Samantha will be the high school English teacher at Colome. Christensen followed in the footsteps of his parents into the education field. His father is a math professor at South Dakota State University and his mother works in the Arlington School District. “I enjoy the whole education field and just being able to work with kids. I like working not only with kids but also the staff.”The inspiration for teaching special education came from his mother who was a Special Olympics swimming coach for many years. “I remember going to meets with my mom. I felt like I wanted to do this some day.”Christensen has ties to the Winner area as he is related to the Gregg family.
When asked what he wants kids to know coming back to school. He said: “I want them to know we have their best interest at heart and we have been thinking about them.We are in a good spot to have the kids come back to school,” he said. “If COVID comes, we have a plan.”
The young education leader is looking forward to his first year as a school administrator. “I am excited to come in and work with the staff and students to create a good learning atmosphere.”
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