Linden-McKinley Panther Press

By Davoni Williams

Danielle Mungin grew up in the Linden area. She did not attend Linden for school, but she participated in all of their lock-ins (a lock-in is a supervised sleepover at school). She also participated in Linden’s dances.

Mungin attended Central State for two years. She started college as a science major to become a forensic scientist. After two years, she decided that her passion was teaching. Then, she transferred to Capital University to earn her bachelor's degree. Next, she obtained her master's degree from Capella University in curriculum and instruction.

Now she teaches science at Linden. Mungin said that she has always been a mentor or teacher and that she loves Linden. She taught elementary school for three years to get the experience needed to be a better high school teacher.

By Panther Press Staff

Andrew Cline is a new 7th-grade social studies teacher at LMSA. When Cline was in high school, he participated in wrestling, weight lifting, band, and student council. Cline's vast experience includes jobs as a yacht detailer, cook, academic coach, and athletic coach.

Cline said that going into education was a "no brainer" for him because of his love of history, coaching, and people. Cline said, "I went to college in Bexley, and I wanted to come back to Columbus. When I saw there was an opening, I jumped on it." While at Capital University, Cline played football and majored in history.

When asked why he wanted to work at LMSA, Cline responded, "I heard about how close this community is, and I've always wanted to teach in a community that supports and holds their school so close to their hearts."

J. Aisha Wilks is a Spanish teacher at Linden. Before she worked at Columbus City Schools, she worked at Starting Point Learning Center and FCI Academy. She ended up at LMSA through the CCS job fair seven years ago after some time at East High School. She has also worked at Marion-Franklin and Columbus City Prep for Boys.

Wilks is an only child, born in California at a naval base where her dad was stationed. She also lived in Guam for five years while her dad was serving in the Navy. When she was in high school, she participated in basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, the black student union, and the drama department.

Wilks's favorite subjects are biology and Spanish. When asked why she wanted to learn Spanish, Wilks said that she was immersed and fell in love with the food, language, music, and culture when she moved back to San Diego.

At Elmhurst College, in Illinois, she started as a pre-med major. Originally, Wilks was going to be a bilingual pediatrician, but she said, "organic chemistry was too much for me."

Even though Wilks heard that Linden had a bad reputation, she still wanted to work here because she wanted to help make Linden a great place of learning that it can be and is.

By Ci'oynna Thornton

Tristan Berhard is a new social studies teacher at LMSA who loves the study of politics. He moved to Columbus in March from the East Coast once his classes at Harvard moved online. Bernhard said that he also moved to Columbus to be with his significant other, and he has enjoyed his time in "CBUS" so far, despite the virus situation.

Before coming to Columbus, his work experience included jobs as a lifeguard, greenskeeper, gardener, waiter, desk assistant, research assistant, government relations assistant, and youth sports coach. Bernhard worked in Hawaii and Germany on U.S. military bases for three months each. He also led trips in the Boston and Washington D.C. areas.

When he was a high school student, Bernhard participated in choir, model united nations, basketball (captain), and golf (captain). Bernhard said, "I've known I wanted to be an educator for some time, largely because my mom taught kindergarten and the teachers I've had made such an impact on my life."

At Northern Iowa, Bernhard majored in political science and social science education. He mastered in education policy at Harvard, which he said "was like a more focused study of politics."

When asked why he wanted to work at LMSA, Bernhard said, "I wanted to work somewhere where the school was a big part of the surrounding community." Bernhard also loves basketball and hopes to be involved with teams at Linden. He is not afraid of a challenge. In Hawaii, he went shark cage diving and skydiving.

By Ja'Leah Robinson

Kendra Hamm is an intervention specialist and interviewed for her position at Linden-McKinley STEM in June.

When asked why she wanted to come to Linden she responded, “It was my first choice, and I'm happy to be here.” This is her first year with CCS and LMSA.

Hamm said, “I had a lot of different jobs when I was younger. Since I graduated from college, I've always been a teacher.”

For fun, Hamm said that she loves reading, especially about English history. She also rescued a pitbull puppy from the Franklin County Dog Shelter. She said, “He's a sweetie.” Hamm also loves taking long walks, being in nature, and spending quality time with her family and friends. Another love is pizza. She said that she could eat pizza every single day of the week!

When Hamm was in high school, she was a cheerleader. She studied anatomy and physiology at Bowling Green State University for her undergrad, and she attended Ashland University for graduate school.

By Synaa Womack

Staci Rouse is a new assistant principal for the 11th and 12th-grade students.

When Rouse was in high school, she was involved with volleyball, track, student council, key club, yearbook, National Honor Society, and the Young Scholars Program. Her favorite subject was social studies. She attended The Ohio State University and the University of Phoenix.

Rouse has experience as a teacher at Johnson Park Middle School and South High School. She was an assistant principal at Sherwood Middle School before joining the Linden-McKinley family. Rouse said, “I love my job. I love sports. I love to laugh.”

Rouse has three adult children; two of them are currently in college.

Rouse said, “I strive to add value and progress to all that I am a part of. I am truly enjoying myself at Linden McKinley so far. I have met nothing but awesome students and a very caring staff. I have found a few things that I would like to add to the wonderful things that are already going on here.”