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Lexington City Schools is welcoming 12 new teachers and staff members for the 2023-24 school year.
Peyton Adams is teaching first grade at Waddell Elementary School. A native of Buena Vista, she majored in elementary education at Davis and Elkins College. She is married to Brant Adams.
Kendall Hemmings is a paraprofessional at Waddell. She is a student at Liberty University majoring in political science. A native of Fredericksburg, she worked previously at Virginia Military Institute in the football office and Preston Library. She lives in Glasgow with her husband and two sons.
Autumn Jenkins is a fifthgrade teacher at Waddell. She went through the Rockbridge Teacher Education Consortium while attending Southern Virginia University. A native of Bath, New York, she taught previously in Augusta County schools. She is married and has two children attending Rockbridge County High School.
Rachel Braun is the English language teacher for grades K-8 at Waddell and Lylburn Downing schools. She majored in elementary education at the University of Arizona and did graduate work in literacy education with an emphasis on bilingual education. She has 16 years of experience teaching English as a second language in dual language classroom settings. A native of Littleton, Colorado, she and her husband Kevin have three daughters.
Kelly Allio is a special education teacher at Waddell. She has 28 years of experience teaching in Stafford and Augusta counties. Originally from Pennsylvania, she majored in elementary and special education at Edinboro University. She and her husband John have two sons.
Kaitlyn Harper is a fifthgrade social studies teacher at Waddell. A native of Powhatan, she has taught previously in Chesterfield and Amelia counties. She is a graduate of Longwood University.
Meg Powers is a paraprofessional at Waddell. She is from Northern Virginia and worked previously as a medical and surgical assistant in ophthalmology.
Chris Wood is a physical education teacher at Lylburn Downing Middle School. He has 32 years of experience teaching for the Rockbridge County schools. A native of Rockbridge County, he majored in health and physical education in college.
Maria Emilia Nava is teaching math to seventh and eighth graders at Lylburn Downing. She has previous experience teaching math and computer science. A native of Venezuela, she majored in chemistry and philosophy and did graduate work in math education.
Maggie Wilson is a counselor for grades K-5 at Waddell. A native of Ventura, California, she has 20 years of experience in education as a teacher and school counselor. She majored in English at Earlham College and earned master’s degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara and National University. She is the mother of two daughters.
Amy Hayes is working in the front office at Waddell. She has worked as a head school secretary for the past three years and has worked in a school setting for the past 13 years. Originally from Western New York, she had been living in Kansas the past 20 years. She has three adult children.
Jacob Zimmerman is teaching sixth- and seventh-grade math at Lyburn Downing. He majored in math at Bridgewater College. He worked previously as a paraprofessional at Enderly Heights Elementary School in Buena Vista. A native of Buena Vista, he lived a number of years in Rockbridge County but now lives in Buena Vista.
