Avenue City School R-9 Logo

TEACHER FEATURE: Mrs. Polsky, Mrs. Sigrist, Mrs. Schaeffer

Launch the media gallery 1 player

Hi! My name is Carolyn Polsky. I've lived in St. Joseph all of my life
and am a graduate of Benton High School. I graduated from Missouri
Western State University with a degree in Elementary Education.
 
I have two grown sons! Joel is 23, works for Herzog, and travels
frequently. Matthew is 21 and is in his Junior year at the University of
Missouri pursuing a degree in business. My two sons mean the world to me. My mother is still living and I take her different places as she can no longer drive. I also have one brother, Bob Beamon, and I enjoy getting together with family.

 
I enjoy walking, reading, and teaching 6^th grade. I do enjoy teaching government best and really enjoy watching current events and observing the political arena. I love to read books on nutrition and health. Also, I love being part of Student Council, (I really, really do!) Working with these students is not work; it is an absolute pleasure. Avenue City School has been one of the best and biggest blessings in my life. The people, the staff, the administration are such a joy to work with in all ways. I also enjoy my friendships with many of my teacher friends both on the staff at Avenue City and with several in the St. Joseph district. I attend Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church.

Launch the media gallery 2 player

I was born Jeana Nelson and was raised in Princeton, MO on a large farm where I was allowed to roam the hills and timber barefoot or on horseback with my three brothers.  I miss those days dearly!

I graduated from Princeton High School and then went on to graduate from Missouri Western with a degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in special education.   My first teaching job was in Jamesport, MO where I taught k-12 special education.  Then I moved on to Maysville where I taught middle school special education for three years and did a little coaching.  Then in a weak moment, I moved back home to Princeton and taught at Trenton middle school for one year with some added coaching.

After five years of teaching special education, I decided I needed a break from education and decided to become a root canal dental assistant.  That job didn’t last long because I got really bored and a special education teaching job came up at Avenue City.  The Friday before I started my teaching job at Avenue, Jeff and I were married.

Now married and employed with a new job that I loved, I began on my masters in learning disabilities at Northwest.  After teaching two years at Avenue and finishing my masters, I moved to the eighth grade room and began teaching math classes.  I then decided to embark on four summers of intensive math training.  I am now certified in middle school math.  My years of going back to school have ended for me!  (Never mind that I drive to school five days a week!)

My family and I live not far from Rochester Falls on a small farm where we have 3 horses, a dog (Missy), and two farm cats.  The boys and Jeff would love to add chickens and pigs to our little farm, but I don’t think I would enjoy the smell that would bring!  My husband is self employed with his own cabinet company located on our farm.

In my loads of spare time, I enjoy scrap booking, crafting, and reading.  I also like to weed my flowers and mow my lawn.  My absolute favorite hobby is….napping!

My name is Jennifer Schaeffer.  This is my 5^th year of teaching art at Avenue City, and I absolutely love it.  Every week I look forward to seeing all the imaginative things that our students create in my class.  I am truly blessed to have such a fun job!

I am originally from a small town in south central Pennsylvania.  I enjoyed my elementary through high school years and filled my free time with every musical organization available.  When that wasn’t enough, I helped to start a brass quintet, which ended up being the highlight of my teenage years.  After high school, I was accepted into the art education program at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, where I graduated with honors with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education and a minor in music.  While in college, I met the love of my life, Merrill, and we have been married for 12 years. 

Besides living in Pennsylvania, I have had the privilege of living in Colorado for several years while my husband attended graduate school for his Ph.D.  We enjoyed camping in the Rockies, fishing, attending music concerts, and watching the Denver Broncos.  I now call Missouri my home after moving here for Merrill’s job in the science field.  We have since added two amazing children – Andrew and Kristen – to our family and I am thankful every day for them!  In my limited spare time, I enjoy music, reading, photography, scrapbooking, movies, and watching the Broncos. (Sorry, Chiefs fans!)    

My name is Karen Vulgamott. I grew up on a farm near Cosby, MO. My father was a dairy farmer and still goes out and helps my brother. I went to Helena to grade school and
Savannah for middle and high school. I had a twin sister (who passed away
from cancer) and a younger brother and sister who were also twins. My mother was a twin, her twin sister and twins, and my twin sister had twins. I didn't have twins (I would be crazier than I am now if I had of had twins!)
 
I have two sons. One graduated from MU and works in Kansas City as a
financial advisor and my other son goes to Northwest Missouri State
University and wants to be a history teacher and coach. My husband works
at Ford Motor Company in Claycomo and works on computers that run the
lines.
 
I have always loved music. I loved being in musicals in high school and
college. I graduated from NWMSU. I taught high school vocal music for 10
years at East Buchanan High School. I loved it but decided to stay home
with my boys for a while. I taught piano, voice and preschool music and
church choir director while I stayed home. Once they were both in school,
I taught part time music at Helena School. When I decided to go full
time, Savannah didn't have any full time positions so I was lucky that
Avenue needed a part time teacher and added Avenue City School. Now I
also teach at Minnie Cline because Savannah added that to my part time
job.
I also lead our Praise Team at Church.
 
My hobbies are reading, movies, sewing wall hangings and painting. I love
teaching school because my students make me laugh. They can say and do
the craziest things! I hope to expose them to all kinds of music,
activities and skills. I hope to teach them that music is something to
enjoy all their lives and as they mature they will like more variety of
music.