Kimberly Cravens graduated from Lewis-Clark State College in 2003 with a BA in English. "After working for a while as a Banquet Supervisor/Bartender while freelance editing on the side, I took a job as a substitute teacher for the Lewiston School District. This led me to realize I enjoyed working with students and having a steady, daytime schedule, so I took a full-time position as a Paraprofessional Teacher at Northwest Children’s Home, which spurred my interest in going back to school and completing a Secondary Teaching Certificate. After teaching for a couple years at the Northwest Children’s Home in Lewiston, my husband and I moved back to my hometown of Bonners Ferry, Idaho to start a family and enjoy our favorite pastimes, hiking, gardening, and communing with nature. I now teach English and Advanced Placement Language and Composition for 11th and 12th graders, Creative Writing for 9th-12th grades, and I serve as English Department Chair and National Honor Society Advisor at Bonners Ferry High School. Because our school is rural, most of our population lives in isolated pockets around the county with poor internet and phone service. Over half our students qualify for free/reduced lunch, and many qualify under the McKinney Vento Act because they’re designated as homeless. Though most of the school district’s population is white, we have a substantial number of migrant and also Kootenai Tribe students. Our district includes one high school, one middle school and three elementary schools with a total student population of about 1,500."


Abbi Deyoe (pronounced dee-oh) is a 4th grade teacher at Olalla Elementary, near Tacoma, Washington. Her students live in a small rural community of about five thousand people with varied backgrounds. More than 40% of students are living at, or below, the poverty level. Most of their families consist of blue-collar workers living paycheck to paycheck. Abbi has taught 4th grade in this area for the last five years, 11 years total in Education after graduating from LCSC in 2009. In 2020 she received her degree in Educational Leadership from WGU. She looks forward to pursuing this career but loves the classroom, and isn't ready for that transition...yet!

Abbi is a Nimiipuu descendant, not enrolled, teaching on the indigenous lands of the Suquamish Tribe. She is passionate about sharing her culture and indigenous knowledge with others.

Hali Niemi is a first year second grade teacher working at South Prairie Elementary School in Tillamook, Oregon. Tillamook is a smaller (population 5,000) town on the Oregon Coast. Hali's class is currently operating in hybrid, meaning that half of her students attend on Monday and Wednesday, and the rest attend on Tuesday and Thursday. During their off days, including Friday, these students participate in online learning which includes office hours once a week and a live meeting every school day. Hali's class is very grateful to be back in school, and their favorite time of day is "Yoga with Mrs. Niemi." Hali believes that it is most important for students to learn kindness, coping mechanisms, mindfulness, and curriculum (in that order).

Hello everyone, my name is Sierra Thiede. I graduated from LCSC’s Elementary Education program in May, 2020 and began my teaching career amidst a pandemic, how fun! This had a huge impact on my career path. It caused me to move back home to Winnemucca, Nevada (a rural ranching and mining community), instead of moving overseas to Australia to teach, as I had planned. Through my connections here, I was presented with an opportunity to help create a “Pod School” in the Fall of 2020 with a local parent who has a passion for education. We started off tutoring 17 students grades 2nd-8th within our local school district’s distance learning curriculum. We also worked to enrich their learning with educational experiences including physical education, social-emotional learning, and project-based learning. We are continually making adjustments to our structure and now are serving 10 students, grades 2nd-7th, using various homeschool curriculums. This unique teaching position has led me to grow immensely as an educator and has been a constant reminder of how important it is to educate the “whole child.”