Six new teachers have joined the faculties of the three local public school districts. Here are profiles of the two new teachers at the Elgin School and the four new teachers at the Patagonia public schools, all of whom have brought a wealth of experience and enthusiasm with them to their new roles.
Jennifer Cranston
“These kids are great!” said Jennifer Cranston, social studies teacher for Elgin School’s sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students. “I’m having a great time with them.”
Cranston teaches her sixth-grade students about ancient cultures as part of World History. A recent topic was Mesopotamian Empires. The seventh-grade students are delving into a survey of world history, with the Enlightenment Period a recent focus. American Government and civics occupy the eighth graders, most recently focusing on the Bill of Rights.
Cranston came to Southeast Arizona from a small rural town near the Canadian border where she taught English, history, and social studies in grades six through twelve for the past 28 years. She and her husband moved to Patagonia from Washington State in July, in time for the 2024-25 school year.
“I grew up all over the country including Michigan, Indiana and Washington, where I graduated from high school,” said Cranston. She then earned a degree from Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College, where she designed her own concentration of English, history, and theater, which prepared her well for her teaching career path.
Cranston’s husband, Nate, ran the photo lab and taught photography at Western Washington University. An avid road bicyclist, Nate would come down to Patagonia to train during the winter when conditions were unfavorable for cycling in Washington. He fell in love with the area. “You’ve got to come down here and see Patagonia and Santa Cruz County,” he told his wife. “You would love it.” And she did.
The couple decided they would not wait for retirement to make the move because they wanted to work in the area, make friends, and become a part of the community. They bought land and built a house, which has just been completed.
When she isn’t teaching, Cranston likes to work with her hands. She knits, weaves, and makes things. Getting outside is important for her, and she likes to ride her bike and walk. She is feeling very welcome in the community and especially in the school where she says, “Everyone is so kind and helpful. And the kids are curious, they’re interested, they’re great.”
Richard Graeme
“I just love my job! Right now, I’m bouncing,” exclaimed Richard Graeme, middle school teacher at the Elgin School. Wearing a purple shirt and tie—Elgin School colors—Graeme extolled the overwhelming positives of his students and fellow teachers.
“This school is so awesome,” Graeme said. “These kids work hard, and they are so capable. I’m not doing discipline—no need—and I am exploding as a teacher. This is not work. I teach, and the students are just sucking it in.”
The sixth graders have just finished studying human impacts on the environment and have moved on to exploring the moon phases and how gravity affects the tides. At the same time students have begun learning about the various disciplines involved in preparing for the Science Fair.
Meanwhile, the seventh graders have been studying body systems, and having “way too much fun,” according to Graeme. From pulling tendons on chicken feet Graeme purchased from Walmart, to exploring kidneys from the Mexican grocery in Tucson, to studying the small intestine from a cow, the kids have had compelling hands-on experiences. “They had a love-hate relationship with the intestine, and it’s now in a garbage can outside,” Graeme laughed. “That was the one they didn’t like. It smelled.” The unit finished with fish and squid and involved cutting apart a fish eyeball.
Geological time, specifically the study of fossils, fascinated Graeme’s eighth graders during October. Graeme drew a lot of charts and made them Elgin-specific. “All the fossils we focus on are local,” he said. “I have a basket of fossils, and the students learned to determine the age and species of the fossils.”
While Graeme focuses on labs and hands-on experiences for his students, he also makes his own worksheets.
“Arizona standards are so wonky that just one textbook doesn’t work,” he said. “Some schools use as many as eight textbooks, with just a few paragraphs from each one, so I make my own. I have altered my worksheets from my previous school to be Elginspecific.”
Graeme, his identical twin brother and two sisters grew up in Bisbee. His forebears had settled in Bisbee in 1883 and were underground miners. Continuing the family tradition, Graeme and his twin became miners after high school. Graeme’s goal was to become a mining engineer, but when he was asked to teach a short mineralogy course locally, he realized he loved teaching and could become a schoolteacher.
He took courses here and there, including several at the University of Alaska, finishing at the U of A with a degree in elementary education. He taught all grades beginning with kindergarten and decided he was at heart a middle school teacher. Graeme has taught for a total of 26 years with the last 20 years mostly teaching eighth graders in Sierra Vista, where he lives.
When not teaching, Graeme is very active in mineralogy and its history. He has written 11 books and articles on the subject, including “Forgotten Caves of Bisbee,” co-authored with his twin brother Douglas, who is the manager of the Queen Mine Tour Company in Bisbee. Back in the ‘90s he did work with the Smithsonian. He has also done some consulting with Harvard and the Denver Museum of Natural History, which has a collection of azurite and malachite from Bisbee, and the American Museum. He designed the Bisbee Collection display at the Alfie Norrville Gem Mineral Museum in Tucson.
In addition, Graeme operates the Mineralogy Research Lab in Whetstone, which contains over 7,000 mineral specimens from Bisbee. Mainly U of A doctoral students use this lab for their research. Normally, Graeme spends about 20 hours a week at the lab, but with his new teaching position requiring most of his time, his brother is picking up the slack.
“I am grateful to Mrs. Annette Koweek for introducing me to her classroom and spending so much time getting me acclimated,” he said. “I also thank the students at the Elgin School who are so awesome and their families. Whoa! These families care, and they care a lot. These kids are valued.”
Samantha Morriss Collins
“I am a homegrown Patagonia girl coming back,” said Samantha Morriss Collins, Patagonia schools’ new Speech-Language Pathologist and Pre-Kinder Coordinator. “I went to school on the hill before it was a museum and during my senior year in high school attended classes in the new school while it was still under construction.”
After graduation, Collins left Patagonia to attend the U of A thinking she would major in photojournalism, but instead double majored in anthropology and speech-language pathology assistance (SLPA), the latter becoming her focus. Several members of her family had gone through speech therapy, influencing her choice of major and future career.
Upon graduating from the U of A, Collins looked for a position as an SLP in a school system with a strong community focus. She wanted to be outside the city but still be a part of Tucson. Vail appealed to her, and Vail Unified School District was her first choice for employment. She scheduled an interview at Cottonwood Elementary School and was surprised to be greeted by Patagonian Mollie Wright, school office manager. Collins was hired and spent the next 11 years there, starting with a caseload of 70 kids.
“The whole world of speech includes communication,” said Collins. “Understanding language, and then putting it together to make sense—being able to express yourself, follow directions and request help when needed.”
She and her assistants worked with students with autism, Down’s syndrome, multiple disabilities, specific learning disabilities, and traumatic brain injury. “I learned so much from my students and their families,” she said. “I love what I do, and have overwhelming gratitude that I’m exactly where I want and need to be, helping these kids”.
While at Vail, Collins attended the NAU summer school to obtain her Master’s Degree in SLP. Her time in Vail was followed by a year teaching in Sahuarita before the position opened up in Patagonia, and she jumped. Full circle now, back home in Patagonia where her parents and grandfather live, Collins is ecstatic.
At Patagonia, she has a caseload of 27 students: seven are in Pre-K and 20 in K-12.
“I really appreciate the same relationship-focused mindset that was here when I was a kid,” she said. “The mentality and culture of building relationships among kids, colleagues, and families.”
On Nov. 1, Samantha Morriss married Michael Collins at the Tucson Botanical Gardens with a community celebration at Cady Hall in Patagonia. The couple have four dogs and two cats, feed the birds, and love spending time outside. “I love to create—food, art, crafts. Michael and I both love live jazz of artists from all over. The Century Room at the Hotel Congress in Tucson and the Lumber Company in Patagonia are our favorite venues.
“Living in three different districts, growing up here, and now that I am back, I am very humbled by how everyone has their own story. My mantra is: Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”
Maureen Dugan
When she moved from Maricopa to Patagonia this past May, Maureen Dugan was looking forward to retirement. It was time, she said, to “learn to slow down.”
Instead, she is now Patagonia Elementary’s new Special Education instructor, a part-time position where Dugan teaches 11 children who are considered elementary students.
Dugan’s journey to becoming a special education teacher in Patagonia began in California where she was born and showed dogs as a little girl. A degree in computer technology and a master’s in organizational management didn’t keep her away from the family business of grooming and showing dogs. She was also involved in animal rescue, starting an organization in Northern California called Persian Cat Rescue which expanded to include horses, dogs, cats, llamas, mules, birds, and wildlife, all of whom found refuge with her on her three acres and a barn with enough climate control features to accommodate the animals.
Dugan married and moved to the Scottsdale area from the Bay Area 25 years ago. She ran several dog grooming facilities in the Valley and subsequently moved with her young daughter to Maricopa. But the severe economic downturn of 2008 ended her dog grooming businesses. One day she was talking to a woman who said, “You know, special education is pretty much recession-proof.” Dugan earned a degree in special education online through the University of Phoenix and then did her student teaching, working for three years with students in the Maricopa Unified School District who had severe and profound disabilities.
She was then offered a position in the resource room of her daughter’s school, Sequoia Pathway Academy. There, for seven years, she taught students with a wide range of disabilities, first in the elementary area, then middle school, then high school. Her next position was as a Special Ed teacher of middle schoolers at the Heritage Academy in Maricopa. She retired in May 2024 and moved to a casita in Patagonia two days later.
Dugan wanted to become a part of the community, meet people, and serve children, so she applied to the PUSD to be a substitute Special Ed Teacher. She received a phone call asking her to schedule an interview. To her surprise, her interviewer said, “Your resume shows that you’ve been a Special Ed teacher for years and have retired. Would you be interested in a half time position teaching in our elementary school?” Dugan considered and said yes.
“I do love teaching,” she said. “I love to get to know the students and learn about their individual abilities.”
Ann Gortarez, Special Educational teacher for the elementary, middle, and high school in Patagonia, was enormously helpful to Dugan as she settled into her new position. Superintendent-Principal Kenny Hayes was also key to her orientation.
“I am so impressed with the curriculum and the environment here, the whole culture of the school—everything” Dugan said. “They are actually teaching me a lot. They do things here I’ve never seen on other campuses. It’s lovely. A feel-good place to be. I hope the students feel the same support that I feel. A lot of people here really care. I pinch myself every day that I am really here.”
Free time finds Dugan caring for the hummingbirds at her new home. This past summer she had 16 feeders and was filling them three times a day. She reads, plays drums for her own pleasure, and particularly enjoys the beautiful drive down to Nogales where she does her shopping.
“I would like to continue teaching here,” she said. “I can’t wait to see the students’ progress. I love their delight at being in school. I hope that I can give them the tools to deal with life when they are not on campus. To deal with life’s lessons. Meanwhile, I’m still dealing with the culture shock of being here after the stressful life of living in urban Maricopa. I’m still learning to slow down.”
Kimberly Franklin
“I came from a small school, and it’s nice to come to another small school,” Kimberly Franklin, third grade teacher at Patagonia said. “After teaching at Little Red for 13 years it was time for a change. Also, a huge incentive to come to Patagonia was the four-day week. I love the small class sizes here. You can really get to know the students well, all of them.”
Franklin has 14 kids in her class, 10 boys and four girls. “It is a very active group,” she laughed. The classroom is filled with light and features brightly colored posters, bookshelves lined with colorful books, and shelves filled with games and teaching materials. The desks are placed in a U shape. “I like that the kids are in contact visually,” she said. “They learn so much from each other.”
The school day begins with reading. Math comes next. Multiplication and division are Franklin’s favorite subjects to teach. She likes to read to the kids at the end of the day “when they’re really crazy” to help them settle and relax before going home.
“Third grade is really such a great age,”she said. “They come in so young at the beginning of the year and there is so much growth by the end, such a maturity jump. They are old enough to begin to joke.”
Franklin spent her childhood in Amado, attended high school in Sahuarita, and then went to college at the U of A where she earned a degree in elementary education. She settled in Nogales right next door to Rio Rico where she taught for three years before moving on for 13 years at Little Red. She and her husband, Omar, have three children. The family enjoys day trips to Madera Canyon and Bisbee, and especially love visiting the grandparents Marty and Greg Scott in Elgin.
“I just open the car door when we get to their house, and they are off,” joked Franklin. Besides spending most of her free time with her kids, she listens to podcasts when driving and reads books, mostly about unsolved crimes.
As to working at Patagonia School, Franklin reflected, “I’m really excited for the opportunity to be here. It’s a great little community, and I look forward to continuing to be a part of it. Everybody has been super welcoming. The kids are so eager to learn and are very kind. I’m really proud of them because they’ve already made so much progress academically and personally.
I just want my students to continue to grow to be mature and respectful. I want them to be good students with academic skills as well as good, little humans.”
Aaron Gudenkauf
Aaron Gudenkauf, a substitute teacher in the Patagonia schools in 2023, was in the right place and time when the middle school science teacher position opened up. “And here I am,” he said. Gudenkauf not only teaches science to sixth, seventh and eighth graders, but is also the PE teacher for the elementary and middle schools.
The science room in the Patagonia Middle School campus is a large, light-filled space. Posters, charts, and colorful information sheets cover the walls creating an interesting, inviting learning environment.
This fall the sixth-grade students studied kinetics and potential energies, designing toys to demonstrate energies and how they exchange properties. The seventh grade investigated magnetism and electricity and built electromagnets. The eighth grade kids studied geology and earth’s history, getting to know about rocks, rock stratification, and fossils. They used digging tools and broke apart rocks to study them.
“I think the kids get curious when we’re able to show them something right in front of them that sparks that curiosity,” Gudenkauf said. “It’s difficult for 13-year-olds to understand the concept of millions and billions of years ago. I recently attended a workshop at the U of A School of Mining and was able to build a working diorama to show how erosion and water affect the land. As soon as the water started flowing, the kids got real interested.”
Gudenkauf was born in Germany. “My father was in the military, and I was a military brat,” he said. The family moved to Nogales in 1992, where Gudenkauf went to local schools and graduated from high school, then majored in journalism at the U of A with a minor in photography. He worked in Tucson for the next two decades, while continuing to take photography courses and earning a Masters in organizational psychology from the U of A.
Gudenkauf then took a position with the American Board of Radiology in Tucson, administering certification and overseeing development. It was here that he met his wife, Kristin, who still works there.
Ready for a change, the family moved to Sonoita. Gudenkauf was a stay-at-home dad for the next four years, until, in 2023, his father told him that “Patagonia is looking for subs.” Gudenkauf was intrigued, and for the next year he subbed “wherever they needed me.”
Gudenkauf is grateful to Kate Peake, English language teacher, who has been his mentor. “She is a great resource,” he said. He also credits former science teacher Randi Trantham. As a first-year teacher Gudenkauf has used Trantham’s curriculum, making “a few minor tweaks here and there.”
Gudenkauf and his middle school colleagues form a very close-knit team. “We coordinate across classes with daily interactions on topics and projects,” he said. “We meet both formally and informally.”
The 37 middle school students enjoy small classes. “Small classes allow direct contact with students,” he said. “We get to know them much better. We are able to adapt a given lesson to any student’s particular needs and help them succeed. Our goal is that no kid flounders, no kid struggles.”