“Exceptional” profiles

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[ March 25, 2026 ] AAPS hosts annual A2 Area Invention Convention Latest news
[ March 24, 2026 ] Community comes together to give Westerman preschoolers a first school-wide field trip Community Gives Back
[ March 23, 2026 ] Christine Woodson, Mitchell Elementary second grade teacher "Exceptional" profiles
[ March 19, 2026 ] Scarlett Middle School teacher in the running for national “Favorite Teacher” contest Latest news
[ March 17, 2026 ] The community is invited to the 2026 IB Diploma Program Visual Arts Senior Exhibition Reception High School News

Patrice Gage, school nurse at Bryant, Dicken, King, and Pattengill Elementary schools

May 11, 2023 AAPS News Editor

Patrice Gage was born and raised in Royal Oak, the youngest of seven children. Her mother was an elementary and high school teacher and principal of a grade school and through her experiences, Gage grew […]

Megan Harris, Wines Elementary first grade teacher

May 1, 2023 AAPS News Editor

Megan Harris grew up the youngest of five children in a blended family in Mattawan/Schoolcraft, Michigan. Her father, Jerry Harris, owns a semi company, her mother, Lisa Harris-Smith, is a secretary at a local business, […]

Emily Baker, Rec & Ed Child Care Site Specialist

April 19, 2023 AAPS News Editor

Emily Baker grew up in Midland a couple of hours north of Ann Arbor in the Great Lakes Bay region. She is the oldest of three children, born to a stay-at-home mother and a father […]

Quanisha Shawanibin, Mitchell third grade teacher

April 14, 2023 AAPS News Editor

Quanisha Shawanibin grew up on the Eastside of Detroit. “I was born to a teenage mother and oftentimes, it feels as if we grew up together,” she says. “I am the oldest of five girls […]

Pam Friday, Angell Elementary Young 5s teacher

April 7, 2023 AAPS News Editor

Pam Friday grew up on the west side of Michigan near Kalamazoo. She graduated from Mattawan High School and then attended and received her teaching degree from The University of Michigan. Both of her parents […]

Rebecca Landin-Smith, Allen Elementary first grade teacher

March 24, 2023 AAPS News Editor

Rebecca Landin-Smith grew up in Detroit, the oldest of three girls. Her mother worked as a teacher and principal while her father worked in business. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, she completed her graduate […]

Natalie DePasquale, Logan Elementary math coach

March 15, 2023 AAPS News Editor

Logan Elementary math coach Natalie DePasquale was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois in 1969, the middle of three children, including an older sister, Julie, and younger brother, Jason, a teacher at A2Open. She has two […]

Joslyn Hunscher-Young, Community High School social studies teacher

March 3, 2023 AAPS News Editor

Joslyn Hunscher-Young grew up in Ann Arbor, attending Wines, Forsythe, Pioneer, and Community before going on to Swarthmore College and the University of Michigan. After a year-long fellowship at Research for Action in Philadelphia and […]

Caitlin Opfermann, Pittsfield Elementary Title I teacher

February 8, 2023 AAPS News Editor

By Jo Mathis/AAPS District News Caitlin Garvin Opfermann is no stranger to the Ann Arbor Public School family, having attended Thurston Elementary and Clague Middle School before graduating from Huron High in 2007. She is […]

Sarah Suchanek, Slauson Middle School ELA teacher

January 27, 2023 AAPS News Editor

By Jo Mathis/AAPS District News Editor Sarah Suchanek grew up in Ann Arbor and attended Dicken, Forsythe, and Pioneer (with a two-year break in high school when her family lived in Florida). She’s a third-generation […]