Trustees Amy Stonebraker, Michelle Peck, Katy Ebert, and Taylor Urban greet guests at the
2019 Fall Breakfast.

Board of Trustees
Kristy Rodriguez, Chair
Valerie Andrews, Vice Chair
Byron Norris, Secretary
Bill Sturges, Treasurer

Tim Blake
Kate Bycroft
Gary Denning 
Dirk Hutchinson
James Lambert  
Tom Loudis
Jeff Norris 
Michelle Peck                                                                                           
Amy Stonebraker
Taylor Urban
Jeanie Warner 

Michael Chambers, Executive Director
Linn Exline, Superintendent, Ex-officio

 

Board of Trustees Bios

Valerie Andrews and husband Geoff, Assistant Principal at South Middle School, have a son, Reid Andrews.  Valerie is a graduate of Ellis High School and Kansas State University.  She has been a resident of the Salina community since 2006.  She is an Advisor Assistant at an investment firm in Salina. Valerie serves as the Vice-Chair of the SEF and on the Finance and Investment Committee, and Executive Committee.




Tim Blake is a graduate of Salina South High School and is owner of Hickory Hut Barbecue.  Tim and his wife, Shelly (Laubhan) Blake, only recently moved back to Salina to raise their 3 boys after living in the Kansas City area for 15 years.  Tim comes to the SEF board with extensive experience in money management and financial planning.



 

Kate Bycroft and husband Bart have lived in Salina for 20 years.  They have two children: Jonathan at K-State and Alex at KU.  Jonathan and Alex attended Coronado, South Middle and South High Schools. She has been an active volunteer in the schools since her sons started at Coronado.  She currently volunteers in Mrs. Radiel’s 3rd grade classroom at Stewart Elementary.




Michael Chambers Michael grew up in Lindsborg, KS and graduated from Bethany College. He has lived and worked in Salina for the past 25 years. He has a passion for bringing people together to support good ideas. He is active in the Salina community and currently serves on the Salina Adult Education Center Advisory Board. In his free time he enjoys reading, playing guitar, taking walks and working in his yard. Having participated in Meadowlark Ridge’s Kindness Project, Michael has seen first-hand the positive impact the Salina Education Foundation makes in our public schools.



Gary Denning is past-chair of the SEF and spearheaded the efforts for our very successful 305 LIVE project. Gary has served as a USD 305 board member, as president, and on the Smoky Hill Educational Service Center, Heartland Programs, Salina Area Technical School, and Central Kansas Cooperative Boards. He and his wife Jan (Central High foreign language teacher) have two children, Cathy and David, both of whom graduated from Salina High School Central. Son David graduated from Johnson County Community College and works for the University of Kansas and daughter Cathy is completing a Master's Degree at the University of Oregon. Gary is an attorney in private practice. Gary serves on the Executive, Finance and Investment, and Activities and Public Relations Committees of the Salina Education Foundation. 


Katy Ebert and husband, Justin, both graduated from Salina South, where Justin is now a social studies teacher and coach. They have a daughter, Harper, and twins, Logan and Isaac.  After graduating from Southwestern College, Katy attended the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and completed residency with the Baltimore VA system. She returned to Salina in 2011 and joined the practice of Drs. Cooper and Banninger, LLC, where she is currently practicing.
 

Linn Exline, Superintendent of USD 305, serves as an ex officio member
of the Board of Trustees.  During Supt. Exline's 26 years at USD 305, she has served as Executive Director of School Improvement, South High principal, Central High assistant principal, Director of Staff Development and Accreditation, elementary principal and teacher, and K-12 Curriculum Specialist.



Dirk Hutchinson and his wife Fran are originally from Oklahoma but have lived in Salina
since 1987. He graduated from Enid High School, attended Phillips University and received his MD degree from the University of Oklahoma. Dirk practiced internal medicine for nearly 40 years, first in Winfield, Kansas, followed by the Salina Clinic, the Mowery Clinic and Kindred Healthcare before retiring 2 years ago. He and Fran raised two sons, Eric and Todd, who graduated from Salina Central High School. While in practice he enjoyed teaching and mentoring medical students and residents and has received several teaching awards. In retirement he continues to serve on the volunteer faculty of the Salina campus of the KU School of Medicine. During his career he has served on the boards of numerous local and state organizations.


Michelle Peck is the Associate Director of Development for Saint Francis Ministries. She has over seventeen years of experience in philanthropic advising. Prior to joining Saint Francis Ministries, she was the CEO for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Salina.  Michelle graduated in 2002 from Kansas State University with her Bachelors in Secondary Education Business.  She taught for USD 305 in 2002 at Salina South High School. Michelle has also taught Leadership Salina for the past 10 years.  She and her husband Aaron own and operate BEL Tree Farm. Together they have two children, Adia and Noah Peck, who both attend Lakewood Middle School.  Michelle currently serves on the Salina Rotary Board of Directors
and enjoys playing tennis in her free time.


Tom Loudis has lived in Salina for 30 years and is owner of Paragon Business Forms.  He and wife Linda raised two children:  T Jay who graduated from Salina South in 2000 and Jennifer, who graduated from Salina Central in 1996.  Tom’s volunteer activities include:  Board of Directors CAPS, Coronado Council BSA, Salina AM Ambucs, National Ambucs, Inc. Board of Directors 2000 – 2006, National President Ambucs, Inc. 2004 - 2005



Byron Norris is a lifelong resident of Salina, graduating from Salina Central, Kansas Wesleyan University and Wichita State University. Byron and his wife Sandy have raised two sons, also Salina Central graduates.  Ryan earned his undergraduate degree from Kansas State University and his medical degree from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. He practices cardiology in Oklahoma City.  He has a granddaughter, Payton.  Jeff earned his undergraduate and Masters degree from Kansas State University.  He earned his law degree from Washburn University School of Law and is an attorney with Clark, Mize & Linville.  Byron retired in 2015 after 36 years working at McShares, Inc. as VP of Human Resources/Risk Management.  His community involvement includes being past president and board member of Project Salina, board member of Salina Baseball Enterprises and Kansas Wesleyan Board of Trustees.  Byron serves as the Secretary of the SEF Board and on the Executive Committee and Allocations Committee.

Jeff Norris is a graduate of Salina Central High School and is an attorney with Clark, Mize, and Linville. His wife, Laine (Graham) Norris, is the Food Service Director for USD 305.  Jeff serves as Past Chair of the board as well as serving on the Finance and Investment Committee and Executive Committee.




Dr. Kristy Rodriguez is the Director of Teacher Education at Kansas
Wesleyan University. She is a Salina area native and a graduate of
outheast of Saline schools. She and husband Matt have 5 children
ranging in age from 17 to 9.  During the 2019-20 school year, Kristy serves as Chair of the SEF.




Amy Stonebraker and her husband Ken have lived in Salina 25 years.      
Amy is a partner in Woods and Durham, and Ken, having taught and           coached for 25 years, is currently the athletic director at South High. 
They have two children, Jessica and Justin, both South High graduates. 
Justin attends KCKCC, and Jessica graduated with a Master’s degree in occupational therapy from Rockhurst University.  She works at Salina Regional Health Center.  Amy has served on several boards, including Salina Child Care and Women Helping Women.  Amy was treasurer of the SEF for six years, and we welcome her back as a member of the LIFT committee and Finance and Investment Committee.


Bill Sturges and wife Jennifer have had illustrious careers in public education. Jennifer recently retired after 40 years in the classroom, and Bill retired from USD 305 as the district accountant. He has worked for 33 years in both public and private accounting. Bill and Jennifer have two children: Megan, who is President and CEO of Junior Achievement in Kansas and Brian, who is a high school teacher at Junction City High School.

Bill serves as treasurer of the board and chair the Finance and Investment Committee.


Taylor Urban and husband Phillip are Salina natives and proud products of the USD305 public school system. She teaches 8th grade English Language Arts and Advanced English at Salina South Middle School and is a co-sponsor of the SMS school garden while also serving as a Teacher Representative on the SEF Board of Trustees and as the Allocations Chair on the SEF Grant Committee. Taylor is a graduate of Salina South High School and Kansas State University, where she majored in Elementary Education with a focus in English. She is currently working towards her master’s degree at Baker University. Taylor is extremely grateful to the Salina Education Foundation – the LIFT Scholarship allowed her to return to her hometown and give back to her community and the grant programs have provided many unique opportunities both within the classroom and beyond with the establishment of the SMS school garden.


Jeanie Warner and husband, John, have been married 20 years. Although they are Nebraska natives and “die hard” Husker fans, they have lived in Kansas 20+ years – the last 12 in Salina. Jeanie has worked at Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas as the marketing, media and data coordinator.  Prior to that, she spent 11 years as the Newspaper in Education Coordinator for Harris Enterprises including the Salina Journal, The Hutchinson News, The Garden City Telegram, The Ottawa Herald and The Hays Daily News.  Her husband John works for the USDA/NRCS state office in Salina as a soil quality data specialist. They have two children, Jaycie and Josh. Jaycie attends the University of Nebraska and Josh attends Salina Central High.  Jeanie and her family love Salina and are involved in many USD 305 and community activities.