2023 Executive Board
President
Jill Johnson
is in her 17th year teaching Math in SMSD. She spent most of her time in SMSD in the North area at the high school and middle school level, and next school year, she will be at Shawnee Mission East. Jill has been involved in NEA SM since her first day as a teacher and has held the offices of Treasurer-Elect, Treasurer, Vice President, Lead Negotiator and is in her 2nd year as NEA SM President. Her husband, Nick, is a playground designer and supports Jill in all her union endeavors! She has two daughters Mae (14) and Lucy (11) and they enjoy a variety of activities including ballet, swimming and tap and jazz dance classes.
Co-Treasurer
Jon Dirks
is a math teacher at Indian Woods Middle School. He is beginning his 18th year in education, 17 of them have been in Shawnee Mission. He is a building rep at Indian Woods and a member of the IBB Negotiations team. He has taught 3rd grade, 6th grade, and 7th and 8th grade math. His wife, Amanda, is also a teacher in the district. They have two kids who attend SMSD schools.
OPEN POSITION
Secretary
Communications Chair
Alyssa Passmore
is in her 7th year teaching middle school art at Hocker Grove Middle School. She has been in the district for 7 years and have served in the role of Building Rep for 5 years. She manages our social media accounts, the website and SMSD Educators page. She has taken on a lead organizing role at the national and state level for Year Round Organizing. She has the cutest rescue dog in all the land, named Jade. She also coaches volleyball year round between HG VB and Mavs KC!
Elementary Rep
Amanda Dirks
is a 1st grade teacher at Crestview Elementary. This is her 5th year teaching in Shawnee Mission, but my 17th year teaching overall. My role in NEA-SM is elementary rep and a building rep.
She is married to Jonathon Dirks, who is a math teacher at Indian Woods. They have two children- Haley and Hayden. Haley is in 9th grade at SMSouth and Hayden is in 6th grade at Brookridge. They love to go on cruises and spending time together at Worlds of Fun and the pool. In the fall, they enjoy cheering on the Chiefs.
Elementary Rep
Megan Hergenrader
is a special education teacher at East Antioch Elementary. This is Megan’s seventh year in the district and has served as a NEA-SM Building Elementary Rep for the past three years. Megan has been on various district and building level committees, including her building leadership team which she has been on for the past five years. Megan will serve the next two years on the Executive Board as an Elementary Building Rep. She strives to create an inclusive community for all students and staff in her building. Megan enjoys spending time with family & friends, exploring new places, watching sports, reading, and finding new shows to binge!
New to The Profession
Kylar McNeal
has spent their entire teaching career, including student teaching, at Shawnee Mission North. At North they teach sociology and modern world history, as well as being the sponsor for W.I.N.G.S., and game club. For NEA, Kylar serves our local in a variety of capacities: as the new-to-the-profession representative on the executive board, as a building rep for North, as a member of the racial and social justice task force, and serves at the State level on the resolutions committee. Kylar’s work is inspired by fighting for those who are oppressed, marginalized, and otherized.
Minority Rep
Keir Rudolph
is from Moreno Valley, CA and moved to Kansas to pursue a degree in medicine. Shortly after his arrival he realized that after making fun of the education majors that his place was among them. Fast forward to today and Keir is entering his 3rd year teaching. He teaches 5th grade and enjoys too many things to decide on what to put on a bio. Some top choices would include daydreaming, hanging out with his family, and trying to read while not being distracted by other things.
Keir looks forward to helping the union organize and create a space where educators and stakeholders can thrive so we can give students the education they deserve. Keir believes that you must actively be part of the world that you want to help create and that is a motivation factor behind his work in the union. James Baldwin said it best “We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it.”
High School Rep
Kasey Orlik
is a special education teacher at Shawnee Mission West. She previously taught 8th grade social studies at Westridge Middle School. She is a building rep, executive board member, and serves on the IBB negotiations team. She has a husband, 4-year-old son, 1 year old daughter, and adorable French bulldog named Ottoman Empire (Otto). She enjoys binge watching shows, listening to horror podcasts and reading horror novels in her spare time.
UniServ Director
Linda Sieck
began teaching Spanish at SM East in 1992 Linda Sieck taught Spanish at S.M. East for 30 years and served as NEA SM President for almost seven years, She now is the Ad Astra Uniserv Director. She works closely with leaders and members in Shawnee Mission, De Soto, and Gardner-Edgerton. She works alongside the Executive Board members in an advisory capacity, supporting their efforts to build an even stronger union. Linda loves spending time with her family and vacationing at the beach.
Vice President
Amber Pagan
is in her 19th year teaching, 8th in SMSD, and 5th year teaching PreK at Nieman Elementary. She has been involved with NEA-SM for 7 years and has held the office of Elementary Representative, Secretary and is now Vice President. She also serves on the Shawnee Mission Racial and Social Educators, Baker's Dozen Racial & Social Fellowship, and KNEA Racial Justice Leadership Committee. She also served as the resolutions commissioner for KNEA and been a part of the committee for 3 years. She has two kids, Zylen (12) and Zander (9). She loves watching movies and spending time with her kids.
Co-Treasurer
Kimberly Gilman
is a social studies teacher at Hocker Grove Middle School in Shawnee. She loves to travel and learn especially in other countries. She is focused on justice, the environment, technology, and the humanities. She has served NEA SM as Treasurer-Elect, as a KNEA and NEA Delegate, and as a Building Rep. She will be your Treasurer for 2023-2024. She serves on the KNEA Racial and Social Justice Leadership Team and the KNEA Budgets and Audits Committee as well as on the Boards of the Kansas Council for History Education (KCHE) and the Kansas Geographic Alliance (KGA). She also volunteers with KC Serves and enjoys hiking with my beagle, Sherman.
Elementary Rep
Laura Holland
is a FIrst Grade teacher at John Diemer and have been in Shawnee Mission for 11 years. She got involved with NEA when she was in college and has been involved ever since. She served as a building rep for Omaha Education Association 5 of the 7 years she taught there. She has also been a building rep for 8 years and spent the last 7 years on the NEA Shawnee Mission Executive Board as an Elementary Representative.
In my spare time, she and her husband of 30 years enjoy spending time with their 6 children, spending time on the lake, reading and training our 2 dogs.
Elementary Rep
Amanda Jessee
is a 5th and 6th grade teacher in Shawnee Mission since the last millennium (1998)! I am currently one of NEA-SM’s elementary school executive board representatives and Westwood View Elementary’s building rep. I attended the 2023 Leadership Summit in San Francisco and was a delegate at the 2022 and 2023 KNEA representative assemblies. Her favorite people are my husband, Brady, and kids, Caty and Zane. You can often find us playing board games with family and friends!
is in her 24th year teaching in SMSD. She currently teaches 7th grade science at Indian Woods Middle School and is an assistant volleyball coach as well. She has previously taught at Hocker Grove, Rising Star and Mill Creek. She has also served on the Executive Board as an Elementary Rep and currently serves as a KPAC Commissioner for Senate District 21.
Genie has been married to Terry for 18 years, and they have two children. Eva is a junior at SMNW and Noah is a 8th grader at Trailridge.
Ad Astra Board Member KNEA
Genie Scruton
Middle School Rep
Heather Mayfield
is starting her fifth year teaching middle school ELA at Trailridge Middle School. She is the head cross country coach and directs the musical. Heather has two sons, a recent SMN graduate and a middle schooler at Hocker Grove. In addition to serving as a middle school representative, Heather also serves as the chairperson of NEA-SM PAC. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and binge watching shows then being disappointed when they’re over.
High School Rep
Danielle Russell
is in my 12th year of teaching Social Studies. I began her career teaching in Puerto Rico then came back to Kansas to teach Social Studies at Trailridge Middle School for 6 years. I returned to my alma mater Shawnee Mission South HS and have been teaching Geography and US History for the past 4 years. She has been involved in NEA-SM as a member and grown into leadership as a building representative and secondary executive board member. I love teaching about history, different cultures, current events and sharing travel stories. I am married with two littles Leila (4 months), Ari (2.5 years) and a black lab named Elwood. Outside of school I love to spend time in nature, doing water sports and boating, traveling within the US and abroad, watching KU basketball, competing dock dogs with Elwood, and spending time with friends and family.
Retired Representative
Jane Mallonee
After teaching Elementary Art for 40 years, she has been retired for 7 years, and has enjoyed 6 terms on the Exec Board as the Retired member. As a member of KNEA-Retired, she currently serves as the President of the Retired KNEA group, Sunflower East.
She and her retired husband enjoy their young Scottie and trying to keep up with grandchildren.
Administrative Assistant
Betty Woods
is the KNEA Administrative Assistant for Ad Astra Uniserv. She handles the memberships and paperwork between KNEA and NEA Shawnee Mission. She is also the Admin Asst for the KNEA student program, Aspiring Educator, and our REACH program. In her free time, she likes to read fiction suspense/murder books and make quilts. If you have any questions, you can email her at Betty.Woods@knea.org
Levels of Support
National, State & Local
