We are very excited to welcome the newest faculty for the 2017-2018 school year! Welcome to the Donoho family, all!
Mrs. Julie Whisenant
Mrs. Whisenant will begin in the 2017-2018 as a history teacher. Mrs. Whisenant attended Jacksonville State University where she earned a Master of Science in Secondary Social Science. She has fourteen years experience teaching history and is a member of Pi Lambda Theta International Honor Society and Education Association, the National Council of Economic Educators, and recently selected for the Alabama Teacher Advisory Council. Mrs. Whisenant was awarded the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars U.S. Citizenship Education Award and served as a presenter at the NCEE Annual Conference in Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Whisenant is married to Johnny Whisenant, II, and has a son, John Wyatt Whisenant. She and her family are members of Union Grove Methodist Church in Lincoln, Alabama. She enjoys reading military books, backcountry camping, and many aspects of western lifestyle.
Miss Emily Dewberry
Miss Dewberry will begin in the 2017-2018 school year as a history and English teacher. Miss Dewberry attended Jacksonville State University where she graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history and a minor in English. This was followed by a Master of Science in Education, with a concentration in history. She then joined the faculty of Faith Christian School in Anniston where she taught World and American History, AP United States History, and Dual Enrollment American History. While at Faith, she incorporated new technology into her classes. At the same time, she worked with students to improve their writing and analytical skills. Outside the classroom, she has aided in organizing student trips to Spain and Italy, experiences designed to enhance their understanding of European history.
Additionally, she also served as an assistant coach for basketball and cross country. She embraces the concepts of wisdom and learning and strives for her students to understand the world around them.
Mrs. Suzanne Haney
Mrs. Haney will begin in the 2017-2018 school year as a humanities and English teacher. Mrs. Haney graduated summa cum laude from Jacksonville State University with a B.S. in Language Arts/Secondary Education. While an undergraduate at JSU, she was a member of Mu Alpha Theta collegiate honor society and selected by the English Department for the Calvert Memorial Scholarship for academic excellence. In 1994, she earned a Master’s degree in Language Arts maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA and was selected as a teacher-fellow for the JSU Writing Project, which awarded her six semester-credit hours.
After graduating college in just three years, Mrs. Haney began at age twenty teaching 8th grade English at Anniston Middle School. After five years at AMS, she transferred to Piedmont City Schools, where she has taught for the last twenty years. During her time at Piedmont, she has taught all grade levels from 7th-12th in a variety of subjects: English, speech, drama, reading, literature, creative writing, and AP English Language and Composition. Mrs. Haney’s teaching methods incorporate a variety of instructional strategies to meet the individual learning styles of each student. It is her hope to teach students not only how to master the elements of correct speaking and writing but also to foster a love of reading and lifelong learning, which will enhance the life of every student.
Mrs. Haney is happily married to Terry Haney, and they have two children. Their daughter Savannah graduated this spring from Auburn University and is currently working at Camp Skyline in Mentone, AL, and their son, Slade, is in the 8th grade at The Donoho School. The Haney family attends First United Methodist Church in Piedmont. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, watching HGTV, and traveling to new places with her family.
Mrs. Cody Elliott
Mrs. Elliott will begin the 2017-2018 school year as a Lower School teacher. She attended the University of Montevallo where she graduated with a degree in Early and Elementary Childhood Education. Mrs. Elliott has over 20 years teaching experience in both public and private school settings, most recently at Victory Christian School in Pell City and Fort Dale Academy in Greenville, AL. Mrs. Elliott seeks to help her students be their absolute best in all facets of their young lives, while also developing their unique gifts to benefit themselves and their fellow students.
In her spare time, Mrs. Elliott loves to spend time with her family, including her husband, Matt, and her two sons, Caison (a sophomore at the University of South Alabama) and Lucas (a new 7th grader at Donoho). She also loves to travel and spend time with extended family and friends across the Southeastern U.S.
Mrs. Amy Golden
Mrs. Golden will begin the 2017-2018 school year as a pre-calculus and pre-algebra teacher. Mrs. Golden attended Auburn University, where she graduated magna cum laude in three years with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Science. She then studied medicine at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, followed by a research fellowship in Pathology at UAB. Mrs. Golden has taught a wide variety of subjects, including Latin, English, and upper-level math and sciences, using both classical and traditional methodologies. She started one of the two founding campuses of the national group Classical Conversations in the state of Alabama and later started an independent, classical university-model school where she served as head of school. Most recently, Mrs. Golden taught at Victory Christian School where she taught high school science and math courses.
Mrs. Golden is happily married to her husband, Jeff, and they have three sons: Cooper, a freshman at Berry College; Payne, a new sophomore at Donoho; and Sam, who is four years old.
Mr. Jon-Paul Reed
Mr. Reed will begin in the 2017-2018 school year as an Upper School English teacher. Mr. Reed recently graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University where he received a degree in Writing Seminars. Additionally, he played football at Johns Hopkins for three years and spent his fourth year as an undergraduate liaison and assistant for the team. Mr. Reed also served as a Resident Advisor for two years, a teaching assistant for one year, and was honored with the Christopher B. Elser Award, which recognized him as a student-leader whose passion for sports and people encouraged the Hopkins student body to connect with the larger Baltimore community.
Mr. Reed is excited to help his students learn to effectively express their thoughts through all forms of communication. He also hopes to bridge the gap between the sciences and the humanities so that students are equipped with the necessary tools to impact their future respective fields. In his spare time, Mr. Reed enjoys going to concerts, collecting vintage comic books, playing board games, and working on his creative stories.
Mrs. Kristy Stone
Mrs. Stone will be teaching 4th grade language arts and history and 5th-grade history. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Jacksonville State University with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. Mrs. Stone received her master’s degree from the University of Alabama and has taught for 27 years in the Calhoun County System for the Alexandria schools. Mrs. Stone has been nominated several times for the JSU Teacher Hall of Fame. She has been happily married to her husband Steven for 28 years, and they have 3 children. Mrs. Stone worships at Hillcrest Baptist Church and sings in the choir. In her spare time, she loves to read, cook, exercise, and travel with her family.
Mrs. Tanya Barnes
Mrs. Barnes will begin the 2017-2018 school year as Director of Instructional Technology. She has 29 years experience in K12 education and attended Jacksonville State University where she double majored in mathematics and political science. While teaching students math at Wellborn High School, Mrs. Barnes completed her Master’s Degree in mathematics from JSU and her Educational Specialists Degree in mathematics from the University of Alabama. In 2001, Mrs. Barnes was chosen to be on the curriculum committee for the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) and became a high school mathematics trainer. She taught 7th grade and 8th grade, Geometry, Algebra II, Advanced Math, and AP Calculus during her 18 years at Wellborn in addition to being the Math Department Chair and the Technology Coordinator. In 2006, Mrs. Barnes accepted the position of AMSTI Director and helped establish the AMSTI site at JSU. While at AMSTI-JSU, Mrs. Barnes wrote for and received on the behalf of AMSTI, approximately $3.3 million dollars in grants to support professional development in the JSU region. She has developed and facilitated many professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators. In 2014, she presented at the Math, Science Partnership Conference in Washington DC on the results of Professional Learning Teams established in the JSU region.
In her free time, Mrs. Barnes enjoys spending time RVing and tailgating in Tuscaloosa with her husband, Tim, and their three pups. Mrs. Barnes is a member of Lakeview Baptist Church in Oxford and creates and runs video screens for the services.
It’s going to be an awesome year!
