Mason Elementary School & Mason Intermediate School counselor Michelle Krugh always shows up for people - her colleagues, her students, her families, her friends. The mom of MHS twin girls has been supporting Comet kids for 21 years - and believes that today's children need more help learning to regulate their emotions.  A licensed family therapist, she helped design MI's AWARE program (All Working at Respecting Everyone) and is thrilled about the district's investment in additional mental wellness support this year. 

Mason City Schools Chief Talent Officer Tonya McCall leads the district's recruitment and retention efforts to keep Mason a destination district. She spent 20 years at the helm of Mason Middle School where she helped coin the school's motto of "Every Kid, Every Day." She was instrumental in bringing together teams of teachers and staff to plan the total renovation of the school - and MMS staff recently celebrated her contributions by christening their lounge "McCall's Staffeteria." :) A product of Toledo Public Schools, Ohio's desegregation efforts required that she leave her predominantly black elementary school classmates to be bussed to a junior high school that was predominantly white.  That experience gave her unique insight as she became a teacher and administrator in suburban southwest Ohio schools. 

Mason High School sophomore Kaya Rossey is a founding member of the high school's two-year old Hope Squad - a class of students who are trained to watch for at-risk students, provide friendship, identify suicide-warning signs, and seek help from adults. Like other Squad members, Kaya was chosen by her peers to be in Hope Squad because they saw her as trustworthy and caring. Kaya shares her own mental wellness journey, and credits family and teachers like Mason Middle School's Ricardo Grayer and Mason High School's Michelle Bruewer for recognizing her struggle and encouraging her to find her voice. Kaya hopes to one day be a child life specialist - a career path inspired by witnessing the impact these special people had on her friends - the Maya Collins family.  

Mason City Schools bus driver Bob Cross's life reminds that some of the most important parts of our stories can come later. Growing up as an only child, Bob always knew he was adopted and that he was a Native Alaskan. He never knew very much about his culture, however, and didn't know how to find his family. That all changed at 65 - when he connected with his four siblings on the very day that they buried his birth father.

Mason City Schools Deputy Superintendent Amy Brennan's educational journey was prompted by a question. As a high school student growing up in St. Paul Minnesota, she was concerned that her diverse classmates weren't represented in the honors courses she was taking. Her question became a mission to see public education's promise fulfilled - and to witness the special connections that happen inside a community with great public schools.  

Krissy Hufnagel has been influencing Mason students and staff for 25 years. Three years ago, she left the classroom to take a role as an innovation coach, and this year she is helping lead the district's Personalized Learning efforts in her role as a Learning Experience Supervisor for grades PK-6. The daughter of a German immigrant, Krissy reflects on the values she learned as a child, and how she has tried to grow a culture of empathy and optimism within her own two children.

Shanna Bumiller is on a mission to bust the myths around personalized learning. Mason’s Learning Experience Supervisor for grades 7-12, her passion is personal - and rooted in wanting to create better experiences for students like her brother, who struggled in school.

A veteran bus driver and safety trainer, Rebecca Bate is beginning her 19th year at the wheel in her hometown. A Mason grad, Rebecca shares the joy in raising her own Comet, how being in the Wm. Mason High School Marching band shaped her, and some of safety measures the transportation department takes to make sure students get to school and home safe and sound.

Jim Fox never stops learning. Following retirement, the former Mason City Councilman began working at Mason High School as a study hall monitor and recently published a book. The MHS Class of 1969 grad shares how Mason educators shaped his journey, and his pride in what Mason has become as it grew - both in numbers and cultural diversity. 

Hannah Humes is a trailblazer.  She was the first student with Downs Syndrome  to be a member of the high school’s Teaching Academy, to work in the Comet Zone [the school store], and to be inducted into the Young Women’s National Honor Society. Hannah and her mom, Marcy Humes, share their experience in Mason, and what they are looking forward to as Hannah enters her senior year at Mason High School and prepares for life after high school.