LMCS bids farewell to three staff members

by Bonnie Kay Baldwin
Lake Mills Graphic

Kari Wagner
Kari Wagner, LMCS elementary school principal, is at a bittersweet crossroads in her career.
Wagner, native of Brookings, S.D. and 1992 graduate of Brookings High School, received a BA in English with minors in history and Spanish from South Dakota State University, 1996. In 2009, she also received her master of education in administration degree from Iowa State University, Ames.
Wagner came to LMCS from the Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka School District in 1999. She originally took the position as a high school English teacher, and after 12 years, she moved ‘down to the elementary’ (as she put it) to become the P-5 principal for the last nine years.
“Lake Mills has truly become our home, and this will be an extremely difficult goodbye for me,” said Wagner.
Wagner’s husband, Steve, accepted a new position in Wausau, Wis., as of November 2019. He became the Director of Distribution for Wausau Supply Company, after leaving Larson Manufacturing, Lake Mills, where he had worked  for over 23 years.
“I have accepted a position with the D.C. Everest School District as the Mountain Bay Elementary Principal,” said Wagner. “It is a kindergarten through fifth grade building with approximaely 400 students, and I will go from being a Bulldog to a Mustang. (But once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog.) It is one of seven elementary schools in the district with around 5,700 students.
I am so grateful for all of the students and staff with whom I have had the opportunity to work. This is a very special school district, and I appreciate all I have learned from everyone at LMCS. I will miss everyone very much, and we definitely plan to come back and visit.”

Sue Neuwohner
A native of Osage, Sue Neuwohner graduated from Osage Community High School in 1977. She then attended the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, receiving her BA in elementary education.
Neuwohner began teaching in Lake Mills in 1986. She taught Talented and Gifted students (grades fifth through eighth) from 1986-89; third grade from 1989-1996; second grade 1996-2009; and fourth grade from 2009-2020.
“I feel that after 39 years of teaching, it is time to retire,” she said. Husband, Jeff (also from Osage), plans to retire soon too.
After retirement, she hopes to substitute teach, take more frequent day trips, and help out more with the grandchildren.
The Neuwohners have two daughters: Emily (Dan) Helgeson, Lake Mills; and Megan (Scott) Welter, Reinbeck. Emily and Dan have two boys: Cooper, 5 and Emmett, 3; Megan and Scott have one girl, Kendall, 2.
“I have been blessed to always work with the best staff, students, and families. I have many fond memories of teaching in Lake Mills. I will miss the daily smiles and hugs from the students and the feeling of camaraderie I always had with the staff. It is a wonderfully unique experience to be able to work in a preschool-12th grade building. My students and I were able to reap the benefits of helping younger students as well as having older students help and teach us.
 I will miss going to school each day, never knowing exactly what to expect. Every day was different and no matter how well prepared I thought I was, I had to learn to be flexible, because something always changed the plans. Luckily, I could always count on my students to put a smile on my face.”

Greg Phillips
Originally from Pleasantville, Greg Phillips grew up on a farm and graduated from Pleasantville High School in 1973. He attended Iowa State University, Ames, in Industrial Technology, graduating with a BA in 1978.
“What really got me interested in teaching, was my Ag teacher in High School,” said Phillips. “Oddly, I did not take one industrial tech class when I was in high school. But, I liked building things. I probably enjoyed that more than the livestock and crops—that sort of thing. Russell Johnson was my ag teacher’s name. He was an inspiration, I guess you would say. That’s why I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but I wanted to teach more of the mechanical things. So, industrial tech was more of a good fit for me.”
He began his career as a teacher in Forest City from 1978-1988, and then was involved in an auto sale and service business from 1988-1994. He went back to teaching at North Iowa High School from 1994-1996, and was a counselor at West Fork High School from 1996-2000. It was in 2000, when Phillips began his career at LMCS and worked up until now, racking up 20 years as a middle school/high school industrial tech teacher.
“It’s been a wonderful experience working here; my colleagues, the administrator and Jim Scholbrock have been wonderful to work with. Yeah, It’s been a hard decision to make—retiring. I really enjoy what I do, working with young people, both boys and girls . . . Yeah, I’m going to miss it.
But, it’s time to retire. I’ve worked a full career and my wife and I are building a new home in Forest City. We plan to move in next month. Melissa is a professor at Waldorf University, so she has summers off. We’ll be continuing to work on the house.”
The Phillips have a blended family. Greg has adult children—Cole (Ashley) Phillips and Brynn (Matt) Daniels, both of Forest City, and one grandson, Rownan. Melissa’s adult children are: Tyler (Hannah) Knudtson, Minneapolis, Minn.; Tori Knudtson, St. Louis, Mo.; Zach Knudtson, Lake Mills; and Lydia Knudtson, Forest City.