Wildcat Staff Spotlight

Madeline Clore, a math teacher new to Deep Run this year, has positive opinions about the Wildcat experience so far and a positive attitude toward her students.     Previously, Clore worked at a private school with less than a quarter of our student population. When she entered this school, she first noticed the sheer number of students compared to her last school, but also how well she was gre...

Megan Steinheimer is a new English teacher at Deep Run this year. Steinheimer attended Virginia Tech for her undergraduate degree, before attending The College of William & Mary for graduate school.    “I was an English major, which is kind of unusual for Virginia Tech. There are a lot of engineering, math, and science-geared majors,” Steinheimer said.     She enjoyed her time at Virgin...

Math teacher Michelle Grover recently entered the halls of Deep Run and has begun to make her mark on the school.     Grover, who graduated from Liberty University with a master's degree, said her major was originally in special education, but she went back for math certification later on.   Even though she has long aspired to be a teacher, Grover put it off for a while to raise her kids. Real...

Veteran teacher Curt Fritts has joined the social studies department here this year. Previously working at Hermitage High School for 11 years, Fritts realized he was ready for a change and to experience the “Wildcat Way.” He knew the transition would come with some changes, but a big change for Fritts wasn’t the people, but the environment.     “I showed up to teacher work week, and one of the biggest...

Jodi Beland is a new addition to the counseling department this year and is prevailing in her first year here as a counselor.      “Trying to meet everybody, and starting to build those relationships, I think is really important,” Beland said.     Beland brings a number of different life and career experiences to the table in her new role as counselor.    “Coming back and b...

Physics teacher Samantha Cohodas is a first-year physics teacher at Deep Run. Before teaching here, she was a student teacher in Newport News, Va., being mentored by a physics teacher. Cohodas received her Master of Education at The College of William and Mary. She knew she wanted to teach physics because it teaches people how the real world works, and she has always loved science throughout her sc...

History teacher Jessica Voutsinas is a new staff member at Deep Run High School. She studied music and anthropology at two different colleges before receiving her undergraduate degree at Ithaca Conservatory and attending the University of Virginia for grad school. She started teaching in February of 2020 and tutored students in reading and history. Although Voutsinas has always had a passion for hi...

Robert Doolidge is a new teacher at Deep Run who educates  students on more than just advanced courses in technology.  Previously, Doolidge taught at Short Pump Middle School in technology education. A vast majority of his students this year are students he has previously taught. Doolidge says he finds it delightful to be able to teach them again. He notes that many of his former students have bec...

One of the newest additions to the Deep Run staff, Candace Carter, made her debut in the social studies department this year.     In high school, it was Carter's theater teacher who first inspired her to teach. Since then, that desire has paved the way for Carter to become an educator. Choosing the subject of history was the easy part for her. With displays of maps around her classroom and book...

Stephanie O'Shea, a new teacher on the exceptional education team, has been teaching for the past nineteen years and is dual-certified in both English and Special Education. She started her teaching career at Hermitage High School, where she taught ninth and tenth-grade English for 12 years. She then transferred to Tucker High School where she taught general education for six years.     Despit...

This school year a new biology teacher, Hoa Pham, joined the staff after working at Thomas Dale High School in Chesterfield. Pham likes the structure and engagement at Deep Run because she can do a lot more activities with her class.    “Most students are very motivated. It's easier to do more class activities and go into depth with the content I am teaching because of the resources we hav...

Amanda Clark, a new exceptional education teacher, teaches students with disabilities. She also works at Freeman as a Latin teacher. She first knew she wanted to be a teacher when she was in third grade. Clark went to the University of Mary Washington to pursue her interest in teaching and received a degree in both Latin and Chorus. She began her teaching career in 2019 as a substitute before coming to...

Biology teacher Hanna Kornell is leading her first ninth grade biology class here. Kornell earned her masters degree last year at the University of Virginia. She first started working as a student teacher for Henley Middle School and Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, Va. until she decided to move to the Richmond area. Moving here and leading her own classes have been a very different experienc...

Newly hired calculus teacher Alexandria "Allie" King moved from Maryland to Virginia in order to pursue her teaching career at Deep Run as a calculus teacher. Although King started college as a computer science major, her sister was a math major, which inspired her to switch over and complete college on the path to become a teacher. King has found her career to be a more rewarding option.    ...

Helping those who struggle or those who are accidentally overlooked in the crowd is a career that many strive for, and new Deep Run exceptional education teacher, Brooks Crawford, a man of many passions, has only that one goal in his mind.    “Right out of college, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. I worked for a law firm in downtown Richmond for about three years. And I decided, again it's a c...