Keely Lewis is the math teacher at Windward High School. Before coming to Windward, she taught 8th grade math and Spanish at Vista Middle School for part of a school year and math at Western Washington University for a quarter. She was born in Michigan, lived in New Mexico for a large part of her childhood and ended up in Vancouver, Washington where she graduated from high school. Keely started college at Washington State University in Pullman and completed her degree at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon (a school that is about the size of Ferndale High School!). When she is not teaching, Keely enjoys spending time with her family and cat, reading, traveling around the United States (the Grand Canyon is one of her favorites), and doing all sorts of craft projects.  [website]

Jenny Richard is the secretary at Windward High School . Before taking this position, Mrs. Richard worked for 9 ½ years at Ferndale High School in the Career Center and as the Vocational Director's Secretary. Jenny loves traveling through the San Juans with her two sons and husband on their boat, skiing, reading and walking her Beagle Abby. Both of her sons are attending Washington State University, so of course she is an avid Coug Fan. (GO COUGS!)

Windward High School Student Advisor

Melissa Engels teaches in the English Department. She has 9 years of teaching experience in both Michigan and Washington. In Michigan, Melissa taught 8th grade Language Arts and Drama, and is proud to have had an article published in a teaching magazine. In her two years at Ferndale High School, she taught Freshman English, Sophomore English, and Transitions. At Windward, Melissa teaches or has taught all Freshman/Sophomore English and Honors classes, Creative Writing, and Publications.  Melissa loves teaching at Windward High School because of the chance to interact on a personal level with her students and colleagues, integrate curriculum between subject areas, and create lasting connections with the community.

With two really cute little girls at home, Melissa doesn’t have much free time.  When she does, though, she tries to find time for pleasure reading, creative writing, and scrapbooking.  Melissa and her husband are big baseball fans (GO MARINERS!) and, during the summers, they enjoy traveling to baseball stadiums around the country. The current number of major league baseball stadiums visited is at 29 and counting, with San Francisco as the most recent destination. Melissa also cherishes time spent with family and friends.

[website]

Maggie Murphy comes to Windward High School as a practicing artist and a recent graduate of Western Washington 's Masters In Teaching program. She attended The Evergreen State College as an undergraduate which practices interdisciplinary and project-based learning models. She is enthusiastic about art and looks forward to sharing information and experience with students. Murphy has been a practicing artist for the last twenty years in western Washington , living in Olympia for twenty years where she taught art in the private sector, owned a retail business, was a chef and has recently settled in Whatcom County . She has expertise in a wide variety of areas in the arts including painting, drawing, sculpture, history and aesthetics, performance, costume, commercial and culinary art arenas. [website]

Erek Rensink teaches 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year Spanish at Windward High School. He has a passion for teaching language, and previously taught English in Córdoba, Argentina. Next year, he will also be teaching 4th year Spanish here at WHS. Señor Rensink enjoys the small classes and personal connections afforded by Windward and encourages his students to work hard to learn another language. After all, knowing another culture and traveling abroad are two of life's greatest adventures!

Sr. Rensink enjoys being with family and friends and is a huge music fan. He appreciates spending time outdoors and loves to travel. His favorite place to be in the world is Colonia, Uruguay . If you go there, you must eat at 'El Drugstore'. ¡ Mmm Mmm delicioso! [website]

As a Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Ruthford loves seeing students connect with the world around them and learn about the issues and challenges that we are facing as individuals, a community, a nation and a world! Her goal in the classroom is that students feel comfortable and eager to learn about their place in our complex society. She teaches World History, AP World History, Contemporary World Cultures and Current World Problems here at Windward.  

On her free time, Mrs. Ruthford likes to read, travel, mountain bike and race triathlons. She enjoys traveling anywhere with her family and learning how other people live and connect with their environment and culture. She has lived in Germany and Spain and has visited many other countries in Europe and the Americas . Her dream is to visit India and South East Asia in the future. She graduated from Willamette University with majors in History and Spanish, and received an M.Ed. from WWU.  The last great book she read was, The Kite Runner, about a boy growing up and living through the chaos in Afghanistan in the 1980's. [website]

Chuck Schelle is a science teacher at WHS, teaching classes in physics, chemistry, and BNR/IPS. After growing up in Everett , WA he soon fled north where he earned his BS in chemistry from Western Washington University. At this point, he decided to pursue graduate training in the field of materials engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara . The field of materials is an exciting one. Consider flexible plastic displays that can be folded and tucked away in your pocket. Imagine carbon nanotubes that may one day replace steel as the structural material of choice. Or think of diamond coated buildings that have the ability to resist the mechanical stresses of earthquakes. He still enjoys keeping up with the technological advances. However, during graduate work Chuck had the chance to work with local schools and it was at this point that he realized how rewarding the teaching profession would be. He completed his MS and drove I-5 back home to teach in the great northwest. Chuck looks forward to working with the students and community members of Ferndale, whose role in education makes all the difference. [website]