Saint Laurence School Staff

Father James was born and raised in Cheyenne. He was baptized in 1964, received

First Communion in 1973 at Holy Trinity, and Confirmed in 1979 at St. Mary's Cathedral.

Father James graduated from Seton Catholic High School in 1983. He has a

BA in History form Gath Catholic University of America received in 1987. He

received his Masters in medieval studies in 1988 from the University of Toronto.

Father James received his Masters in divinity from the University of St. Thomas.

He was ordained a deacon in 1995 and ordained a priest October 19, 1995.

Father James was Parochial Vicar for Holy Name Parish in Sheraton Wyoming

from 1995 until 1998. Then at St. Mathews Parish in Gillette Wyoming until 1999 when he moved to St. Mary's Cathedral in Cheyenne. Father James stayed at St. Mary's until 2003 when he became Pastor at St. Laurence O'Toole on July 1, 2003.

Tom is a graduate of Indiana University and has a Master’s degree from Notre
Dame. Originally from Indiana, Mr. Wilhelm taught English for eight years before
seeing that elementary school was where he really wanted to be. After receiving
a second bachelor’s degree from UW, he began teaching second grade at St.
Laurence School. Tom was the second grade teacher at the school for 17 years
before he moved to principal. As principal, Tom has guided the school for eight
years with a stint in the middle of being principal teaching 3rd and 6th grades. Mr.
Wilhelm finds time to coach the basketball team and teach the upper grades
science. In his spare time he enjoys producing the bluegrass program, The Ranch
Breakfast Show on Wyoming Public Radio, hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing.
Tom and his wife Alice have two daughters, the youngest Kathleen is graduating from Laramie High this year. twilhelm@stlos.com

Linda is the maestro of Pre-Kindergarten teachers in Laramie. She has been
teaching and learning from these little ones since before many of us were born,
and she is still going strong. She is a graduate of the University of Northern
Colorado and was born and raised in Pueblo. After teaching for 20 years in
Colorado, she “saw the light” and moved north to Wyoming. This is actually her
second stint at St. Laurence. She was the head teacher at the St. Laurence
Preschool when it was located in the little house across 4th Street. When that
school was shut down, a group of dedicated parents found a place for her on
Bradley Street where she operated The Laramie Preschool. She closed that down in

2007 and came back to St. Laurence as the teacher in the three year old classroom. We all continue to

learn from Mrs. Hubbard.

Mrs. O, as she is universally known around the school, is herself a graduate of St.
Laurence School in the days when the school went to ninth grade. All seven of
her wonderful, grown children are also graduates of St. Laurence. Mary was an
active member of the Home and School Association while her children were in
school, and once the youngest was in school, she was able to complete her
teaching degree that she had started before marriage and family. In 2001 she
graduated from UW with an Elementary Education degree with an emphasis in
Early Childhood. In 2002 Mary took the job as kindergarten teacher at St.
Laurence School bringing things full circle. Mrs. O enjoys sharing her faith with
the children and teaching literacy. Mary feels that she is part of a great faculty
with terrific parents who work as a team for the betterment of the school. moflannigan@stlos.com

Kristen is excited to be back as the 1st Grade teacher at St. Laurence School after
taking 4 months off to have her baby daughter Penelope. Ms. Stager was born
and raised in Toledo, Ohio and completed her bachelors degree in Early Childhood
Education at Bluffton University in Ohio. For two years she had the pleasure of
teaching first grade in a Catholic school in Northern Virginia. She and her
husband Matt moved to Laramie when Matt took a position at the American
Heritage Center at UW. Kristen was hired as the 3rd-4th grade aide and eventually
wound up as the First Grade teacher in 2009. Having always loved reading and
teaching children to read, the First Grade classroom is a natural fit for her teaching interests and skills. kstager@stlos.com

Jeanne comes to St. Laurence School from a great background of teaching and learning in Catholic schools. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s Catholic High School in Cheyenne and received her Elementary Education degree at the University of Wyoming. Following graduation from UW, she and her husband John moved to
Riverton, Wyoming where she taught at St. Stephen’s Indian School. When she and John started a family, Jeanne put her teaching career on hold while she raised her four children. While a stay at home mom, Ms. Van Heule helped out at St. Margaret’s School, where her children attended, by teaching art, music and
physical education. Once her youngest was in Kindergarten, she took a teaching job at the 4th grade. After 5years at the 4th grade, she moved to 2nd grade at St. Margaret’s where she stayed for eight more years. In 2005, with their youngest daughter at UW, they moved to Laramie where Jeanne pursued her Master’s
Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on reading. While attending classes full time, she volunteered as a reading tutor and teaching 1st grade religion instructor at St. Laurence School. After graduating, Jeanne became the Second grade teacher here at St. Laurence School starting in the fall of 2007.
Her musical skills and her enthusiasm for teaching enrich not only her students, but the entire school.

jvanheule@stlos.com

Katie comes to St. Laurence from Syracuse, New York. Her path to St. Laurence School is an interesting one. It starts after her junior year of college at State University of New York at New Paltz when she decided to spend
the summer in Laramie with her aunt. As it turned out, she landed a summer job as the teaching assistant in the St. Laurence School Summer Program. So after returning to New Paltz and finishing her degree, she was drawn again out West. Now she is the Third Grade teacher and Yearbook Sponsor. Katie has many interests which include photography, art, traveling and anything outdoors. ksteele@stlos.com

4th Grade - Mary Furgeson

Mary comes to St. Laurence School from Virginia, where she graduated with her Bachelor’s and Master’s from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Her background is in special education. She brings that Special Education background into helping every student be successful. Ms. Furgeson has lived in Laramie for about ten years and is an active member at St. Paul’s Newman Center. Mary enjoys raising her family (and her chickens), being a 4-H family, reading, and visiting historical sites. mfurgeson@stlos.com

Mrs. Palm hails from Baggs, Wyoming and is a graduate of the University of Wyoming. She has been part of the St. Laurence family for eleven years. Mrs. Palm enjoys teaching the multi-grade class, taking them on field trips and studying a wide range of topics from history to mythology. Jenny and her husband Scott have four children ranging from ages 10 to 16. The two oldest are graduates of St. Laurence School. Mrs. Palm’s interests include camping, gardening, boating, and exploring the backcountry of Wyoming on her ATV with her family. She truly believes in the mission of St. Laurence School and enjoys imparting Catholic values and beliefs to all her students. jpalm@stlos.com

We owe a big debt to our "Specials" teachers who we think are the best in the business. We are so fortunate to have them teaching at our school:

Deacon Al Franco - Spanish

Jennifer Howdeshell - Art

Jennifer Lyford - Music

Fr. James Schumacher - Latin

UW Division of Kinesiology & Health - PE