Staff - Paisley Charter School

Administrative Staff

Mollie O'Leary, Business Manager

Ruth Robinson, District Secretary

Alexa vanBelle, Secretary/Athletic Director/Activities Coordinator

By Kairi Walton, 11th grade, staff member Chewaucan Yearbook, Paisley Charter School, 2025

Alexa VanBelle grew up in Lakeview, Oregon and graduated high school at Lakeview High School. In high school she wanted to be a PE teacher or a vet. Alexa went to Central Oregon Community College and Oregon State University. She came to Paisley when her husband got a job on the ZX and she drove back and forth as a vet technician. She lives outside of Paisley on a ranch with horses and animals, she is also a mom.

In Alexa’s free time she likes to be with kids along with sewing and cleaning the house. She teaches life skills and in the office, Alexa also helps out with sports and art. She has worked here for 14 years and her goals are to see sports become more stable. She also wants to see programs like Turning Point be in our school. Alexa’s goal at home is to raise three nice humans Claira, Collin, and Carter. Her favorite saying when asked is; “Be a kind human.” Advice she gives to students is to do everything and try everything, even if stupid, because you only do high school once. Alexa hopes to see her children succeed in life, she also wants to travel more.

Teachers

Stu Burgess, English & Social Studies Teacher/Head Teacher

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Ed Nichols, Bus Driver
Kim Nichols, 7-12th MS Teacher/Spanish

Kimberly Nichols, 7th-8th Grade Teacher/High School Math Teacher

Mary O'Leary, K-2nd Grade Teacher

Victoria O'Leary, Academic Counselor/Registered Teacher/ASPIRE Coordinator/Co-FFA Advisor

Victoria O’Leary

by Paisley Yearbook (The Chewaucan) student reporter Marianna Ranero

Mrs. O'Leary grew up in a town called Midvale, Idaho. She also studied at Eastern Oregon University, and received her degree from Oregon State University through the extended campus.

She came to Paisley because she first needed a summer job before her first internship in New Zealand. Her track teammate from Eastern Oregon University told her about a summer hay contracting job here in Paisley. She has an older sister who lives in South Dakota, and she also has an older brother, he and her parents live in Idaho. She is married to Jack O’Leary and has a daughter named Sloane.

She has worked for Paisley Charter School since December 2020. She was the district secretary, and then transitioned to teacher. She teaches Introduction to Agriculture, Woodshop, 5-8 PE, High School PE, Leadership, Animal Science, Plant Science, Senior Portfolio, and is also the guidance counselor. She is very busy.

Her goals are to teach young students and to grow a happy and healthy family. The advice she gave me is to be okay with mistakes because that’s how you grow.

And lastly, if she could do anything, she thinks it would be amazing to be an Olympic athlete.

Emma Shanahan, 2nd-4th Grade Teacher

By Kairi Walton, 11th grade, staff member Chewaucan Yearbook, Paisley Charter School, 2025

Emma Shanahan grew up in Starbucks Washington and graduated from Dayton High School, where she wanted to be a Dental Hygienist or an Animal Nutritionist. Mrs. Shanahan graduated from a couple different colleges including Treasure Valley Community College, Eastern Oregon University, and Oregon State University. She came to Paisley originally because her husband was working here. Emma Shanahan has four kids and she teaches the 3rd and 4th grade.

In her free time Mrs. Shanahan enjoys playing with her kids, working out and drinking coffee. Mrs. Shanahan has worked here for eight years. Her goal in life is to have kids that are productive and have more time to travel with family. Her favorite quote when asked is, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one hundred percent!” from Horton Hears a Who by Dr.Susse. The advice she would give to students is to wake up early and get stuff done.

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Aidan Hedricks, Online/Digital Art Teacher

Katie Wolff, 5th-6th Grade Teacher

MRS. WOLFF

By: Chiara Migliarini - Senior reporter for The Chewaucan (Paisley Charter School Yearbook)

Katie Wolff grew up in a suburb in Billings, Montana, where most of her family still is and where she studied at Skyview high school. She did her senior year at King Kekaulike in Maui, Hawaii. There her uncle said she was really good with kids, which is the reason why she decided to become a teacher. However, before that she wanted to be a flight attendant in order to travel the world.

She still has the yearbook of her senior year and occasionally looks at it. It's very thick because of how many students there were.

She teaches the 5th and 6th grades at Paisley Charter School, although she used to teach high school math; she switched because she enjoys this age group more: she can teach them all subjects and she gets to joke with them. This is her 11th year working here.

She came to Paisley with her husband when he started working on a ranch. She now has three sons with him, Arlan, Warren and Eldon. She likes it here because of how quiet and peaceful it is and how nice the people are. In her free time she likes baking; her favorite thing is sourdough.

Her school goal is to increase math literacy. In her private life she wants to build a house. Her favorite quote is: “With responsibility comes privilege," which is also the advice that she gave me.

Lastly, if she could do anything, she would travel the whole world with her husband and children. How classy!